James Spader cast as villain for 'Avengers' sequel (Wait, what?)

Posted Thursday, August 29, 2013 at 4:40 PM Central
Last updated Thursday, August 29, 2013 at 6:14 PM Central

by Tim Briscoe

The sequel to the biggest movie of all time (ahem, biggest movie not directed by James Cameron) has its bad guy. Veteran actor James Spader is set to play Ultron in Avengers: Age of Ultron.

Less than a week after Warner Bros. recast Ben Affleck as Batman for its Superman team-up movie, Marvel has cast the villain for its fellow 2015 superhero film. Spader, known for Emmy-winning roles on TV's Boston Legal and The Practice, will play opposite Earth's mightiest heroes.

The casting choice has come as quite a shocker to most fans. Spader is more of a television actor these days. He's set to star in the new fall series The Blacklist on NBC. He does have the sneaky villain thing down having playing that type many times before.

For even more head-scratching confusion, it's not certain what Spader's capacity will be for the film. In the comics, Ultron is a psycho robot. Will 53-year-old Spader simply voice the character in much the same way Paul Bettany has voiced Jarvis, the Iron Man A.I.? Or, will he get to appear on screen?

In his comic origin, Ultron was created by Avenger Henry Pym a.k.a. Ant-Man. When director Joss Whedon announced Ultron as the sequel's villain at San Diego Comic-Con, he said his origin would be different. Perhaps tech-minded Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) brings Ultron to life in the movie. (Ant-Man has his own movie coming in 2015 as well.)

If Spader does appear on-screen, it won't be the first pairing of him and RDJ. They appeared together in 1985's Tuff Turf and the classic '80s flick Less Than Zero (1987).

What do you think? Does Spader's inclusion make your more or less excited for the Avengers follow-up? It hits theaters on May 1, 2015.