In an apparent attempt to make Warner Bros.' casting of Ben Affleck as Batman look entirely non-controversial, Marvel Studios today announced that James Spader -- better known to many as The Office's Robert California, or perhaps Pretty in Pink's Steff -- will play Avengers: Age of Ultron's main bad guy, the titular genocidal robot Ultron.
For those unfamiliar with the Marvel Comics incarnation of Ultron, he's been a constant metal thorn in the side of the Avengers since 1968's Avengers #54. Created by occasional Avenger Hank Pym, the robot's mix of daddy issues and general hatred for humanity has kept him coming back with bigger and better schemes to kill all humans throughout the years, culminating in this year's Age of Ultron series -- a series that bears no relation to the movie, aside from the shared title, according to director and screenwriter Joss Whedon -- where he actually managed to take over the world. Well, at least until a combination of time travel and good old-fashioned never-say-die attitude managed to undo all the bad stuff, of course.
Spader's acting has, in the past, seemed stilted enough that offering him the role of a robot could be positively inspired casting, but it should be noted that there's also little about the actor's physical presence so far that really says "unstoppable killing machine." That particular description could be more easily said of, say, Vin Diesel, but Marvel reportedly already has him signed up to play a talking tree in another movie, again proving that the studio has no problem casting against type when necessary.
It's unknown at this point whether or not Spader will actually be seen in the movie, or whether he'll just be lending his voice to a CGI-animated robot. If it's the latter, at least there'll be some sense of audible continuity at play, as Spader's clipped vocals play into the example already set by Paul Bettany's JARVIS in the Iron Man movies that artificial intelligences all sound like unlikable, dismissive know-it-alls. Quick: Somebody give Ben Stein a call and see if he's available to play Machine Man.
Avengers: Age of Ultron will be released May 1, 2015.
