James Spader is returning to the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
The Emmy-winning actor is set to reprise his role as the voice of robotic villain Ultron in Marvel Studios’ untitled Vision series, the follow-up series to its acclaimed WandaVision show. He first played the role in 2015’s Avengers: Age of Ultron.
Paul Bettany is reprising his role as Vision, the android who fell in love with the Scarlett Witch and then was destroyed by Thanos in Avengers: Infinity War. In WandaVision, he returned via magic and the power of grief but also as a rebuilt android, now ghostly white.
Terry Matalas, the much-heralded showrunner of Star Trek: Picard, is spearheading the new show, which has been referred to as Vision Quest, although that is not its official title, and which tackles white Vision’s search for a new purpose in life.
Adding to the show’s mythological mix is Ultron, who, as Marvel fans know, was a sentient being created by Tony Stark, aka Iron Man, to act as a defense program but that instead turned against humanity. Ultron then created his Vision, but before Vision became conscious, the Avengers took his body from Ultron. Vision ultimately was given consciousness courtesy when Bruce Baner and Tony Stark’s uploaded what was left of Stark’s AI J.A.R.V.I.S. into Vision — creating a being that was neither Ultron nor J.A.R.V.I.S. Luckily for earthlings, this “son” turns against his “father” to help the Avengers defeat the bad guy. (Got all that? If not, just rewatch Avengers: Age of Ultron.)
Ultron was seemingly destroyed at the end of the movie, so it is unclear how he would return and what kind of relationship he would have with Vision.
The series is meant to be the third part of a trilogy that started with WandaVision and continues in Agatha All Along, which debuts in September on Disney+. The new show is eying a shoot in England in early 2025.
Spader is a longtime actor whose career has straddled both film and TV. Movies such as Sex, Lies and Videotape and Pretty in Pink established him for the ’80s generation, while starring in Boston Legal earned him awards and TV bona fides. He did a stint on The Office and spent 10 seasons creepily starring on NBC crime show The Blacklist, which aired from 2013 to 2023.
The actor is repped by CAA.