With the Marvel “course correction” picking up steam, they are looking to return to earlier things that worked for them. In this vein comes the news from The Hollywood Reporter that Emmy Award winner James Spader is set to return as Ultron for the upcoming Vision TV series.
The good news is that Terry Matalas is in charge, no stranger to salvage jobs after single-handedly turning around Star Trek Picard with that third season.
Paul Bettany will return as Vision, problematically for “current year” in his very, very white form.
The new show will pick up post-WandaVision and see the reincarnated ex-Avenger seeking answers and purpose in a world after the events of Multiverse of Madness and Wanda’s descent into madness, followed by her death.
Ultron was previously used in the MCU as the villain in 2015’s Avengers: Age of Ultron. In the MCU, Ultron was created by Tony Stark, who was scarred and emotionally fragile following his near-death experience in the Battle of New York (Avengers). Ultron was originally supposed to be a peacekeeping A.I. but was corrupted by the Mind Stone and decided that humanity needed to be eradicated.
Ultron created Vision, who was ultimately constructed around Stark’s own A.I. assistant program J.A.R.V.I.S., and turned out not to be manipulatable by Ultron, eventually playing a role in Ultron’s demise.
Spader was the voice behind Ultron in the movie, and a key part of the design for his movement and mannerisms.
In the comics, he was a self-aware and highly intelligent artificial intelligence in a robot body who developed a “God Complex” and an ongoing grudge against his creator Hank Pym. His goal to destroy humanity in a misguided effort to create world peace
The Vision series plans to film in England in early 2025.