What Marvel's Avengers Villain Ultron Looks Like In Real Life

The Avengers make quick work of Loki (Tom Hiddleston) and his Chitauri army in their 2012 self-titled movie, introducing themselves as the ultimate force for good in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Thus, the six iconic heroes comprising the team come together to take on a new threat in 2015's "Avengers: Age of Ultron." As the title implies, the film sees them take on Ultron: an advanced and dangerous android inadvertently created by Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.), who seeks to destroy the Avengers and conquer the planet.

The individual responsible for bringing this menacing yet sarcastic take on Ultron to the MCU is none other than James Spader. The actor — who unsurprisingly looks nothing like his Marvel alter ego — has been a part of the entertainment world for decades, making a name for himself in both film and television productions over the years. On the small screen scene, Spader is best recognized for his starring roles on "The Blacklist," "The Office," and "Boston Legal." Meanwhile, his high-profile film credits include "Pretty in Pink," "Sex, Lies, and Videotape," and "Lincoln."

Even though he's been absent from the MCU since "Age of Ultron," Spader's Ultron is an overall highlight of the franchise and the minds at Marvel Studios were onto something when they brought the actor up during the casting process.

Ultron comes to exist in the MCU when Tony Stark and Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo) combine an artificial intelligence with the power of the Mind Stone. The AI program learns about the entirety of human history and, in turn, decides to go against Stark's directive as a peacekeeping program. Thus, it takes on a villainous robotic form and plans to annihilate the Avengers and the human race at large. All the while, Ultron is smug, condescending, and snarky, which are all personality traits the folks at Marvel Studios felt James Spader could bring to the character perfectly.

"Ultron is very smart and very learned and very powerful, and there are moments of sort of wisdom, but it's balanced with the arrogance of youth, and that is incredibly potent, in his case," Spader told Entertainment Weekly during a 2015 interview. He recalled that "Avengers: Age of Ultron" director Joss Whedon cast him in the Ultron role because he felt he could make the villain "irreverent and childish — not childlike, but childish. And be able to have humor and childishness married with a sort of credible gravitas." With that framework in mind, the actor put his best foot forward, delivering an unforgettable performance in the process. 

While Ultron has been used in other projects, such as the animated "What If...?" series on Disney+, James Spader's take on the character hit all the marks. Given his stellar performance in "Age of Ultron" and the MCU's fascination with the multiverse and the returning characters that can spawn from it, one has to wonder if Spader's Ultron will reemerge in the franchise in due time.