TheMarvel Cinematic Universeis deep into its favorite marketing technique. The novelty of the cinematic universe gimmick is getting a little old, and a lot of people are jumping ship afterEndgame, so they’re simply relying on a more bankable tactic. Marvel simply brings back beloved performers in iconic roles to sell tickets to their latest projects. The recentDeadpool & Wolverinefilm traded entirely on Hugh Jackman and a selection of other actors. James Spader will soon return to his role as Ultron for theVisionshow, but he’s not just back for name recognition.
Marvel is doing fine. The moment isn’t nearly as dire as some viewers (and Deadpool) make it seem, but anything less than a billion dollars seems pointless after they’ve hit the high point. It’s common to see fans argue that Marvel will continue any creative tailspin that rewards them with a reasonable sprinkling of money. They’re obviously correct, but there’s a separate argument to be made. Ironically enough, those who would angrily argue that Marvel should pursue whatever pays their bills would also crucify Martin Scorsese fordaring to dislike their favorite franchise. If the movies are art, they must be critiqued.
James Spader will be Ultron again inVision Quest
The series that used to be calledVision Questisprobably just calledVisionnow. In any case, the only known cast member for the project was Paul Bettany in the title role. Recently, Marvel announced that James Spader would return to play Ultron. He’s only been part of one MCU film. He provided the voice, body, and face of the character inAvengers: Age of Ultron. It’ll be around a decade between his two appearances in the franchise. Spader is a fascinating performer who has been on an extended hiatus for some time.Avengers: Age of Ultronis his most recent film project. His main gig for the past decade has been occupying the lead role in NBC’sThe Blacklist. He didn’t play Ultron inWhat if…?or the character’s cameo appearance inDoctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. Ross Marquand has taken over for the past several years, but James Spader is back forVision. People weren’t exactly clamoring for his return, but a lot of people are excited to see what Marvel does with a second shot at Ultron.
Ultron deserves another chance in the MCU
When people complain about Ultron’s depiction in the MCU, their concerns can be a little shallow. The two usual grievances are that he often made jokes and that he rarely won fights. In short, some fans believe that the character would be much more enjoyable if all of his dialogue was delivered with the dead, monotonecadence of Robert Patrick’s T-1000and featured absolutely no levity. They would suggest that it is impossible to be intimidating while also being funny.
Perhaps more importantly, many fans despise the fact thatUltron frequently loses battles againsthis foes. The character spent most of his one and only film appearance trying to build himself into a bigger threat. Many of his greatest crimes against humanity occurred off-screen. Unfortunately, this means that he spends a lot of his screentime getting beaten up and broken. Rather than summoning an army, Ultron is an army. Only one of his bodies can go toe-to-toe with an Avenger, such as when he savagely beat Thor until Vision stepped in. The rest of him occupies the usual role of a faceless, punchable henchman.Many celebrate Thanos for his abilityto beat Hulk in a one-on-one fight. Since Ultron can’t do the same, he gets a lot of hate. It’s a little silly that the character can’t be menacing if he ever cracks a joke or takes a punch, but those appear to be the primary concerns of many fans. Obviously, most of these concerns arose from the fact that he’s different from his comic book appearance. His changes would be more palatable if he added more to the story.
Ultron’s biggest weakness was the fact that he was confined to a single film. The character had a mountain of thematic depth that his lengthy debut feature could never fully explore.He’s the dark reflection of the franchise’sde facto main character. He’s also a living philosophical argument about humanity, god, and the apocalypse. He gets a few moments to chat about those details, usually to a captive audience with very little to say, but he lacks narrative weight. Loki enjoyed a bit of setup before he took the central villain stage. Thanos was the mounting tide on the horizon for almost a decade before he ever became important. Ultron’s birth, life, and death all fit into 141 minutes. Most of his impact takes place long after his demise. He’s responsible for many ofthe events ofCivil Warand the state of the Avengers going intoInfinity War. The character needs another chance to explore his place in the narrative.Visioncould be a perfect opportunity.
Ultron will be important to Vision’s Quest
There’s a scene near the end ofWandaVisionin which the new version of the character speaks to Wanda’s imagined original model. They discuss the Ship of Theseus and try to determine which of them is “real.” It feels oddly familiar. The subject and blocking are a bit different, but it feels like the conversation Vision brieflyshared with Ultron’s final body. Vision has a lot of philosophical discussions throughout the MCU, but he’s been robbed of his perfect opposite. In the MCU, Vision and Ultron can be ideal rivals. Ultron needs a second chance and Vision needs a proper challenge. This is the ideal opportunity to give both characters something engaging to do. For all the concerns about bringing back performers and actors, the choice to summon returning talent for a reason beyond name recognition means a lot.
James Spader’s Ultron is no one’s favorite Marvel character. He has a few defenders, but most despise him for his quips and his weakness. A second chance likely won’t fix those problems. He probablystill won’t be a humorless Terminatoror easily dispatch the Avengers in a straight fight. However, Ultron can provide a deeper dive into his unique perspective and philosophy, and his conversations with Vision might be more interesting than his fights.
