James Spader will be on villain duties as the title character in The Avengers: The Age Of Ultron (Picture: Getty Images)

Avengers director Joss Whedon has revealed that James Spader was his top choice to bring the villainous Ultron to the screen in the forthcoming Avengers sequel.

The actor was revealed late last month to have joined the cast of the blockbuster as the superhero collective’s arch nemesis.

And in an interview with Marvel’s online video series The Watcher Whedon – who will begin shooting the movie in the UK early next year – said that Spader had all the necessary qualities to play the character

‘Spader was my first and only choice,’ the filmmaker said. ‘He’s got that hypnotic voice that can be eerily calm and compelling, but he’s also very human and humorous.




‘He can play all of the levels,’ he added. ‘He’s the guy to break The Avengers into pieces.’

Joss Whedon said that he always had Spader in mind for the role of Ultron (Picture: Getty Images)

Whedon recently revealed that the character – who appears in the comic books as a creation of Dr Henry Pym, aka Ant-Man – was ‘not a happy guy’.

‘He’s always trying to destroy the Avengers, goddamn it, he’s got a bee in his bonnet,’ he explained.

‘He’s got pain. And the way that manifests is not going to be standard robot stuff.’

The Avengers: Age Of Ultron is due for release in 2015, joining a crowded schedule which already looks set to include Batman v Superman, Star Wars Episode VII and Marvel’s Ant-Man movie.