Avengers: Age Of Ultron star James Spader has spoken exclusively with Total Film about playing Marvel uber villain Ultron.

"There's a humerous aspect to him, which is something that drew me in from the very first conversation I had with Joss [Whedon]," Spader revealed. "In many ways he's a child, this character, because he's a brand new being who's just come to be. And yet, through artificial intelligence, he has an incredible capacity for knowledge. So he's a very powerful, smart child."

Currently starring as a former government agent, turned criminal, in Sky Living show The Blacklist , Spader drew fundamental differences between the morally ambivalent Red and the Avengers big bad. "Ultron takes abrupt turns in scenes." He explained. "Red isn't pyschopathic but Ultron is. Yes, he is psychopathic. He's really batshit crazy!"

The first trailer for Avengers: Age Of Ultron hit earlier today featuring a deranged voiceover from Mr Spader which begins, "I'm going to show you something beautiful - everyone screaming for mercy..." before a sinister restyling of the Pinocchio tune "I've got no strings" kicks in.

Directed by Whedon ("Besides being just a lovely person, his directions are very precise" Spader describes) and starring Robert Downey Jr, Scarlett Johansson and Mark Ruffalo, Avengers: Age Of Ultron will smash into cinemas on 24 April.

Read the full interview with James Spader in the latest issue of Total Film , on sale Friday 24th October.