Is Ultron in Avengers: Doomsday? James Spader's non-answer sounds a lot like a yes
Marvel's favorite genocidal robot is back on Disney+, and his actor keeps naming the one movie he says he knows nothing about.
The clip doing the rounds comes from VisionQuest's press tour, in an interview with the Swiss outlet Out Now. James Spader, back as Ultron eleven years after Age of Ultron, was describing a particular occupational hazard:
"I can't tell you the amount of people that come up to you… if you've been in one of the Marvel films."
— James Spader, to Out Now
The questions, he said, are about films he's barely heard of — and then he supplied the current example himself: whether Ultron shows up in Doomsday. He answered neither yes nor no, which from a Marvel contract-holder ten weeks before release is the kind of silence that gets subtitled.
The case for "that was a slip"
The r/marvelstudios thread ran with the reading that Spader had outed his own cameo:
"Guys he literally spells it out. He specifically states fans ask him about films he has never heard of. Then he immediately name drops Doomsday. Showing off how he 'knows the name of this film' Ultron Confirmed"
— a commenter on r/marvelstudios (79 upvotes)
The context makes the theory less silly than it sounds. Ultron has been called the highlight of VisionQuest, the last Marvel release before Doomsday hits on December 18 — reviving the character two months before the crossover and then leaving him home would be strange inventory management.
And Spader would be the third actor in a month to play this exact scene. Jeremy Renner says he's not in "that one"; Samuel L. Jackson confirmed Fury skips Doomsday but returns in the "next movie after this one"; Anthony Russo has said outright that some of the cast hasn't been announced.
Don't miss: What to watch before VisionQuest: only 3 of the 6 titles are essential — and you can skip Doctor Strange
The case for "he's just old"
The sober reading also has receipts, including from inside the same thread:
"The headline is slightly clickbaity (surprise) and slightly misleading (surprise). He's heard of Doomsday."
— a commenter on r/marvelstudios (5 upvotes)
Spader has said for years that he hasn't followed the MCU since 2015, so fumbling toward the title of the movie everyone asks him about is consistent with a man recounting street encounters, not planting clues. He also wasn't among the 27 chairs in Marvel's Doomsday cast reveal — though that livestream has since been lapped by events, and his VisionQuest colleagues treat spoilers as a running gag: showrunner Terry Matalas greeted Ultron questions with "I wasn't going to tell anyone!", and Paul Bettany joked "I've decided to get fired over this!"
Marvel revived Ultron on Disney+ exactly two months before Doomsday. Spader's non-answer is doing the rest of the marketing for free.
VisionQuest is streaming weekly on Disney+ through the fall. If Ultron's rehabilitation arc is headed where the schedule suggests, nobody on that press tour has to confirm anything — the release calendar already did.
Previously we wrote: Warner Bros. just spoiled Dune: Part Three's biggest return with one Jason Momoa image