More From James Spader On Joining THE AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON
Discussing whether his role on The Blacklist will be affected by his villainous role as Ultron in Marvel's The Avengers sequel, actor James Spader also explains what intrigued him about the Marvel universe.
During a press conference for NBC's new drama series The Blacklist, actor James Spader was pressed more about his villainous role in Joss Whedon's The Avengers sequel, Age of Ultron. When asked what intrigued him about joining the highly-anticipated Marvel film, Spader explained, "Well, I had met with Kevin Feige a couple of years ago and just told him that I would love to come into that world, at some point, if the circumstances were right. It was for a lot of reasons. There was a time in my life where I used to go over to my friend Will’s house when I was kid and I never had any comic books in my house, but he had trunk loads of them. I used to go over there & bury myself in his room with his comics & devour them. Then, I put that down in my life. I have three sons & a couple of them, along the way, have shown a real keen interest in that world. So, before it was too late, I wanted to try to see if I could be part of that."
Spader adds that, "One of the great luxuries, as an actor, is that you’re able to participate in projects where the process of making the thing or the world you’re entering is so foreign to you, and that foreign world, in many cases, forces you to work in an entirely different way. The challenge becomes so different, and I was intrigued by that. I’ve been doing this a long time, and it seemed like it would be great fun to do something that I have no frame of reference for. So, the right thing came along and Kevin Feige called me up and said, “I found the thing.” And Joss Whedon gave me a call and said he really wasn’t thinking about anybody else for it and he thought it would be great fun to do. So, here we go," the actor enthuses.
Whether playing Ultron will have an impact on his recurring role in The Blacklist, James Spader explains, "I’m hoping that it’s gonna be a fairly smooth transition, but I don’t know." We’ll wait and see how long The Blacklist plays, and whether it plays a full season or not. If it plays a full season, then I’m sure I will be packing my bags on the last few days of our production on The Blacklist, in preparation to get over to London to start shooting The Avengers. "
So far starring Robert Downey, Jr., Chris Evans, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Hemsworth, Scarlett Johansson, Cobie Smulders, Jeremy Renner, Samuel L. Jackson and James Spader, with Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Elizabeth Olsen in negotiations to join, The Avengers: Age of Ultron is directed by Joss Whedon from his screenplay, and is slated to begin production in March 2014 and release on May 1, 2015.