VisionQuest is available for streaming on Disney+ with the first two episodes premiering October 14, 2026, and it has brought back Ultron, once again portrayed by James Spader. But why did the actor agree to reprise this dark character years after last time? Introduced as an adversary in Avengers: Age of Ultron, the ensemble sequel dedicated to the Avengers and released in cinemas in 2015, Ultron is the one who also made possible Vision’s existence. His body, initially built to host him, was later reprogrammed by Tony Stark and Bruce Banner with the AI J.A.R.V.I.S., giving life to Vision, who returns as the lead in VisionQuest. The addition of Ultron to the cast was made possible by a workaround discussed by James Spader in a recent interview. The actor explained why he decided to reprise that character after time.
James Spader reveals why he decided to reprise Ultron in VisionQuest
The ending of Avengers: Age of Ultron showed the villain’s destruction, but a small detail suggests that it was not definitive. Speaking with Entertainment Weekly, James Spader explained that in the final scene where Vision destroys Ultron there seems to be still some hope for him: “You see how the ending is cut. The film stops before you see anything. At that moment you realize that Marvel always leaves a door open, a possible escape. With a character like Ultron, he could be anywhere, he could have insinuated himself into some smartphone and taken control.”
Although he was involved in the animated series What If…, Ultron in the flesh and blood returned only with VisionQuest, and James Spader, its lead, explained that after Avengers: Age of Ultron he wouldn’t have had time to devote to him: “I had neither the time nor the space to linger on this, not even for a second.” The reason is simple: three days after finishing filming the second Avengers movie, the actor reached the London set to shoot additional episodes of The Blacklist, a TV series that had him as a lead for ten seasons. “I had neither time nor energy, and not even the desire to think about anything other than that series. It was a seven-days-a-week commitment.”
One day, years later, he received a call from showrunner Terry Matalas who offered Ultron’s return. The creator of VisionQuest revealed the backstory: “Like a bolt from the blue, the first thing that came to mind was James Spader. I adore the final scene of Age of Ultron between the two, and I could watch them spar with each other for hours. I told myself: ‘What if this were the series’ plot?’” So we learn that Ultron had survived as a small fragment within Vision’s mind and it is here that he interacts with the protagonist in VisionQuest alongside other AIs such as DUM-E, U, JARVIS, FRIDAY and EDITH. Yet, everything started from Ultron: “It was an unexpected surprise when Terry contacted me to take the project back, but to do it in a completely different way,” Spader explained.
The two met for lunch in New York, a three-and-a-half-hour gathering that ended with an agreement: Spader would reprise Ultron’s role precisely because he described the idea as “strange and unexpected.” The format also proved decisive: “Even more appealing for Ultron’s return was the idea that it would be a TV series, because the format was so different, it allowed us to truly focus on these characters and let them grow and mature. In fact, every decision and choice made for the series, concerning me or anyone else, was influenced by that passage of time. And for Ultron, all the more so. He had been in prison for over a decade, and that really forced him to pause for a moment. It was like a spoiled teenager who ate junk food and absorbed as much knowledge and information as possible.”
The Ultron version in VisionQuest is as “hungry” as possible, the actor explained, a portrayal that had to confront the passing of time in captivity, “forced to stop, to pay attention and to reflect, literally and figuratively. And that says everything there is to know about the character’s state of mind. The way this manifests is what defines the series.”
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