(CNN) -- The next time the Avengers assemble, it'll be to face off with James Spader. The actor has been cast as the formidable foe Ultron in the next "Avengers" movie, Marvel announced Thursday. Written and directed by Joss Whedon, "The Avengers: Age of Ultron" will show a more humanized -- but just as fearsome -- villain, Whedon told Entertainment Weekly. In the Marvel universe, Ultron is a sentient robot that has an incredibly wide range of abilities, coming equipped with super-speed, super-strength, flight, mind control and a coma ray, to name a few. Whedon's Ultron won't be quite as versatile, and the filmmaker is imagining a less robotic bad guy.
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James Spader has been cast as the villain in the upcoming "Avengers" movie
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The actor will face-off against the Marvel heroes as Ultron
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"The Avengers: The Age of Ultron" will arrive on May 1, 2015
"I knew right away what I wanted to do with him," @placeholder, as an admitted fan of Ultron's, has said.