James Spader and Terry Matalas on resurrecting Ultron in the age of AI for Marvel’s ‘VisionQuest’
Marvel is bringing back the villain Ultron for the upcoming series 'VisionQuest,' with James Spader reprising his role. The article explores the thematic connection between the character's AI nature and real-world anxieties regarding artificial intelligence.
Why it matters
The return of a prominent AI-based villain highlights how pop culture reflects and shapes public perception of AI development and its potential risks.
Ever since cinema began entertaining the possibility of artificial life, science fiction has nurtured a rather murderous fascination with the prospect, repeatedly conjuring machines of extraordinary intelligence that invariably develop an unaccountable urge to wipe out their creators. HAL 9000, the chillingly unflappable menace of 2001: A Space Odyssey ; Skynet, the harbinger of nuclear-annihilation of The Terminator ; VIKI, the maternalistic despot of I, Robot ; and CLU, the fascistic perfectionist of Tron: Legacy , have all furnished compelling arguments against allowing computers anywhere near the levers of civilisation. Yet, none of these electronic misanthropes have been quite as charming, sardonic or, dare I say, romantically preoccupied with the species they intend to exterminate as the titular genocidal hellspawn of Tony Stark and Bruce Banner from Avengers: Age of Ultron .
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