After weeks of speculation, James Spader has emerged as the man to take on the part of Ultron in the upcoming sequel to 2012's massively successful The Avengers. The star of the NBC series The Blacklist and Steven Spielberg's Lincoln was chosen ahead of a host of other potential candidates to portray the super-powered, armoured, robotic super villain.

James Spader
James Spader will portray the super-villain Ultron

Marvel announced Spader's casting on Thursday (29 August), thus completing the list of main stars for the feature length film. Already, the film's two new additions have been cast, with Elizabeth Olsen signed on to portray the X Men hero Scarlet Witch, with Kick-Ass star Aaron Taylor-Johnson due to portray her brother, Quicksilver. Iron Man, Thor, Hulk, Captain America, Hawkeye and Black Widow are all due to return, and even The Avengers villain Loki (Tom Hiddleston) could appear in the film too.

During a Comic-Con panel for the movie this July, returning director Joss Whedon spoke of his decision to use Ultron as the villain in the upcoming sequel as an obvious one. He told the panel, "We're doing our own version of the origin story of Ultron. [Ultron was] the chief villain when I read the book. He's been the Avengers villain for so long, I was amazed anyone was surprised it would be him in the movie."

Joss Whedon
Director Joss Whedon wants to put his own take on the villain

For those unfamiliar with the comics, Ultron first appeared in The Avengers comic books back in the late 1960's as the head of The Masters of Evil. A largely robotic creation, it possess the ability to redesign it's outer shell using it's overwhelming artificial intelligence. It's outer designs usual give Ultron the ability to withstand and deliver enormous blows, as well as possessing the ability to project energy blasts. It usually has other superhuman abilities such as super-strength, speed and stamina.

The Avengers: Age of Ultron is due in cinemas on May 1, 2015.

James Spader Emmys
The Emmy-winner will hopefully do justice to the role