From HAL to Ultron: How Sci-Fi’s killer AI found its most charming Avatar in Avengers
Ever since cinema began entertaining the possibility of artificial life, science fiction has nurtured a fascination with machines that develop an urge to wipe out their creators.
HAL 9000, the chilling menace of 2001: A Space Odyssey; Skynet, the harbinger of nuclear annihilation in The Terminator; VIKI, the despot of I, Robot; and CLU, the perfectionist of Tron: Legacy, have all furnished compelling arguments against allowing computers near the levers of civilisation.
Yet, none have been quite as charming, sardonic or romantically preoccupied with the species they intend to exterminate as the titular antagonist of Avengers: Age of Ultron.
Regarded as one of Marvel Comics’ most formidable supervillains, Ultron made his MCU debut in the 2015 Avengers sequel, voiced by James Spader. The Sex, Lies, and Videotape breakout and Boston Legal veteran brought his gift for weaponising urbane condescension to the machine with delusions of divinity.
Ultron was the brainchild of two of the MCU’s most formidable intellects — Tony Stark and Bruce Banner — responding to the Battle of New York in The Avengers (2012). Using the Mind Stone, the duo created an artificial intelligence intended to protect Earth from future threats without requiring the Avengers to fight every battle themselves.
