..........Or maybe that should be voice? Anyway, the big Summer movies of 2015 have been rife for speculation over the last few months, with the rumour mill working over time on Star Wars: Episode VII and the Man of Steel follow-up. Now the third movie in that Summer's blockbuster trinity, Avengers: Age of Ultron, has a rumour of it's own. Unleash the Fanboy is reporting that J.A.R.V.I.S., the Paul Bettany voiced artificial intelligence, who has been with the Marvel Cinematic Universe since the first Iron Man, will be the new version of the villain, after Joss Whedon has said that his origin will differ from that in the comic. They also report that Bettany is in talks to return, but no word on whether he will again just be doing voice work, or if he will be providing motion capture work.
Now, this is all just a rumour at this stage, with no official line to back it up, but it is a nice little theory, with a wealth of possibilities. In the comic, Ultron is a robot created by Avenger Hank Pym (who will be seen in Ant Man, the first movie in Marvel's Phase Three), possessing an artificial based on Pym's brain waves. Gaining it's own free will, Ultron rebelled, developing an obsession with Pym's lover Janet Van Dyne (also an Avenger known as The Wasp) and vowing to destroy his 'father'. Both Whedon and Ant-Man director Edgar Wright have stated that Pym plays no part in Ultron's origin, so the Bettany voiced computer is a possible candidate to take the villain role. While I don't see Marvel running with an Oedipus Complex involving Tony Stark and Pepper Potts (though I've been surprised by Joss Whedon before), a vengeful J.A.R.V.I.S., angry at being abandoned at the end of Iron Man 3 after Tony destroys all the Iron Man armour and mothballs his Malibu home/workshop, gaining independence and a bad ass new body to take on The Avengers could potentially work. This ties into the teaser shown at Comic-Con which showed the Iron Man mask being hammered into the face of Ultron.
Again, this is all up in the air at the moment, and we have to wait for an official announcement from Marvel Studios, but there are many fun and original takes to go with this character.
Avengers: Age of Ultron is released on May 1st 2015.
