Having voiced Jarvis in both Iron Man films as well as The Avengers, Paul Bettany already has quite a bit of experience working with the idea of intelligent technology, but now he's set to take it to a whole new level. The English actor has signed on to join Johnny Depp in the upcoming sci-fi thriller Transcendence, which will be the directorial debut of Christopher Nolan's Academy Award winning cinematographer Wally Pfister.
While there is no official plot synopsis at this time, it's been rumored that the film is about a group of scientists experimenting with the idea of the technological singularity, the moment where a computer becomes so advanced that it begins to learn on its own and no longer needs the user. Depp's casting in the film was confirmed just last night. Deadline, which received the casting news, says that Bettany will be playing a scientist, but doesn't offer any further details. Newcomer Jack Paglen wrote the script, which reportedly also deals in the science of nanotechnology and artificial intelligence. Both Nolan and Emma Thomas are on as producers.
Bettany will once again be coming back as Jarvis in Iron Man 3 this fall, and is also attached to director Tom Shankland's war film Destroyer, based on the memoirs of author Hart Dyke. He will also soon be seen alongside Mark Strong, Brian Cox and Stephen Graham in the Nick Murphy thriller Blood, which just played at the Glasgow Film Festival earlier this month.
