‘Dracula’ star joins ‘Avengers: Age of Ultron’ as HYDRA leader Baron Strucker

“Avengers: Age of Ultron” has bagged a new supervillain.

German actor Thomas Kretschmann, best known Stateside for playing Abraham van Helsing on NBC’s “Dracula,” has been added to the cast of the Marvel sequel as Baron Wolfgang von Strucker, a former Nazi officer and leader of HYDRA who in the comics wields the Satan Claw, a gauntlet capable of delivering powerful electrical shocks as well as heightening Strucker’s physical strength. The main villain in the follow-up was previously revealed as Ultron, a sentient robot who will be played via motion capture by actor James Spader. Other freshman cast members in the Joss Whedon-directed sequel include Elizabeth Olsen as the Scarlet Witch and Aaron Taylor-Johnson as Quicksilver.

Kretschmann’s feature-film credits include the 2013 Russian war drama “Stalingrad,” “Valkyrie” opposite Tom Cruise and Timur Bekmambetov’s “Wanted” co-starring Angelina Jolie.

“Avengers: Age of Ultron” is slated for release on May 1, 2015.

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(via The Hollywood Reporter)

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