Avengers: Age of Ultron was the second installment in Marvel’s Avengers series, which centers around an artificial intelligence becoming self-aware and trying to wipe out humanity. It’s a film that up until very recently, we took as a work of fiction.
However, a viral clip making the rounds on the internet Thursday is making the superhero romp look like a documentary.
The clip in question features an uncannily life-like robot made by U.K.-based robotics company Engineered Arts, according to Futurism.
The clip showed the grey-faced bot appearing to be stirred awake, making a shocked-looking face, and beginning to examine his own hand as if becoming self-aware. The robot then makes a surprised expression to the camera and noise which sounds like a sigh but may well be its mechanical parts pistons sliding up and down. The video ends with the robot giving what appears to be a knowing, coy smirk to the camera.
It didn’t take long for comic fans to declare, some “Ultron level” stuff was going down in real life, causing the villain to trend on Twitter.
According to Futurism, the sequence of expressions and gestures was mostly likely just for show, probably programmed ahead of time in a scripted set of movements.
However, it’s easy to see why people would be so freaked out by the video, as the rather convincing expressions place the machine firmly at the bottom of the trench that we call the uncanny valley.
Check back here for all your latest Avengers: Age of Ultron news, including any developments that your smart fridge is calculating its chances at succeeding in overthrowing humankind as we speak.