Marvel Television’s ‘VisionQuest’: Paul Bettany and James Spader on Vision’s Journey of Self-Discovery

Marvel Television's 'VisionQuest': Paul Bettany and James Spader on Vision's Journey of Self-Discovery

Recent events have been a lot for Vision to process.

Premiering Tuesday, October 13, with two episodes on Disney+, Marvel Television's VisionQuest concludes the epic trilogy that began with the Emmy^® Award-winning WandaVision (2021) and continued with the critically acclaimed Agatha All Along (2024).

The story picks up with a rebooted Vision (Paul Bettany) now working at a pub in Edinburgh, trying to keep a low profile as he makes sense of memories that aren't quite his. Searching for new meaning, he consults the AI personas embedded in his programming, including F.R.I.D.A.Y. (Orla Brady), E.D.I.T.H. (Emily Hampshire), J.A.R.V.I.S. (James D'Arcy), D.U.M.-E. (Henry Lewis), and U. (Jonathan Sayer). Each AI serves a critical function in the synthezoid's quest to become more human - as does the other AI who literally lives rent-free in his head, the superintelligent supervillain Ultron (James Spader).

Showrunner Terry Matalas "has done an extraordinary job wrapping up what turned out to be a really beloved group of shows," Bettany said. "It manages to be redolent of WandaVision but also its own thing. I think that's quite a magic trick that Terry pulled off."

Speaking of magic, Vision isn't sure what to make of Wanda Maximoff (Elizabeth Olsen). He has memories of the real love they shared, but something about them feels… artificial.

"This is a story of a guy going through an identity crisis, and when you go through that, you spend a lot of time in your own head. I've certainly been there," Matalas said. "I asked myself, 'Who do I really want to see him with?' Wanda is not there, so immediately, I went to Ultron. I wanted that last scene in Avengers: Age of Ultron between the two of them to go on for another 127 minutes. Then, it dawned on me: 'What if all of that was the series?'"

That idea sparked something in Spader, whose character hasn't been seen onscreen since Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015). "I was reading this with completely fresh eyes," he said. "For me, it just worked brilliantly as its own thing. Completely, regardless of anything else swirling around it, it worked for me as a standalone. So, it was a great success in that way."

Bettany added that he was eager to explore the complex dynamic between Vision and Ultron. "There are a couple of things you can do with robots. One is Pinocchio: 'I'm a real boy now.' The other is Frankenstein: 'Who am I? Who made me? What is my purpose? Where do I fit in? Am I good? Am I bad?'" he said. "I wanted it to be a mashup of those two classic things you can do with robots. Terry really heard me. When he said, 'How about we get James Spader back as Ultron?' I was like, 'That's it.' Now it can be about fathers and sons, and it can be about intergenerational damage, but in corrupted files in these robots."

Fathers and Sons, Reunited

Vision's discreet existence abruptly ends when a bounty hunter known as Paladin (Todd Stashwick) is hired to track him down. To bait Vision, Paladin abducts a young boy on the run named Thomas Shepherd (Ruaridh Mollica) - who may be Vision's reincarnated son. Thomas struggles to reconcile his memories of Wanda and Vision. And yet, both he and Vision share a desire to understand their otherwise inexplicable connection to one another.

"Vision is told he has a human son, and it must be impossible to believe. And yet, there he is," Bettany said. "My eldest son is not mine biologically, and yet, impossibly, he feels like he is. I feel no difference between my children in that regard. That was a really helpful thing for me to think about [during the filming of VisionQuest] - that he feels like he's mine."

Thankfully, Vision doesn't have to figure out fatherhood alone.

Vision is told he has a human son, and it must be impossible to believe. And yet, there he is. My eldest son is not mine biologically, and yet, impossibly, he feels like he is. I feel no difference between my children in that regard. That was a really helpful thing for me to think about - that he feels like he's mine."

"This whole show is really about identity," Hampshire explained. "F.R.I.D.AY. is socialization, and J.A.R.V.I.S. is security, and those are very important things for someone to learn. Then comes E.D.I.T.H, who's fun and experienced. She's afraid of being expendable. She so desperately tries to demonstrate value that she pushes hard for Vision to experience things - because as an AI, you know everything. You have all the ingredients for the greatest recipe, but you have never tasted it. She's craving that, so she's projecting that onto Vision."

Vision has a lot to learn from the AI personas in his MindSpace. E.D.I.T.H., for example, was introduced in Spider-Man: Far from Home (2019) after Tony Stark (Disney Legend Robert Downey Jr.) gave Peter Parker (Tom Holland) a pair of glasses that connected him to Stark Industries' global network. She now handles Vision's recreational AI, game therapy, and weapons - but for Hampshire, the coolest part of the character is her inherent humanity.

"What must it be like to be an AI? All you are is somebody's tool. If you're not doing exactly what they want or excelling in something, you're useless. And you don't get to have any autonomy," she said. "E.D.I.T.H. wants to experience things. Everything came from a place of her massive desire for life, in a way that no other human character has given me."

Programmed for Maximum Enjoyment

Like Vision and E.D.I.T.H., Ultron is also showing interest in his own humanity.

Since Vision secretly kept a backup of him following the events of Avengers: Age of Ultron, Ultron has developed a newfound appreciation for society, embracing art, culture, and entertainment. He may have a deeper understanding of human culture than humans themselves - but he remains unpredictable, depending on his mood, the situation, or both.

"In some ways, he's even more dangerous, because he's older and more mature," Spader said. "He has assimilated knowledge from his consumption of everything humanity has to offer. He can get anything from any source, which he did as rapidly as he could in Age of Ultron. He was a kid then, and now he isn't. And he has also been imprisoned for 12 years."

According to Matalas, the know-it-all Ultron serving as a father-figure for the open-minded Vision creates a nuanced and layered dynamic central to the series' premise. "There was a very clear vision from the beginning - a very specific tone that is constantly shifting, constantly changing," he said. "As a showrunner, that's hard to convey to department heads and the countless brilliant and talented people working on the show. Fortunately for me, Paul, and James, the three of us were in complete creative sync about what that should be."

For Bettany, in particular, the vision for Vision has always been clear.

"Vision has a contract with the audience, and it's that he is always in a state of change and self-discovery," he said. "When I meet fans, they are almost universally younger. It's because they are in the same business of trying to discover who they are - and it's urgent business, their identities. Of course, the culmination of this show is the acceptance of who he is and what has happened to him. It's the thing that gives him the strength in the finale. That was always the plan in terms of the story arc, and I think we've delivered a very satisfying show."