Still one of the more memorable things to spin out of the MCU in the wake of Endgame and the rise of Disney+, WandaVison still stands as the gold standard of an admittedly uneven Multiverse Saga. Treating reality as thrillingly optional and putting supporting Avengers Wanda Maximoff and the synthezoid Vison front and centre, the show became a beacon of proof that suggested that increased MCU content didn’t have to mean the franchise couldn’t afford to get a little creative. As a result, the spin-off series, Agatha All Along, not only continued the story of Wanda and Vision’s “imaginary” children suddenly becoming flesh, but also proudly upheld the tradition that anything even remotely related to Elizabeth Olsen’s Scarlet Witch needs to be treated with a sizable dose of manipulated reality.
Well, completing a trilogy we didn’t even know existed is VisionQuest, Marvel’s latest show that aims to put the full focal point on Paul Bettany’s confused, resurrected, titular android. Can that strong sense of unreality prevail in this world of antagonistic AIs and super-robots experiencing existential crisis? Time to log in and find out.
After the events of WandaVision, we find the synthezoid half of that tragic love affair in a state of confusion. After battling the construct version of Vision that came from Wanda’s memories, the orginal model halted his rampage when his programming was altered after the “fake” Vision re-accessed his memories. But after Wanda withdrew her Hex, seemingly ending the existence of her husband and her kids, the original Vision was seemingly left without purpose other than trying to unravel a bunch of memories that he didn’t earn and can’t quite understand.
We catch up with him working in a bar he and Wanda used to frequent in Edinburgh during their post-Civil War/pre-Infinity war trist, but when he finished his work shifts, he retreats into the world within his mindscape that’s populated with other downloaded Stark Industries AIs in order to make sense of his experiences and memories. Helping him in this quest are J.A.R.V.I.S., the program that ran Tony Stark’s company; F.R.I.D.A.Y., the AI that came later after her predecessor became the base programming for the Vision; E.D.I.T.H., the defence program that populated the tech glasses given to Spider-Man in Far From Home, and DUM-E and U., the two basic helper programs that used to aid Tony Stark in his work shop. However, lurking in the attic, imprisoned from the outside world, is Ultron, the villainous AI that attempted to destroy humanity, but was copied and saved into Vision’s consciousness as an act of mercy.
However, Vision’s attempts to crack the code of human nature is interrupted when a bounty hunter known as Paladin makes an attempt to take down Vision for a mysterious employer. When his first attempt fails, Paladin takes less direct means to ensure his prey by targeting Tommy Sheppard, a grifter who believes he is the reincarnation of Tommy Maximoff. With his “son” in the wind, Vision has to decide if he’s finally going to go out in the world proper.
While the continuation of the WandaVision Saga eschews the use of hexes and magic to manipulate reality, it still dutifully screws with the established order thanks to the use of the digitised mindscape that resides within Vision’s consciousness. In a universe of impossibly blue skies, within a mansion of eccentric design, the uncanny worlds that have sprung from the minds of those in charge of things (Wanda, Billy, Vision) prove to be an attempt to flee the complex morals and questions of the real world. It was vastly intriguing when we both resided in Westview and walked the Witches’ Road and thankfully, it proves to be similarly fascinating here now that Vision is calling the shots.
It also help that the show is literally jammed full of MCU deep cuts to help the Marvel faithful to geek out uncontrollably, and here we find that Vision has collected and backed-up a plethora of companion AIs from throughout the franchise’s history to perform various tasks. The mute DUM-E and U. have gone from slapstick helper robots from the Iron Man films to a blank-faced, Laurel & Hardy duo and James D’Arcy returns from his role of Stark butler Jarvis in Agent Carter and a cameo in Endgame to play the human avatar of the AI Bettany himself once voiced. Elsewhere, we find Orla Brady’s voice of reason replacing Kerry Condon as a recast F.R.I.D.A.Y. and finally, Schitt’s Creek’s Emily Hampshire steps in as the excitable program E.D.I.T.H. and each of them has a task to perform when working within the parameters of Vision’s mind. Once again, things kind of take the form of an idealised sitcom, as each program goes about their business and getting on each other’s nerves while Bettany’s alpha sits around reading the newspaper and studying old memories from Age Of Ultron, Civil War, Infinity War on a cinema screen.
However, the big get here is the belated return of James Spader’s Ultron, who not only enjoys a richly deserved comeback (he is an Avengers level threat, after all), but promptly steals every single scene he’s in thanks to Spader’s unfeasibly sardonic delivery. Some may roll their eyes at the fact that, for the lion’s share of his screen time, the 9 foot robot version has been replaced by a bearded Spader himself, and merely claim that it’s a cynical money saving ploy; but seeing that Bettany’s allowed to have a human form, and all the other AI have fleshy constructs themselves, it not only makes perfect sense, but allows the actors to be freer with their various performances. As a slice of ambitous world building, it’s fantastic, but it also allows all the various themes of humanity to breathe as Vision deliberately leads a blinkered existence in search of emotions and their meaning.
However, beyond all the time spent in Vision’s mind, there’s an actual secondary plot that’s occurring which deals in more standard, MCU, spy shenanigans. Introduced to Todd Stashwick’s perfectionist bounty hunter, Paladin, we find that he’s been hired by some shadowy identity to locate and subdue Vision for reasons unknown. After an early attempt ends in death and failure for both mercs and an onlooker alike, the hunter sniffs out Tommy Sheppard, who fans of Agatha All Along will know is the host of Tommy Maximoff’s soul after drowning in a prank gone wrong. Obviously, with the messed-up family tree that’s at work here (Ultron is Vision’s father, technically), it seems that the route to Vision’s humanity is through his son, but we’ll undoubtedly get more of that as it unfurls.
As first episodes go, VisionQuest scores a formidable start, delivering all the visual and emotional trickery of its two, previous, parent shows. While those unfamiliar with the sprawling history of the MCU will feel like a kite in a hurricane (there’s a humungous amount of catch-up), this is sizable proof that Marvel Television is a long way from being done. Touching, funny and hurling about easter-eggs and callbacks at a frightening rate, it seems that the wait for Avengers: Doomsday isn’t going to be that agonising after all. Not when we have Vision to guide us…
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