Review by C.J. Bunce
What more can be said about Paul Bettany’s Marvel Avenger called Vision? Five years after we last saw him with wife Wanda in the series WandaVision, he’s back again for the Disney+ limited superhero series VisionQuest. The thirtieth Marvel TV series since Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., it is one of the most unusual and one of the best productions yet. Whatever your thoughts of the synthezoid superhero, this is either a much overdue solo project or just another attempt to give every comic book character their own show. This series rises above many others for its unique attempt to merge a current reality–the onslaught of A.I. on the real world–and Roy Thomas and John Buscema’s sci-fi creation first seen in 1968. Now streaming all eight episodes on Disney+, VisionQuest brings Disney’s forays into sci-fi’s digital worlds full circle. Its themes call back to the studio’s groundbreaking 1982 visual spectacle Tron. Asking many of the questions good cyborg and robot stories have asked for a century, showrunner Terry Matalas brings the dangers of technology forward into the latest, cutting-edge cautionary tale.
At what point does the Vision’s Pinocchio-inspired character become a real boy? It wasn’t when Tony Stark derived him from the synthezoid (a borg-esque combination of technology and organic-like materials) called Ultron in Avengers: Age of Ultron and affixed his forehead with an Infinity Stone. It wasn’t when he showed his worth by protecting humanity instead of joining Ultron’s destruction. Was it when Vision fell in love with Wanda Maximoff? Was it when he sacrificed himself for humanity at the hands of Thanos? Does it happen in this series?
Vision is living in a Scottish restaurant, but also in his own Mindspace, populated by other artificial intelligence incarnations from his past, all being protected by him, all aiding him in a quest to discover who he is after he was revived by Wanda, only to be the cause of her destruction at the end of the events of WandaVision. Thomas, one of Vision and Wanda’s boys (played by Ruaridh Mollica), conjured by the Scarlet Witch for the events of WandaVision, emerges as a grifter in the streets of London. Partnering with, and possibly in love with, crime partner Lisa (played by Lauren Morais), Thomas gets his own visions of a life lived with Wanda, Vision, and his brother back in the fake world of WandaVision. Is he really Vision’s son? What really is the Vision? This subplot builds some heart into the series. But truly it could have gone far had the series hired back Elizabeth Olsen’s vibrant personality for Wanda again, although she appears in flashback clips for good measure.
A giant pile of characters from the Vision storyline come together. At first blush it feels like all the leftover scraps of the MCU, with Marvel and Disney squeezing the last vestiges out of the success of the 22 Infinity Saga movies and series. Characters from the first Iron Man movie, including a hydraulic arm called DUM-E (now brought to human form by Henry Lewis), another A.I. called U for Useless–also a Stark hydraulic arm robot (now played by Jonathan Sayer), as well as E.D.I.T.H., played by Emily Hampshire, who was last heard in the mask communication system of Tom Holland’s Spider-Man. TV audiences will welcome the return of J.A.R.V.I.S., named by Tony Stark after his dad’s butler. First played as a voice by Bettany, it now inhabits the form of actor James D’Arcy from his Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. days. The A.I. family is rounded out with Orla Brady in her latest great appearance as F.R.I.D.A.Y., yet another A.I. from Stark’s past. Brady and D’Arcy are great support actors for Bettany, elevating the series into something more than what we’ve seen on TV from Disney so far for Marvel. Even Faran Tahir’s Raza is plucked from MCU’s past, from Iron Man, for a brief return.
The first antagonist to disrupt Vision’s current form of existence is Paladin, played by Todd Stashwick, basically a supernatural creation viewers aren’t given much background about, other than he’s a bounty hunter with an ancient history, hired by the show’s mystery villain. But the real menace is of course Ultron, a copy uploaded and backed up for sentimental reasons by Vision, which could prove to be Earth’s downfall once again. Voiced originally by James Spader, now in Vision’s Mindspace Ultron takes the appearance of the very hairy personage of 2026 actor Spader.
Vision: You look great!
Spader: You look great. I look like direct-to-video.
Yes.
Stashwick’s Paladin, and a synthezoid named Jocasta (played by T’Nia Miller), as well as a cameo by Academy Award winning actor Mary McDonnell, are part of the construct that builds to the climax of the show: the inevitable throwdown between Ultron and Vision, that rehashed comic showdown element previously seen with Thor and Hulk, Captain America and Winter Soldier, Captain America and Iron Man, and others in the MCU.
The worldbuilding is creative, clever, imaginative. The production is a continuation of the nostalgia-stuffed world of WandaVision, but vastly different. Vision’s updated supersuit armor is probably the best costume work on a Marvel TV series yet. The visual effects behind Ultron in synthezoid form are as good as in the movie. And all the technobits that create the Mindspace and beyond conjure a fun, overdue continuation of the technical world originally seen back in 1982 with our first foray there and back again inside the digital realm in the movie Tron. A scene in the first episode looks like a direct update to Tron’s key microverse travel sequence. A fun use of pop songs at the right time, like the theme from The Greatest American Hero, brings some emotion and heart into the story. Even a strange entry from Roger Whitaker finds a home here. Composer Michael Giacchino’s son Mick Giacchino (Star Wars: Skeleton Crew, Muppets Mayhem, The Penguin) adds another rousing score to his portfolio of genre movies, quickly catching up to his father’s success.
VisionQuest attempts to wrestle with hazards and pitfalls of an A.I. existence in visually human terms and via human relationships. It’s not completely easy to understand, however. Convoluted at times like the Loki series with too many throwback references, it’s not a good candidate for viewing weekly in the way it was released on Disney+. It’s just too difficult to keep track of what is happening week after week. But in one long eight episode binge session, it will make better sense, and on second viewing the various tentacles of the subplots do come together. But even the most focused reader of Marvel Comics will need to refer back to who this character is and why she is here, where they appeared and whether or not they were created for the MCU or if existed in the comics. For purposes of the series it does not matter. The Butcherbird Killer isn’t really that clever a MacGuffin, and ultimately the reveal of the culprit behind all the villainy not all that surprising. But it works, and the end is satisfying.
Like Disney’s other big franchise shows The Mandalorian and The Book of Boba Fett, WandaVision and VisionQuest become one multiple-season series, despite the separate titles. The best episode of the series is actually the second, which includes the best scene–Vision’s wrath momentarily unleashed while John Denver’s Calypso plays in the background. The most dramatic is the finale, where it all comes together. In hindsight, Bettany, likely the best of the MCU’s actors with the exception of Robert Redford, could have been the star of his own MCU movie on par or better than those of Chris Hemsworth’s Thor, Chris Evans’ Captain America, or Tony Stark’s Iron Man. This series, if it succeeds at anything, proves that point. Bettany is a marvel. The series also makes a great use of puns–a data leak is visualized as a leak.
VisionQuest is an even better science fiction series than it is a superhero series. Fans of all things borg and science fiction fans will appreciate the tropes revisited that date back to Frankenstein, Pinocchio, The Wizard of Oz, Forbidden Planet, The Six Million Dollar Man, and all the cybernetic stories in between.
Note: The final episode has an important post credits scene that leads into the coming movie Avengers: Doomsday.
Ultimately VisionQuest is a lovely tribute to Paul Bettany’s work in the Marvel’s Cinematic Universe. It’s a nice run for anyone still wishing the Infinity Saga hadn’t ended, and indeed the series could have existed somewhere within the story elements of the saga. Watch Paul Bettany and a cavalcade of characters from Vision’s past in the eight episodes of the limited series VisionQuest, now streaming on Disney+.
