•Paul Bettany returns as Vision in the new Disney+ series VisionQuest, bringing back the android alongside James Spader’s imprisoned Ultron and a cast of other AI characters from the Marvel Cinematic Universe, including JARVIS (James D’Arcy), FRIDAY (Orla Brady) and EDITH (Emily Hampshire).
But one figure conspicuously absent is Wanda Maximoff—or any of the Avengers. This comes as little surprise given that Wanda (Elizabeth Olsen) died in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, and the Avengers themselves are fractured, with apparently two rival teams now operating within the MCU.
In the series premiere, Vision reflects on how he appears to have evaded everyone searching for him since the events of WandaVision. “There isn’t an enemy, an acquaintance… or even an Avenger trying to find the Vision,” he says—delivered by Bettany with what one reporter described as a melancholy realization.
When asked whether Vision feels abandoned by the Avengers in that moment, Bettany responded: “Well, I think so.”
“I finally realized that I was really making Vision for a version of me as a child, where I felt like the outsider who was bullied. I didn’t think I would ever fit in anywhere. So it’s just a moment to remind [us]… It’s sitting on a chair at a dance, a school dance, you know what I mean? And having the courage to go and talk to a girl.”
Paul Bettany
Bettany also discussed how Vision—formerly known as White Vision, who lacked the emotions and memories of the original before reuniting with a magical version of Wanda in WandaVision—is now detached from both humanity and any deep feelings for Wanda.
As for Ultron’s view of his former partner and mother of their children, Spader was blunt: “He’s pretty rude about Wanda.” He added that the villain “lives in the present” and is “ready to step forward,” though only after he “shoves [Vision] ahead of him.”
The two characters share a complicated bond. While Ultron begins the series trapped within an artificial reality constructed by Vision, Bettany describes his co-star’s character as “a quasi-therapist, psychotic father figure.” Spader agrees: “I think without question, he looks at him as a son-like figure.”
“But I think the more interesting thing is how much it matters to him how Vision perceives him. And it’s touching in a way because he … allows himself to not care or to appear to not care, but he does. He really does care. But what’s interesting is it’s not so much he cares how he feels about Vision. It’s he really cares about how Vision perceives him.”
James Spader
The relationship traces back to a celebrated scene in Avengers: Age of Ultron, where the two synthetic lifeforms debated humanity. Spader noted that this pivotal exchange was actually filmed in a parking lot rather than the forest shown on screen.
“It’s this little seed of the last scene with them in Age of Ultron,” Spader said. “[We] grew it and watered it and fed it and raised it and gave it light and it blossomed into this amazing show and story.”
Bettany reflected on how Vision’s perspective has shifted since that film, when the android had just come into existence. He said the events since have left Vision with “very real doubts” and confusion about the chaos humanity brings.
“Vision has a sense of consequences and has a sense of collateral effect that I don’t think Ultron… Ultron just wants more. And I don’t think he thinks about the consequences. I think he accepts chaos in all its forms.”
James Spader
VisionQuest is now streaming on Disney+.
Scott Collura is Director of Entertainment at IGN. He can be reached via X, Bluesky, or on his Star Trek podcast, Transporter Room 3.
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