Paul Bettany and James Spader on Reuniting Vision and Ultron for VisionQuest

Though we still have to wait until December for Avengers: Doomsday, one Avenger is back already, with this week's debut of the new series VisionQuest on Disney+. Paul Bettany reprises his role as Marvel's synthezoid hero, in what is being billed as the end of a trilogy of shows that began with 2021's WandaVision and continued with 2024's Agatha All Along.

In the finale of WandaVision, Vision's original body was rebuilt after Thanos killed him in Avengers: Infinity War. Initially though, all of his old memories and the attached feelings weren't available to him, before the replica Vision created by Wanda Maximoff helped him unlock those memories. But as VisionQuest begins, it becomes clear that recalling those events again doesn't mean Vision is also fully back to his old self, as he still is acting detached from any emotional component, including his love for Wanda (Elizabeth Olsen), who perished in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.

Speaking to TV Guide, Bettany described it as, "Vision has had his memories restored, but he seems unable or perhaps unwilling to allow feelings to be attached to them, so I sort of played with the idea that he was denying those feelings."

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There have been quite a lot of differences and evolutions for Vision through the years, and Bettany said he's treasured continuing to play the character for that very reason, remarking, "That's the thing that I have always loved about this character; that the contract with the audience remains the same. He is always in a state of change. Every time, there has been a new iteration and it feels like we've had something fresh to say about him. This is the first time you really see Vision angry, Vision scared. We don't often see that stuff, but to see a vengeful Vision, I thought that would be fun."

The series finds Vision frequently venturing into his own mindspace, visualized as a large, vibrant home where he takes human form and where he is not alone, having gathered several other familiar AI characters from the MCU, now also seen as human avatars — including one notably deadly one. VisionQuest creator and showrunner Terry Matalas (12 Monkeys, Star Trek: Picard) explained the mindspace concept came to him early on, recalling, "We knew from the end of WandaVision this guy was going to go through an identity crisis, and I asked myself, 'Well, we don't have Wanda anymore, so who is he talking to?' And I went to that last scene in Age of Ultron — it's my favorite scene, with Vision and Ultron — and how much I wanted another three hours of just that. And then I had to ask, well, if it's Ultron, is he living in his head? And then I had this image of this house filled with AI. But in the attic, there's this prisoner, and it turns out he showed mercy to Ultron."

As Matalas referenced, Vision and the infamous Ultron — who believed mankind was so self-destructive, they should be eradicated entirely — had a memorable encounter at the end of 2015's Avengers: Age of Ultron, where they speak about their different feelings about humanity before Vision destroys Ultron's final robotic body, seemingly killing him. But Matalas noted, "I think when you cut away when somebody dies in film or television, there's a chance, and they cut very deliberately. But also, was that a download [occurring]? Was that something else? And so that was the sort of beginning of the mindspace; it was all kind of connected to characters and who I wanted to see."

Those characters include JARVIS (James D'Arcy), DUM-E (Henry Lewis), and U (Jonathan Sayer), all introduced in Iron Man (with Bettany of course originally voicing JARVIS); FRIDAY (Orla Brady), introduced in Age of Ultron; and EDITH (Emily Hampshire), introduced in Spider-Man: Far From Home. These characters all "live" inside the mindspace house Vision has created, assisting him and giving him a sounding board.

Schitt's Creek veteran Hampshire, who previously worked with Matalas on 12 Monkeys, said she instantly was drawn to this unusual dynamic, where each AI serves a different role — with EDITH's being recreation. Said Hampshire, "It really feels like a family, and like DUM-E and U are like the pets. And for EDITH, I found it really interesting in the way that FRIDAY is socialization and JARVIS is security, and those are really important things, but EDITH's thing is like 'fun.' And you know, in school, that's the first thing they get rid of — like get rid of art, get rid of gym — and so she's just desperately trying to demonstrate value."

The Age of Ultron continues

As Matalas mentioned, the idea of Ultron being a major part of the series was there from the start, even as it's been 11 years since James Spader's one and only prior appearance as the character. Spader told TV Guide he always felt there was a chance he could return, though when he was offered VisionQuest, he was taking an extended break from work, only to quickly be drawn in by Matalas' approach. "Terry called, and I met with him, and here it was! It was so much later, and it was such a surprising idea that I just took to it immediately."

Ultron is, in some respects, Vision's father, while Vision now also has to deal with his own status as a parent (more on that below). Bettany was thrilled when he heard the plan to include Ultron, recalling, "When Terry pitched the idea of bringing Spader back, I was like, 'That's it, because it can be about fathers and sons now.' And it can have really male energy, but a show with really positive male energy and male energy in a non-toxic way, which I don't know that we're getting to see enough narratives around. I really liked that."

As to why Vision would keep Ultron around at all, given his genocidal attempts in the past, Bettany said, "The idea that when Vision killed the corporeal form of Ultron, that he backed him up into his head, I totally buy, because of Vision's curiosity and how interesting Ultron is. I totally believe that he wouldn't have been able to just delete something that interesting, and so for me, that all fits and feels very characterful, that he actually saved him."

Matalas was thrilled to collaborate with Bettany and Spader, saying "The three of us were in such lockstep about what the tone of this was that we were going to bounce between real drama, real emotion, philosophy, and then broad humor at times, and that hopefully that would [carry] a lot of action and excitement."

Unable to access the internet by Vision for safety reasons, and trapped inside the attic, Ultron's been spending his time watching television all these years and Matalas said the question becomes "Who is he now? He's been consuming mankind [media]. Has he come around on us? Has he not? We're riding that line of uncertainty, which is what you want to see James do, and you want to see Paul navigate, and the chemistry between the two of them is just unmatched."

Spader said he felt there was a great chemistry and story potential when he and Bettany filmed their final encounter back in Age of Ultron, remarking, "The scene is minutes long; less. It's really so short. It's just a couple of lines exchanged, and we met in a parking lot — it was not a forest — and we shot the scene. But it's the weird thing about the business that we work in, is sometimes something ignites that isn't going to go out, even if they say wrap and that's it. It's not going to go out, and so therefore the next time that you find yourself with that person again, when you're lucky enough to have your paths cross again with that person, it reignites instantly. And it was that way with Paul and I, in that last scene, and it was that way when Terry and I met, same thing, where we just worked really well."

A fun and wild part of the series is seeing Ultron's human avatar, with Spader sporting a giant, bushy beard that somewhat evokes the large metal jaw of Ultron, while frequently wearing hats and distinctive long coats — a look suggested by Spader himself. As Spader explained, "I think he is more than the robot, and yet the robot is him as well. They're intertwined with one another. The robot has tremendous bearing. He's nine feet tall and very muscular, and he's a real physical presence. He is a magnificent creature, who is just so indomitable. But I also saw that for the human avatar. So how do you do that? How do you take this formidable presence that is going to move the air in the room? He's going to walk in and he'll move all the air in the room. And how you do that is with bearing."

The other AI characters keep warning Vision about the danger of Ultron, and Hampshire said for EDITH, "It's really interesting, because I found throughout the scripts that there was always this sense of this kind of rivalry, at least in EDITH's mind, with Ultron, and there was something in it that feels like game recognizes game."

At the very least, Ultron makes it clear he's come to admire some of mankind's artistic endeavors, and Hampshire added, "They're similar in this way that you know he wants to see the Louvre and he's much more human in that way, and EDITH wants to experience things [too]. Like she knows all the information, and she has all the ingredients to the greatest meal, but she wants to taste it."

A need for speed

Besides Ultron, the other hugely important character for Vision in VisionQuest is Tommy, played by Ruaridh Mollica, who is in fact one of Vision and Wanda's magically-created twin sons from WandaVision in a new body — something established with Tommy's brother, Billy, in Agatha All Along.

Where his father is closed off from his emotions, Tommy is suffering from too many emotions. Because while Billy's soul seemed to completely take over the body he was now occupying, Tommy simultaneously remembers the lives both Thomas Shepherd and Tommy Maximoff lived, causing chaos in his mind.

Said Mollica, of Tommy's plight, "He's in a world where this reality in his head of Vision and Wanda is being denied, is being pushed away from him, and he's being told that he's crazy and insane, and he just wants to feel understood and seen. I think that's what he's grappling with. And the beauty of when he meets Vision for the first time is [realizing] 'I'm not crazy,' and that's that beautiful relationship that starts to stem."

Bettany said exploring the father-son dynamic for Vision and Tommy "Was great, and the relationship goes through a massive development that I really love. It becomes about acceptance of this boy's truth, and absolutely having to accept your child's truth is what's a big secret of parenting."

Like his father, Tommy is going through an identity crisis, and as Matalas noted, "That's the case for all the characters in the show. It's kind of the thesis statement, even with Jocasta [another robotic character, played by T'Nia Miller], and with Vision, Ultron to an extent, and Tommy. That seemed to be obvious to me right up front, which was we inherited this story of Tommy from Agatha, and what that might be like for a human being to suddenly have new memories and another soul invade with something that would make you question, 'Have I gone mad?' In the same way that Vision is trying to figure out, 'Am I the Vision that used to be this legend, or am I something new, or am I both?'"

As for what it's like not just to join the MCU, but to be cast as the son of the Vision and the Scarlet Witch — two characters many fans have a deep investment in at this point — Mollica said, "I watched WandaVision and everything [else] before I even had the chance to audition for this part, and it's been incredible seeing how much people care. I hope we've really done it justice. We've really leaned into the family connection and what people fell in love with in WandaVision. I feel like we've just explored it even more deeply, and I think it's beautiful."

Said Bettany, "The show is saying that 'family is forever.' It's repeated a lot in the show; it's a line of Lizzie's [in WandaVision]. I think that's exactly what the show is about, and I think that's what it's always been about for Wanda and Vision. I'm super proud of this show and Terry Matalas has done an extraordinary job to deliver such a satisfying ending to that trilogy."

The first two episodes of VisionQuest debut Oct. 14 on Disney+.