The MCU has reached an interesting crossroads. After years of interconnected stories building toward major cinematic events, the franchise has struggled to maintain that same momentum, with its shows playing an increasingly important role in filling the gaps between movies.
Now, Marvel is returning to one of its most intriguing characters for “VisionQuest,” the final chapter in the trilogy that began with “WandaVision” and continued with “Agatha All Along.” Picking up the threads left dangling by Wanda’s destroyed hex, the new series potentially sets up some fascinating developments for the wider MCU.
- Rating: 3.5/5 stars
- Verdict: “VisionQuest” gets off to a promising start, with Paul Bettany’s Vision facing an intriguing new chapter filled with familiar faces and fascinating ideas. While its repetitive exposition occasionally slows things down, there’s enough potential here to keep me invested. I’m curious to see where this story goes next.
- Where to watch: "VisionQuest" is streaming on Disney+
“VisionQuest” follows White Vision (Paul Bettany), who inherited the original Vision’s memories at the end of “WandaVision” but has spent years struggling to understand what they mean to him. Living quietly in Edinburgh, he attempts to make sense of humanity with help from the artificial intelligence programs inside his system, including Jarvis, Friday, and Edith.
However, his attempts to keep a low profile are interrupted when a bounty hunter comes looking for him. With the dangerous Ultron (James Spader) also lurking within his digital mind, Vision must confront his past.
Having watched the first two episodes on Disney+, I'm intrigued by the direction “VisionQuest” is taking, particularly its return to the questions of identity and memory that made “WandaVision” so compelling. Here are my honest thoughts on Marvel’s latest show.
‘VisionQuest’ gets off to a promising start
One of my favorite Marvel shows, and arguably the best in the MCU, is “WandaVision.” Not only did it offer something genuinely different from the usual superhero formula, but it also gave Wanda (Elizabeth Olsen) and Vision a deeply personal story about grief and the lengths we go to for the people we love.
The series left plenty of unanswered questions, so I was curious to see how “VisionQuest” would pick up those threads and give its title character a story of his own. Thankfully, the first two episodes show some promise. We find the current version of Vision working in the Edinburgh pub he visited with Wanda, with glimpses of his former life suggesting that, despite his efforts to move forward, those memories still linger.
More importantly, the premiere gives this new version of Vision a clear purpose, but his journey isn't just about what happens in the outside world. One of the show’s most interesting concepts is Vision’s mindspace, a digital world inside his own mind where the AI programs stored in his system take on human forms and interact with him.
Jarvis (James D'Arcy), Friday (Orla Brady) and Edith (Emily Hampshire) are all present, while Ultron (James Spader) is kept behind a firewall due to the threat he poses. It's a fascinating way to explore Vision’s inner workings, and Ultron’s presence adds a much darker, more foreboding edge to the story.
The show also introduces Thomas (Ruaridh Mollica), a teenager and grifter who experiences panic attacks and struggles with memories of a life he doesn’t believe is his own. Those memories belong to Tommy, the son of Wanda and Vision whose soul was transferred into Thomas’ body after the events of “Agatha All Along,” when his brother Billy (Joe Locke) used his magic to bring him back.
It’s a slightly convoluted setup if you haven’t seen the previous series, but “VisionQuest” does a decent job of establishing the connection between Thomas and White Vision. Both characters are struggling to understand who they are and where they belong.
That said, I’ve already noticed one weakness in these first two episodes, and that’s how often “VisionQuest” feels the need to explain things we already know. On top of the lengthy recap of Vision’s story in the first five minutes of episode one, we’re also shown literal clips from “WandaVision” to remind us of events we’ve already seen play out.
Too many of these moments also come through conversations in which Vision sits down with someone and explains his problems, his memories and the baggage he’s carrying. It makes parts of the story feel unnecessarily repetitive, slowing down the momentum when the show should be building curiosity around this new chapter in his life.
Verdict: ‘VisionQuest’ has me curious about what comes next
Ultimately, I'm cautiously optimistic about where “VisionQuest” is heading. These first two episodes have given me enough reasons to stick around, even if I’m not entirely sold on everything the show is doing just yet. There’s a lot of potential here, particularly with a character who has spent so much of his MCU journey caught between what makes him human and what makes him a machine.
I’m also interested to see how the series handles its wider cast, especially now that several familiar faces are back in the picture and there’s an opportunity to explore some relationships from a different perspective.
What I’m hoping for most is a story that takes a few risks and gives these characters room to surprise us. The MCU has occasionally struggled to make its Disney+ shows feel essential, rather than simply filling in gaps between movies, but Vision’s story feels like it has the ingredients for something more personal and distinctive.
Hopefully, future episodes will have more confidence in their audience and find more interesting ways to explore Vision’s inner conflict without constantly stopping to explain it. Most of all, like many fans, I desperately want to see Wanda come back.
"VisionQuest" episodes 1-2 are streaming on Disney+