Marvel Bringing Back Its Best Villain?
Since the rumor mill began churning surrounding the possibility of a Vision-based spinoff, fans have been abuzz as to what that could mean for the future of the MCU. Now, it almost sounds definite that Paul Bettany’s vibranium-made android (or rather synthezoid) will be making a comeback in a series titled Vision Quest. And while there are multiple alleys and roads the show’s story could go down, it seems more than likely that one character, in particular, will be making an appearance: Vision’s papa, Ultron.
The last we saw of Vision in WandaVision, the poor guy was more than a bit confused, soaring off for destinations unknown. Like any great television show, take Supernatural or The Boys, for example, Vision may have some festering daddy issues, leading him on a quest to reconnect with his father and get some hard questions answered. But, how could this be? After all, wasn’t the AI supervillain destroyed back in Avengers: Age of Ultron?
Well, the answer is both yes and no. While the Avengers teamed up to stop Ultron before he was able to wipe out humankind, new reports coming from The Cosmic Circus, are positing that the programming behind Ultron isn’t gone yet, leaving the possibility for a comeback completely on the table. While nothing is set in stone, this could be one way for Ultron to further affect the lives of humanity, should Vision go seek him out.
For anyone who needs a quick brushup, 2015’s Avengers: Age of Ultron saw Ultron, a form of artificial intelligence created by Tony Stark and Bruce Banner, turn against its initial mission to protect humankind at all costs after realizing that humans are the problem and therefore needed to be extinguished (never let a robot on the internet)! In the shortest breakdown possible, Ultron creates Vision as a new body for him to inhabit but is stopped by the Avengers who bring him aboard their team. With the help of Vision, the heroes put an end to Ultron’s dastardly plans. Age of Ultron is also the first film in which Wanda, Vision’s eventual love interest, holds down a major character arc after being introduced during the post-credit scene in Captain America: The Winter Soldier.
The last time we saw Ultron fit in with the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s timeline was during the critically celebrated animated series, What If…? The episode titled What If… Ultron Won? followed a timeline that saw the Avengers defeated by the AI who was able to take over Vision’s body and create an Infinity War-type scenario in which he used the Infinity Stones to wipe out nearly all living beings in the universe. That episode left us on a cliffhanger, promising that a second season would show the threat that Ultron now posed to all multiverses in existence.
Following an Ultron storyline could just be one way of telling Vision’s journey of self-discovery with several other options on the table. While Kevin Feige and the crew at Marvel moving forward into new phases that are seeing stories told by different characters, the massive success of WandaVision isn’t something that can be ignored. By bringing Vision back in Vision Quest, there’s no telling what other favorites, Ultron included, we could see making comebacks should the series take flight.
