VisionQuest Review – The MCU’s Most Un-Marvel Show Is Weird, Surreal, and Mostly Worth Every Minute

Death in the MCU is nothing but a story arc, as confirmed by the case of Vision (portrayed by Paul Bettany). The beloved android with a penchant for Shakespearean drama and classic literature returns (once again) in VisionQuest – an ambitious series that’s more sci-fi and Herman’s Head than superhero spectacle.

After the events of WandaVision, the reborn Vision hides in human form. Away from the Avengers and everybody he once knew, he works in a pub, but he spends a lot of time debating who he is in his virtual reality with the Tony Stark-created AIs – J.A.R.V.I.S. (James D’Arcy), E.D.I.T.H. (Emily Hampshire), F.R.I.D.A.Y. (Orla Brady), D.U.M.-E. (Henry Lewis), U (Jonathan Sayer), and Ultron (James Spader) – that are a part of him.

While each of these AIs contains their own unique characteristics and traits, Spader’s Ultron is the undisputed standout. Unlike in Avengers: Age of Ultron, where viewers only received a taste of the murderbot’s snark, he receives an upgrade in his personality here. It also helps that Spader is able to play the character in human form, so you can see his facial reactions and subtle demeanor changes as he ponders life’s endless philosophies. You’re never quite sure whether you can trust the slippery Ultron, but you’d much rather have him on your side than against you.

Yet VisionQuest isn’t just about Vision and Ultron debating the true meaning of the story of Theseus and other literary metaphors. When a bounty is taken on Vision and the mysterious hunter Paladin (Todd Stashwick) tracks him down, the young pickpocket Tommy Shepherd (Ruaridh Mollica) and his partner Lisa Molinari (Lauren Morais) get pulled into Vision’s orbit. For those who might have skipped a Disney+ MCU show or two (don’t worry, it’s hard to keep track of them all), Tommy harbors the soul of Tommy Maximoff – Vision and Wanda’s conjured son – so he’s plagued by fragmented memories of a life he feels he lived but actually didn’t.

At its heart, VisionQuest focuses on two major themes: identity and legacy. Various characters, such as Vision and Tommy, struggle with their purpose and who they actually are, constantly waging war with their inner selves. Intertwined with this is the messy concept of family. Characters explore the complexity of their relationships and ties to the past. It isn’t just Vision and Tommy discovering what they mean to each other; Vision and Ultron, for instance, are also related, since Ultron is viewed as Vision’s father. What does this mean for their states of being and understanding?

In WandaVision, Vision uttered the famous line: “What is grief, if not love persevering?” He explores this phrase further in VisionQuest, as it becomes the final puzzle piece in the Vision-Wanda saga of the MCU. There’s a powerful moment when the weight of those words collapses on him, unleashing one of the MCU’s most poignant scenes that touch the heart of anybody who has loved and lost somebody important to them. When people say that the MCU isn’t real art, point them to this phenomenal piece of acting from Paul Bettany as a counterargument.

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VisionQuest could have taken the lazy way out to become the typical “what does it mean to be human” show that most may have expected from a story featuring androids. Instead, it becomes something far deeper about the meaning of existence and how artificial intelligence challenges our way of perceiving it.

Showrunner Terry Matalas also took a major swing by making VisionQuest so far removed from other superhero shows, but in the end, this is what makes it stand out from the pack. It might not be entirely perfect – since it does become long in the tooth and lathers itself in the cringy MCU humor at times  – but it deserves recognition for daring to be different.

VisionQuest is a trippy and surreal show that wanders into the realm of creative genius more often than not. Bettany delivers his best performance as the character yet, while Spader shakes off the stench of Joss Whedon’s treatment of Ultron to reshape one of the MCU’s most morally complex characters.

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