James Spader returns as Ultron in the ‘WandaVision’ spinoff in which White Vision (Paul Bettany) seeks a new reason for being.
James Spader is returning to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, reprising his voice role as the robotic villain Ultron in the new, as yet untitled, Vision series from Marvel Studios. The new show is the next chapter in the story of White Vision, who was reborn in an all-white version (except for his human-looking eyes) from wrecked parts during the Wandavision series. The Emmy-winning actor first played the role in 2015’s Avenger: Age of Ultron.
directly in Vision’s forehead. Talk about your obvious design flaws.
In the new Vision series, Paul Bettany is coming back as Vision, the android who fell in love with the Scarlet Witch and then was destroyed by Thanos in Avengers: Infinity War. Terry Matalas, showrunner of Star Trek: Picard, is in charge of the new show, which is informally being referred to as Vision Quest. The new show will follow white Vision as he searches for a new purpose in life, and his nemesis Ultron will a major foil for the character.
The reason Vision was destroyed in Avengers: Age of Ultron was that he had the Mind stone embedded in his forehead, and Thanos needed it to complete the Infinity Gauntlet. Ultron, who, as Marvel fans know, was a sentient being created by Tony Stark, aka Iron Man, to act as a defense program but that instead turned against humanity due to his exposure to the Mind Stone’s embedded machine intelligence.
Vision was a synthezoid made from vibranium, created by Ultron with the help of Helen Cho, and given life by the powerful artifact known as the Mind Stone. Originally conceived as the perfect form for Ultron, the body was taken by the Avengers before Tony Stark and Bruce Banner proceeded to upload the remnants of Stark’s personal A.I. J.A.R.V.I.S. into it, giving the automated voice of J.A.RV.I.S. a body to inhabit and move Paul Bettany’s sexy voice into a living, albeit synthetic body.
Luckily for us, Vision turned against his creator to help the Avengers defeat him. (Avengers: Age of Ultron covers all of this, so if you’re a bit lost, you can just re-watch and get caught up.) Ultron was seemingly destroyed at the end of Age of Ultron, so it isn’t clear exactly how he would return and what kind of relationship he would have with Vision. If we use the method this slippery android has so often employed in the comics, Ultron probably escaped through the Mind Stone beam back into the Vision as his last body was being destroyed.
The series is intended as the third part of a trilogy that started with WandaVision and continues in Agatha All Along (that show debuts in September on Disney+ with a two-episode drop). The new Vision series is eying a shoot in England starting early 2025.
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Wandavision was great! I think that was the first Disney Marvel Cinematic Universe.