5 Predictions For Marvel's VisionQuest Series

The next Marvel program on Disney+ is set to shine a spotlight on Paul Bettany's Vision, a character first introduced in live action via 2015's "Avengers: Age of Ultron." The version of Vision unveiled to audiences in the "WandaVision" finale will now anchor "VisionQuest," in which this rebooted android will come to terms with memories and relationships established by the old Vision. Taking place heavily inside Vision's mind, "VisionQuest" will involve a barrage of familiar MCU faces, including James Spader returning as Ultron, Tommy Maximoff (now played by Ruaridh Mollica), and personifications of various robots/A.I.'s that Tony Stark created, like D.U.M.-E. (now played by Henry Lewis).

This whole show sounds like a fittingly weirdo enterprise for a character as off-the-wall as Vision. Even with all these eye-catching and bizarre details revealed to the public, much about "VisionQuest" remains a mystery. That's par for the course for any MCU streaming show prior to its release, but there still appear to be some elements of "VisionQuest" that feel downright inevitable. Specifically, there are five occurrences that seem guaranteed to happen at some point in the show's eight-episode run.

Some of these five predictions build off of prior MCU shows connected to "VisionQuest." Others are informed by the larger context of future MCU events that are bound to involve Vision. Whatever underpins these forecasts, keep an eye out for any of these elements to actually transpire once "VisionQuest" gets booted up on Disney+ this October.  

As far as anyone knows, Elizabeth Olsen won't be back as Wanda Maximoff in either "Avengers: Doomsday" or "Avengers: Secret Wars." With this deeply talented actor spreading her wings and embracing audacious new projects like "Eternity" and "Panic Carefully," one might only guess what forthcoming original roles could possibly join the roster of Olsen's best performances. However, given how closely intertwined Wanda was with Vision, especially after "WandaVision," it's hard to imagine this show getting through all eight episodes without a single appearance from this Avenger-turned-villain.

For one thing, the various MCU Disney+ shows have often dropped major appearances in their final episodes, like Wilson Fisk's "Hawkeye" debut or O-T Fagbenle's return as "Black Widow" character Rick Mason in the penultimate "Secret Invasion" episode. Having Olsen briefly show up as Wanda Maximoff in one of the last two "VisionQuest" episodes would hew closely to that tradition. Plus "VisionQuest" is clearly all about having Vision encounter past MCU figures related to Tony Stark, including Wanda's former boss Ultron (James Spader). If that robot baddie is back, it'd be strange not to have Wanda return in some capacity, given the close link between the two characters (Wanda "killed" the main version of Ultron in "Age of Ultron," after all).

Given that it's been years since Wanda last appeared in 2022's "Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness," the time could be ripe for Olsen to finally return to the MCU with a "VisionQuest" cameo.

Already speculation has run rampant that "VisionQuest" will take some cues from the "Vision" comic by Tom King and Gabriel Hernandez Walta. That particular stretch of Marvel Comics history introduced the world to Vivian "Viv" Vision, who serves as the "daughter" of Vision and Virginia. This comics concept of Vision living in a suburban domicile with a nuclear family (with Virginia even having Wanda Maximoff's brainwaves) already partially inspired "WandaVision." With this show shifting all the focus onto Vision, though, don't be surprised if "VisionQuest" features the live-action debut of Vivian Vision, one of the most lasting creations of the comic. 

Since her arrival on the page, Vivian has worked with other teenage heroes like Ms. Marvel and Ironheart, two characters who already have live-action counterparts in the MCU. If the MCU wants to keep delivering new, younger superheroes, then Vivian could be a great way of further reaching that goal. Meanwhile, introducing this openly queer superhero into a streaming show would fit into the Marvel Cinematic Universe's plans for introducing more LGBTQIA+ characters almost exclusively on the small screen. While there's little hope of seeing Vivian in "Avengers: Doomsday," it seems likely after Billy Maximoff's "Agatha All Along" appearance that Vivian could find a home in "VisionQuest."

Plus, with so many robot-based characters in "VisionQuest" (including human forms of E.D.I.T.H. and F.R.I.D.A.Y.), what's one more automaton like Vivian Vision to round out the cast?

When Marvel Studios started making streaming shows, it initially relied on movie directors to helm the programs and avoided traditional showrunners. This approach was meant to make these productions more like the MCU movies and show how Marvel Studios was coming at these enterprises from the perspective of a film studio. But one of the major things Marvel changed about its Disney+ TV shows after some "Daredevil: Born Again" drama was to actually hire veteran TV showrunners to begin shepherding the various MCU streaming titles. 

This includes Terry Matalas, whose prior experience was largely on cable and broadcast network shows like "Terra Nova" and who served as showrunner for two seasons of "Star Trek: Picard." One of Matalas' moves was to bring two "Picard" veterans into the cast of "VisionQuest": Actor Todd Stashwick, who portrayed Captain Liam Shaw in Season 3 of "Picard," will play bounty hunter Paladin in "VisionQuest," while Orla Brady, who played the Romulan housekeeper Laris and the Supervisor known as Tallin on "Picard," will appear as a human incarnation of F.R.I.D.A.Y. 

It's doubtful they'll be the only figures from that prior Matalas show to show up here. Expect further "VisionQuest" characters, particularly figures showing up for single episode guest appearances, to be portrayed by other "Picard" actors. Marvel embracing TV-savvy showrunners as the primary creative voices for its streaming programs makes these cute casting choices a lot more feasible. 

For Vision's first foray into streaming television, "WandaVision," the unexpected became the norm week in and week out. One of those "unexpected" elements was the musical number "Agatha All Along," revealing that Kathryn Hahn's Agatha Harkness was really the show's villain. Three years after "WandaVision," the Harkness spin-off "Agatha All Along" didn't just confirm vampires exist in the MCU: it also delivered another musical number, thus solidifying this kooky corner of the MCU as one where song-and-dance routines can happen at any time.

Marvel's own press releases have confirmed that "VisionQuest" is part of a thematic trilogy that includes "WandaVision" and "Agatha All Along." Given this, "VisionQuest" will undoubtedly port over some key ingredients from the other parts of that threesome. One of those is almost bound to be the presence of a musical number. With early glimpses of "VisionQuest" footage confirming that it maintains the trippy aesthetics of "WandaVision" and "Agatha," a musical number could fit perfectly into those creative trappings. If you're going to make an oddball show, at least go all the way with it and do things like break into song.

Plus some crooning could also be great for the show's titular character on a thematic level. After all, what better way to explore this new Vision's attempts to grapple with emotions than through hitting some high notes? It'd be a shame if "VisionQuest" didn't carry on the tradition of its predecessors and eschewed that musical theater energy altogether.

Internet speculation about which Marvel heroes won't survive "Avengers: Doomsday" and "Secret Wars" is already at a fever pitch. The long-term fate of Vision isn't entirely known, but it does look like his destiny could be decided in those momentous films. Paul Bettany has now declared on multiple occasions that he believes he'll be reprising his role as Vision in one or both of them. If true, this would bring Vision back to the big screen nearly a decade after his last appearance (when he "perished" at the hands of Thanos) in "Avengers: Infinity War." This development would also undoubtedly inform what audiences see at the end of "VisionQuest."

While Marvel's taken great pains to make sure the Disney+ shows exist as more standalone entities in relationship to the movies, titles like "Wonder Man" and "Daredevil: Born Again" don't star fixtures of the "Avengers" movies like "VisionQuest." Thus, much like "WandaVision" had a post-credits tease for Wanda Maximoff's "Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness" role, expect "VisionQuest" to conclude with something teasing Vision's involvement in "Secret Wars." Given how much secrecy shrouds the next two "Avengers" films, it's difficult to imagine what this could entail.

Still, it would be shocking if "VisionQuest" didn't conclude with some kind of hint about the character's future. Better yet, given that Vision seems almost certainly locked in for "Secret Wars," this "VisionQuest" scene wouldn't end up like the MCU post-credit scenes that haven't paid off yet.