VisionQuest's Paladin Explained: What To Know About Todd Stashwick's Marvel Character

Contains spoilers for "VisionQuest" Season 1, Episode 2 – "Theseus"

Going into "VisionQuest," you may not have predicted Todd Stashwick's bounty hunter Paladin having such a huge role. However, the very first episode ("No Strings") establishes him as a serious threat, as his forces attack Vision (Paul Bettany) in Edinburgh. We soon find out that Paladin is far more than your average goon with some soldiers of fortune at his disposal. He has a personal code of conduct against civilian casualties, and enough resources to hack Vision's mind and physically injure the android with adamantium rounds. What's more, the "Star Trek: Picard" star portrays the bounty hunter with an air of resigned, snarky professionalism that implies that Paladin has taken many, many cases like this before.

In "Theseus," we discover that there's a reason for Paladin's extreme efficiency: He's simply the latest in a long line of bounty hunters who have used the codename, and has access to all the resources and knowledge the Paladin line has collected over time. Knowing all this about the character, it seems like the Marvel Cinematic Universe might have introduced a fairly influential player into the mix, so it's high time to take a look into Paladin's history in Marvel comics.

In the comics, Paladin is a mysterious hired gun with your average superpower starter kit of abilities like enhanced strength, speed, durability, and reflexes. On top of these, he boasts a sturdy vigilante costume similar to what the character wears during his adamantium bullet confrontation with Vision in "Theseus." Being a bounty hunter, his weapon of choice is a non-lethal stun gun.

Paladin debuted in "Daredevil" #150 in 1977, and he's fought battles on various sides since then. Like his MCU counterpart, he's not entirely without morality. He's proved to be a decent enough guy that Captain America has grown to respect him — but he's also brutal and effective enough to track down Daredevil and wound him with a sniper bullet.

Despite his lengthy comic book history, Paladin has remained a reasonably mysterious figure, so his backstory is malleable enough for the MCU's purposes. "VisionQuest" has already established that Paladin as a title instead of a person, with the current one having far more personality than a one-time Disney+ supporting character has any right to have. The MCU has brought lots of Disney+ figures into the movie fold as of late, with the ending of "Avengers: Endgame Encore" seeing many "Loki' characters on the big screen. It's possible that Marvel Studios has more plans for Todd Stashwick's character in the future, and he may even factor into "Avengers: Doomsday."