Paul Bettany's 'VisionQuest' Is a Perfect (If Unexpected) Finale for the 'WandaVision' Trilogy | Review
Taylor Gates is an Indiana native who earned her BFA in Creative Writing from the University of Evansville. She fell in love with entertainment by watching shows about chaotic families like Full House, The Nanny, Gilmore Girls, and The Fosters.
After college, she moved to Los Angeles to pursue a career as a writer, editor, and filmmaker. Today, she’s a sucker for dramedies — especially coming-of-age stories centering around complex female and LGBTQ+ characters. She has been with Collider since May 2022.
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WandaVision is one of the most beloved and acclaimed projects in the MCU. The show became an instant cultural phenomenon when it premiered in 2021, sparking endless watercooler conversation and memes, and was nominated for a whopping 23 Emmys. In 2024, a spin-off, Agatha All Along, centering on the fan-favorite character Agatha Harkness (Kathryn Hahn) and the reincarnated Billy Maximoff (Joe Locke), also premiered to great success. The development of a follow-up focusing on Vision (Paul Bettany) was met with both excitement and apprehension. Can lightning strike a third time, especially with WandaVision and Agatha All Along creator Jac Schaeffer handing over the reins to Terry Matalas?
What Is ‘VisionQuest’ About?
The end of WandaVision saw Vision resurrected, with all of his memories restored. But just because he knows what happened in the past doesn’t mean he can make sense of it, especially on an emotional level. Thus lies the central dilemma and journey of VisionQuest, in which Vision grapples with living up to his reputation as a heroic Avenger and finding his purpose in the world.
Over the last several years, Vision has been lying low and working at a pub by day. By night, however, he escapes into the Mindspace, where he lives with other Stark AIs, including Edith (Emily Hampshire), Friday (Orla Brady), Jarvis (James D’Arcy), Dum-E (Henry Lewis), U (Jonathan Sayers), and Ultron (James Spader), whom Vision showed mercy to at the last second during Age of Ultron. Each AI seeks to help Vision understand different parts of humanity; Edith is in charge of fun, for instance, while Friday attempts to help him improve his socialization skills.
Things get more complicated, however, when a ruthless bounty hunter referred to as Paladin (Todd Stashwick) starts hunting Vision, using his son Tommy (Ruaridh Mollica) as bait. Vision struggles to accept that Tommy could truly be his child, considering what happened with the hex, but he feels a responsibility to help the young man nonetheless, and the two develop a complex bond that just might save the world.
‘VisionQuest’ Seamlessly Continues the Story Introduced in ‘WandaVision’
It’s been over four years since Wanda Maximoff (Elizabeth Olsen) was last seen in Multiverse of Madness, and while she was frequently referenced in Agatha All Along, VisionQuest allows her to take center stage again. Wanda haunts the narrative so intensely that she feels like a main character, despite only appearing through archival footage from previous projects. One of the most tragic aspects of Wanda’s story is the amount of grief she was forced to endure alone. In many ways, VisionQuest functions as a beautiful, fitting tribute to the character by turning the tables and exploring how her loss impacts — and ultimately unites — Vision and Tommy.
Collider Exclusive · Marvel Personality Quiz Which MCU Hero Are You? Spider-Man · Daredevil · Iron Man · Punisher · Thor · Cap
Six heroes. One destiny. Answer 10 questions to discover which Marvel Cinematic Universe hero shares your personality, values, and fighting spirit. Will you swing, fly, or thunder your way to glory?
🕷️Spider-Man
😈Daredevil
🤖Iron Man
💀Punisher
⚡Thor
🛡️Cap
01
What drives you to do what's right? Choose the answer that feels most like you.
02
It's 2 AM. Where are you? Your answer says more about you than you'd think.
03
How do you handle a villain who keeps escaping justice? Every hero has a method. What's yours?
04
How do you feel about keeping a secret identity? The mask — or the lack of one — says everything.
05
You've lost someone important because of your heroism. How do you carry that? Every hero pays a price. The question is how they pay it.
06
What's your role when working with a team? Who you are under pressure is who you actually are.
07
Where do you draw the line between justice and revenge? The answer defines what kind of hero you really are.
08
When you're not saving the world, what does life look like? The person behind the mask is always the more interesting story.
09
What keeps you up at night? Fear is useful data — if you're honest about what you're actually afraid of.
10
The battle is lost. You're outnumbered, outgunned, and exhausted. What do you do? This is your tiebreaker — choose carefully.
Your Hero Has Been Identified Your MCU Hero Is…
Based on your answers, the Marvel hero who matches your spirit, values, and instincts has been revealed.
🕷️ Spider-Man
You carry the weight of the world on shoulders that are younger than they should have to be — funny, loyal, and endlessly self-sacrificing.
- You do the right thing not because it's easy, but because no one else will.
- You understand that responsibility isn't a burden you choose — it's one that finds you.
- Whether it's a neighbourhood mugging or a multiverse crisis, you show up.
- Peter Parker's lesson — that great power demands great responsibility — isn't a slogan to you. It's the code you live by, even when it costs you everything.
😈 Daredevil
You fight in the shadows between law and chaos, guided by a fierce moral compass that refuses to let the guilty walk free.
- You use every tool available — your mind, your body, your faith — to protect those the system overlooks.
- You've looked into the darkness and chosen not to become it, though the line has never been easy.
- Matt Murdock's duality — champion in the courtroom, devil in the alley — mirrors your own.
- Relentless, conflicted, and unwilling to stop. That is exactly you.
🤖 Iron Man
Brilliant, driven, and occasionally insufferable — but always the person who solves the unsolvable problem.
- You lead with your mind and back it up with resources, innovation, and a stubbornness that borders on heroic.
- You started out looking out for yourself, but somewhere along the way the world became your responsibility.
- Tony Stark's arc — from ego to sacrifice — is your arc too.
- You build, you plan, and when the moment comes, you're willing to give everything. Because in the end, you're Iron Man.
💀 The Punisher
You've been through fire that would break most people — and it did change you, completely. What's left is unyielding, relentless, and operating by a code forged in grief.
- You don't ask for forgiveness, and you don't expect gratitude.
- You see a corrupt, broken world and you've decided to do something about it, consequences be damned.
- Frank Castle's war is born from love twisted by loss — and so is yours.
- Uncompromising and unflinching — the world may not agree with your methods, but your conviction is absolute.
⚡ Thor
Powerful, proud, and on a lifelong journey to become worthy of the legend you carry.
- You lead with strength but have learned — sometimes painfully — that true greatness comes from humility and growth.
- You're larger than life, yet more vulnerable than you let on.
- Thor's story is one of transformation: from arrogant prince to worthy king, from isolated warrior to beloved protector.
- You bring the storm when it's needed — and the warmth when it matters just as much.
🛡️ Captain America
You believe in something bigger than yourself — and you fight for it even when the world has moved on and nobody else will.
- You don't bully the small guy, and you never stop when it gets hard.
- Steve Rogers didn't become a hero when he got the serum — he was always one. So were you.
- Your strength isn't in your fists; it's in your refusal to compromise what's right, no matter the cost.
- In a world full of people taking the easy road, you're the one who picks up the shield and stands up — every single time.
The emotional core of VisionQuest lies in Vision attempting to understand and accept the events of WandaVision, but the homages to the show that started it all go beyond that. While Wanda watched TV to escape the evils of the world, Ultron watches it to attempt to better understand humanity — a parallel that becomes much more important than one might initially think. The AIs function as a sitcom family of sorts, all living under the same roof in domestic bliss and loosely taking on various household roles. (Edith has serious little sister energy, while Ultron is a grumpy, witty grandfather of sorts.) Even the soundtrack, which features a few notable ‘70s songs in pivotal sequences, is at times vaguely reminiscent of the nostalgia WandaVision captured. All of these nods, however, never make VisionQuest feel like it’s simply trying to be WandaVision 2.0. Rest assured, it still has a wholly original vibe, with Matalas carving out his own distinct space in the MCU.
While WandaVision fans are sure to be thrilled, those eagerly awaiting a follow-up to various threads in Agatha All Along may not be quite as happy. While VisionQuest is being marketed as the conclusion of the WandaVision trilogy, the lack of connective tissue to Agatha All Along often makes it feel more like a separate sequel or spin-off, rather than the third part of a continuous story. While there's certainly a crucial link between Tommy’s storyline and the role Billy played in his existence, fans of the witchy series are unlikely to be fully satisfied with the payoff here. The Agatha Harkness erasure doesn’t impede the plot or hinder the enjoyment of VisionQuest on its own, but ignoring the insidious, perfidious character is a missed opportunity for added cohesion, poignancy, and a whole lot of comedic gold.
‘VisionQuest’ Features a Sophisticated Story and Clever Execution
VisionQuest has a level of sophistication to its writing that elevates it above a large percentage of other superhero fare. There are still large-scale action sequences and beats of comedy, but the series is most concerned with philosophical ideas about what it means to be human. It can occasionally get too bogged down in this for its own good — Vision’s internal struggles can start to get a tad repetitive, for instance, with him occasionally coming off overly defeatist and mopey — but the vast majority of the time, it really works, engaging with complex themes in a way that’s legitimately challenging while remaining accessible and entertaining.
There’s real intelligence to the more humorous bits, too, and it’s clear Matalas and his team had fun coming up with AI puns and technological references. One particularly memorable scene follows Vision and Ultron attempting to figure out how to “prove they’re not a robot” to bypass security. This extends beyond the script and into the production design as well. The attention to detail, especially in the Mindspace set, is simply stunning, with props that both wink at the audience and immerse them in this unique world.
‘VisionQuest’ Spotlights Returning Favorites and Standout New Characters
VisionQuest has an array of excellent characters, ranging from familiar faces, returning characters with new faces, and brand-new additions to the MCU. It’s been over a decade since fans saw Ultron, and it’s immediately clear that his return was worth the wait. Spader seamlessly slips back into the role, delivering razor-sharp criticism and hilarious sarcasm with ease. He often acts as an obnoxious imaginary friend and twisted voice of reason, but there’s also a shocking amount of depth and insecurity simmering under the surface. This never takes away from his volatile nature, but rather makes him an enigmatic and endlessly fascinating character. The other AIs in Vision’s Mindspace alongside him are fun to watch as well, but one can’t help but wish they had all gotten a little more development and time to shine.
Many of Spader’s best scenes are with newcomer T’Nia Miller, who plays the equally complicated Jocasta. Together, they share an intense chemistry that anchors their delicious chess game of a relationship that drives much of the series. There’s a natural grace, undeniable power, and irresistible power to Jocasta that Miller effortlessly embodies. It truly feels like a role that she was born to play.
VisionQuest's final standout lies in Mollica’s Tommy. He, too, gets a romance alongside Lauren Morais’ Lisa Molinari — one that’s surprisingly grounded and compelling, setting itself apart from other teen love stories. Mollica is simply fantastic, expertly balancing the guarded cynicism that Tommy has been forced to adopt to survive with disarming earnestness and vulnerability. The confusion he’s plagued with is raw and heartbreaking, as is the deep craving for connection, family, and love. It’s impossible not to be moved by his performance.
Between the record-breaking Spider-Man: Brand New Day and well-received seasons of Wonder Man and Daredevil: Born Again, Marvel’s track record this year has been promising, and VisionQuest proves to be yet another win for the studio. Between a rich, immersive world, bold, smart writing, and excellent performances from returning favorites and up-and-coming talent alike, VisionQuest is firing on all cylinders as both a fulfilling conclusion to the WandaVision saga and an exciting new beginning for the MCU.
VisionQuest premieres October 14 on Disney+.
- Release Date
- October 14, 2026
- Network
- Disney+
- Showrunner
- Terry Matalas
- Directors
- Christopher J. Byrne, Gandja Monteiro, Terry Matalas, Vincenzo Natali
- Writers
- Terry Matalas, Cindy Appel, Nicole Falsetti
-
The Vision
-
Henry Lewis
D.U.M.-E
- Franchise(s)
- Marvel Cinematic Universe
- Creator(s)
- Terry Matalas
Pros & Cons
- The writing is sophisticated and clever, offering a wonderful follow-up to WandaVision while still having a unique voice and perspective.
- The production design is beautiful and immersive, with a rich attention to detail.
- Returning favorite James Spader and newcomers Ruaridh Mollica and T?Nia Miller give standout performances.
- The series doesn?t connect as much to Agatha All Along as one might hope.
- The show can occasionally get bogged down by its philosophical themes.
- The Stark AI are fun to watch but feel slightly underdeveloped.
KioskNews shows a cleaned-up reading view extracted from the publisher’s page — the original always lives on their site, not ours.