A worthy follow-up to “WandaVision.”
In the new Disney+ series “VisionQuest,” Paul Bettany reprises his Marvel role of Vision, who was murdered by Thanos in “Avengers: Infinity War,” recreated by his witchy woman Scarlett Witch for a sitcom world in “WandaVision,” and disappears along with the fantasy world. And at the same time, the agency S.W.O.R.D. (Sentient Weapons Observation Response Division) creates a white version of him in his original body, who eventually regained his original memories and flew away. So many changes in the MCU, I can barely keep it straight. And if I made a mistake, I apologize.
Can I follow with all the A.I. talk? No, I can’t, and I’m writing this TV review with my human fingers. But I can enjoy this show for how the actors deliver on the exuberance, action sequences, and nostalgia. I think it’s a worthy addition in MCU’s league of Disney+ shows, and as a show about humanoid computers or whatever the Hell they are, I think it has better ideas than “Ironheart” did last year.
As the show begins, Vision is on the run and creates an A.I. world that is bright and sunny. It has a long line of fresh cut grass, a blue sky, and a big white house. It all has to look and be made by computers on the outside, but the inside sure looks like production designs are created by humans. The characters that are embedded in his persona consist of five of Stark’s programs: F.R.I.D.A.Y. (Orla Brady), E.D.I.T.H. (Emily Hampshire), D.U.M.E. (Henry Lewis), U. (Jonathan Sayer), and of course-and this is somebody Vision should have deleted-Ultron (James Spader). There are few times when we see his robot form, but mostly we see him as Spader with a long beard.
There are many complications as the show progresses. There’s the young speedster named Thomas (Ruaridh Mollica), who has the nickname Speed and may or may not be Tommy, one of Vision’s twin sons from Wanda’s fantasy world; the bounty hunter Paladin (Todd Stashwick), who has an attitude, a past, and an assignment to capture Vision; and there’s another android named Jocasta (T’Nia Miller), who may also be Ultron’s counterpart.
“VisionQuest” takes a while for us to grasp hold of Vision’s A.I. reality and the human reality he is caught between. But we do pick up on the ideas and characters, such as Vision, Ultron, Tommy, Paladin, and Jocasta, all of whom are played perfectly by Bettany, Spader, Mollica, Stashwick, and Miller. There are episodes that speak with the right intentions, like how Paladin criticizes Tommy for thinking that Keanu Reeves plays a character named Speed (“Keanu doesn’t play a character named Speed, just as Nick Cage doesn’t play a character named the Rock and Bruce Willis doesn’t play Detective Die Hard,” he says), and the last episode which knows why it’s the longest running of this series. It all has something to do with the balance of humans and robots, something that I think has been done before and will be done again.
There are many contradictions in the recent MCU world, whether we’re talking about movies or TV shows, and I know when I must draw the line. And I think “VisionQuest” is a worthy follow up to “WandaVision.” And I think the last episode really clinches on that.
First 2 Episodes Streaming on Disney+ This Wednesday
