VisionQuest's first two episodes are fan service before they are anything else. The story is easy enough to follow on its own, but most of what's worth enjoying is aimed at people who know the history: the AIs, the callbacks, the versions of Vision that came before.
Vision (Paul Bettany) is tending bar in an Edinburgh pub he and Wanda used to visit, under a fake name. He's the White Vision that S.W.O.R.D. rebuilt in WandaVision, with the old Vision's memories and none of the feelings that went with them. At night he shuts down and goes into a house inside his own head, run by Tony Stark's AIs, with Ultron (James Spader) kept in the attic. Then a bounty hunter called Paladin (Todd Stashwick) comes after him, and the hunt pulls in Tommy (Ruaridh Mollica), one of the twin sons from Wanda's Westview.
How much WandaVision you need for VisionQuest
Not much to follow the plot. A lot to enjoy it. VisionQuest carries on from WandaVision, and its big questions come out of that show, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness and Agatha All Along: Vision's twin sons, Westview, and what Wanda left behind.
Plenty of people liked Elizabeth Olsen's Wanda in the films without following the lore around her. They'll follow VisionQuest fine. What they'll miss is the weight behind the scenes built on J.A.R.V.I.S., F.R.I.D.A.Y. and the rest, because those scenes count on you already knowing them.
Vision's mind palace and the Stark AIs
Vision's mind palace borrows heavily from WandaVision. Wanda turned a whole town into a sitcom built from her grief and the TV she grew up on. Vision has done something similar inside his own head: a house, run by Tony Stark's AIs.
It works a lot like Inside Out, with AIs where the emotions would be. Each one has a job. J.A.R.V.I.S. (James D'Arcy) handles security and talks Vision through fights. F.R.I.D.A.Y. (Orla Brady) goes over his day with him. E.D.I.T.H. (Emily Hampshire) has put herself in charge of fun. All of them have history in the Iron Man, Avengers and Spider-Man films. Fans will catch every reference. Newer viewers get a house full of strangers with initials for names.
The setup is clever, which is exactly what makes it risky. A show can get stuck inside an idea like this, so busy being smart that the wider audience stops caring. Thunderbolts* is a recent example of the gap between good reviews and a big audience. It tried something different from the usual Marvel formula, earned strong reviews, and still finished as one of the studio's lowest-grossing films.
The VisionQuest cast
The casting is fan service too, and it's the clever kind. James D'Arcy played Edwin Jarvis, Howard Stark's butler, in Agent Carter. Here he plays the AI that shares the name, opposite Paul Bettany, who voiced that AI for years before he became Vision. Agent Carter was cancelled after two seasons when its ratings fell, but the people who loved it are going to love this.
Emily Hampshire was Stevie in Schitt's Creek. Diane Morgan, best known for playing Philomena Cunk, plays Paladin's handler. Todd Stashwick and Orla Brady both come from Star Trek: Picard, which VisionQuest's showrunner Terry Matalas also ran. The supporting cast isn't made of household names, and it doesn't need to be. It's a cast that should travel well on social media, with each actor bringing a fan base of their own. WandaVision borrowed from old sitcoms. VisionQuest borrows actors from other shows.
The pace of VisionQuest Episodes 1 and 2
Episode 1 on its own is likely to lose a lot of viewers. It has action, but the story barely moves: a hero, a hunter, and a client nobody has seen paying for all of it. Something finally happens at the end of Episode 2, and that's where the show picks up. It's the reason to watch the two together, but two episodes is a long time to wait for a show to get going.
WandaVision was slow too. It got away with it by ending almost every episode on a hook and paying them off in a big finale. VisionQuest may be following the same plan, but the lead is different. Wanda was already a fan favourite, and she went on to be the centre of Multiverse of Madness. On screen, Vision has always been the other half of someone else's story. This is the first time he has to carry a show alone, and it's too early to say he can.
Where it seems to be heading is less high-concept puzzle and more emotional drama: a machine slowly learning to be a person. You could also read it as a story about AI, something enormously powerful that holds every memory and can't feel any of them.
Paul Bettany as Vision and Ruaridh Mollica as Tommy
Nobody in the cast is letting the show down. Paul Bettany plays a Vision who watches his own past like a film. "For now, observation is all I can offer," he tells Ultron, and Bettany keeps that flatness interesting to watch. Ruaridh Mollica is just as good as Tommy, a London grifter with memories in his head he can't explain.
By the end of Episode 2, it's clear the show is built around the two of them, and that raises a question. Wanda's other son, Billy, came back in Agatha All Along with magic like his mother's. In WandaVision, Tommy's power was speed, which recalls his uncle Pietro, not Vision. So the father-son bond will have to come from somewhere other than family resemblance.
James Spader as Ultron and Todd Stashwick as Paladin
Much of the early praise has gone to James Spader's Ultron. He's good, but he isn't above the rest of the cast. He stands out because he's the one doing the villain's work. He nudges the story forward a little and may matter more later. So far, that's all.
Paladin is the one actually hunting Vision, and he never feels like a real villain. The character has a comic streak that doesn't fit the show, and it takes the edge off him as a threat. That's down to the writing, not to Stashwick.
Scale and action
VisionQuest doesn't look like an expensive show. The money seems to go where it's needed most. The pub attack in Episode 1 and the big set piece in Episode 2 are where it shows, and the action in both is good.
The bigger risk is the stitching. Two episodes have opened a hunter, a hidden client, a killer called the Butcherbird in the news, a son in a stranger's body and an Ultron with plans of his own. If those threads pull together, the slow start will look like patience in hindsight.
Is VisionQuest worth watching?
If you watched WandaVision and Agatha All Along, yes. It was made for you, and it's worth giving it both episodes before you decide. Everyone else should wait for the payoff. WandaVision's ending justified its slow start. VisionQuest still has to do the same.
Corrected 17 Oct 2026: Vision's line was quoted as "Observation is all I can offer"; it is "For now, observation is all I can offer." The review said Vision thought he had lost a son; he says the boy is the original Vision's son, not his. It said Tommy's power is speed; these episodes don't name it, and speed is what he showed in WandaVision. It mentioned a serial killer in the headlines; the killer is called the Butcherbird, and neither episode says "serial killer". The ending-explained section has its own corrections. Source: the episodes' dialogue.
Ultron's leak. Ultron (James Spader) gives away Vision's location and says he did it to speed up the inevitable, because Vision needed direction and purpose. When mercenaries working for Paladin (Todd Stashwick) attack the pub, Vision's friend Fiona (Polly Frame) is killed.
How Tommy came back. In Agatha All Along, Billy found a body for the soul of his brother Tommy (Ruaridh Mollica), with Agatha's help: a boy who was drowning in a swimming pool. VisionQuest's Thomas Shepherd, a young man running cons in London, says he was held under at a pool and came out of it sharing his head with someone else. He remembers a mother called Wanda and a father who was a machine called Vision. In a psych evaluation he repeats a version of "what is grief, if not love persevering?" The original Vision said that to Wanda in private, so nobody in Vision's head can explain how he knows it.
The trap. Paladin holds Tommy at St. Mabyn's, a sanitarium, knowing Vision will come. Tommy's cell is an EMP cage that knocks out Vision's powers.
Adamantium against vibranium. Paladin shoots Vision with adamantium bullets, and they go through his vibranium body. Adamantium entered the main Marvel story in Captain America: Brave New World. The scene shows these bullets can go through Vision. It doesn't settle which metal is stronger overall.
J.A.R.V.I.S.'s sacrifice. There isn't enough power to keep every AI running, so J.A.R.V.I.S. (James D'Arcy) deletes himself to save the others: "Family is forever. And it's worth the fight." For fans, this is the AI that became part of Vision in Avengers: Age of Ultron, giving himself up for him.
The ending. Tommy won't leave Vision behind. He steals a car and drives him out. Ultron gets out of the attic while Vision's systems are failing.
What it sets up. Paladin's client is still unnamed. One of Vision's AIs floats S.W.O.R.D. as a suspect, but nothing confirms it. A killer called the Butcherbird is still on the loose, according to the news.
Corrected 17 Oct 2026: this section said Ultron leaked Vision's location to remind him he was alive; he says he did it to speed up the inevitable. It said Paladin raided the pub, that Fiona owned it and that Vision escaped by flying off; mercenaries working for Paladin attacked it, and the other two details aren't confirmed. It said VisionQuest names Agatha All Along's drowning boy as Thomas Shepherd and that he remembers Westview; it does neither. It also mentioned an Episode 1 newspaper headline about adamantium and Ultron riding in the escape car, neither of which we could confirm. Source: the episodes' dialogue.
Bright Bulbs
- Vision (Paul Bettany) remembers loving his family and can't feel any of it. Bettany makes that flat, careful performance the best thing in both episodes.
- J.A.R.V.I.S. (James D'Arcy) is played by the actor who was Edwin Jarvis in Agent Carter, opposite the man who used to voice the AI.
- Tommy (Ruaridh Mollica) holds his own opposite Bettany, and the father-son pairing is the clearest reason to keep watching.
- The show looks modest, but the money goes where it counts, and the action scenes are good.
Dull Bulbs
- Episode 1 has action but very little story. The show only finds a reason to move forward at the end of Episode 2.
- The story is easy to follow, but a lot of what's worth enjoying only lands if you know years of Marvel history.
- The mind palace is the kind of smart idea that can lose a mass audience.
- Paladin (Todd Stashwick) has a comic streak that doesn't fit, so the man hunting Vision never feels like a real threat.
- Too many threads are open at once: a hidden client, a hunter, a killer called the Butcherbird and Ultron's plans, with no sign yet of how they connect.
Cast
- Paul Bettany as Vision
- Ruaridh Mollica as Tommy Maximoff / Thomas Shepherd
- James Spader as Ultron
- Todd Stashwick as Paladin
- Diane Morgan as Handler
- Lauren Morais as Lisa Molinari
- James D'Arcy as J.A.R.V.I.S.
- Orla Brady as F.R.I.D.A.Y.
- Emily Hampshire as E.D.I.T.H.
- Henry Lewis as D.U.M.-E.
- Jonathan Sayer as U.
- Polly Frame as Fiona Guthrie
Related articles
Also in Marvel Cinematic Universe
White Vision Explained: The Comics Behind VisionQuestJohn Byrne's rebuilt Vision, the loss of his family and the comic history behind the man who remembers a life he cannot feel.- Who Is Paladin in VisionQuest?Todd Stashwick's hunter has a contract, a Handler and a selective moral code. How VisionQuest changes Marvel's mercenary.
- Every AI in VisionQuest, and Where You've Seen Them BeforeWho plays the six AIs inside Vision's mind, where they appeared in the MCU, and why J.A.R.V.I.S. has a particularly familiar face.
- What to Watch Before VisionQuestStart with WandaVision. Which Avengers films help, why Agatha All Along matters, and what you can leave out of your catch-up.
- How Is Tommy Alive in VisionQuest?From Westview to a swimming pool: Billy's search for Tommy, Thomas Shepherd's memories and the differences from Marvel's comics.
- VisionQuest Episodes 1 and 2 Ending Explained: Tommy, the Trap and J.A.R.V.I.S.Thomas Shepherd's memories, Paladin's trap and the questions left inside Vision's mind after the two-part premiere.