In this piece
Spoilers for VisionQuest Episodes 1 and 2.
Paladin (Todd Stashwick) has been paid to capture Vision (Paul Bettany). That sounds like an absurd assignment for a man with a gun until Episode 2 shows how carefully he has prepared. He knows Vision's physical capabilities, finds somebody Vision may care about and builds a trap around both.
He also insists he has standards. The premiere gives him a chance to demonstrate those standards, then promptly gives the viewer reasons to question them.
Marvel readers may recognise the name. The hunter's specific relationship with Vision, however, belongs to this story. Knowing the comics will not identify his employer or explain his contract.
Who plays Paladin and his Handler?
Todd Stashwick has worked extensively with VisionQuest showrunner Terry Matalas. He played Deacon in 12 Monkeys, which Matalas co-created, and Captain Liam Shaw in Star Trek: Picard's third season, for which Matalas was showrunner.
Paladin's Handler, who works remotely, is played by Diane Morgan. She researches targets, follows records and watches communications while he handles the physical pursuit. Diane Morgan is best known for Philomena Cunk, the satirical interviewer from Cunk on Britain and Cunk on Earth.
The first two episodes give the Handler no personal name or independent backstory. She is part of Paladin's operation, separate from the AIs in Vision's mind. Her research is what allows the hunt to move from a pub in Edinburgh to Thomas Shepherd (Ruaridh Mollica) in London.
What Paladin has been hired to do
His employer, called the Client, wants Vision delivered intact. The instruction matters because Paladin's first attack is anything but delicate. His mercenaries assault the Edinburgh pub where Vision has been working as Sherwood Ellis, exposing him and killing Fiona Guthrie (Polly Frame).
Ultron (James Spader) supplies Vision's hiding place, admitting that he leaked it because Vision needed direction and purpose. Paladin has a contract already; Ultron provides the information that lets him act on it. The Client remains unidentified.
The Handler then helps Paladin turn a failed capture into a more personal threat. They follow the Sherwood Ellis identity back to Westview, examine the records of Wanda Maximoff (Elizabeth Olsen) and her children, and locate Thomas through a London police psych evaluation.
Thomas describes a family that resembles Wanda's. Paladin takes him hostage and offers Vision the possibility that his son has survived. Whether the bounty hunter understands every detail is secondary to his purpose: he needs Vision to come to him.
His code is more selective than he claims
After Fiona is killed, Paladin shoots the sniper responsible. He presents civilian deaths as a breach of his rules. The act makes him more alarming than a hunter who simply shrugs off the damage: he is willing to kill a member of his own team to enforce his preferred conduct.
Episode 2 tests that principle. Paladin uses Thomas's vulnerability as leverage, threatening to leave him to further harm at St. Mabyn's unless Vision gives himself up. To Paladin, a hostage's suffering is acceptable when it moves the contract along.
He also kills a guard at St. Mabyn's. That case is less clear-cut: according to Laughing Place's recap, the guard takes a swing at Paladin first, which isn't the same as a bystander caught in a raid.
Calling him honourable would still give his self-description too much credit. Thomas discovers how little comfort Paladin's standards offer when Paladin needs a hostage.
What the centuries-long hunter history establishes
Vision's AI briefing describes Paladin as the last in a centuries-long line of hunters working for the highest bidder. It suggests the name belongs to a tradition, with this man its current representative.
The briefing also says that accepting a target binds him to a contract he can't break. These are the show's clues to a larger background, but they stop short of an origin story.
The series hasn't made him immortal or the tradition hereditary. A centuries-long line can mean succession; it doesn't mean this Paladin has lived for centuries.
The tradition adds a past beyond the jobs he has taken. VisionQuest hasn't yet shown us that past, or explained how he became part of it. The comic character's largely secret background gives the adaptation plenty of room to develop its own answer.
How Paladin can hurt Vision
At St. Mabyn's, Paladin prepares an EMP cage that suppresses Vision's abilities. He then uses adamantium rounds against the weakened synthezoid. Vision's vibranium body is penetrated, and the damage puts his internal systems in danger.
The sequence answers the immediate question of how a heavily armed hunter can threaten someone who normally flies, phases through objects and fires energy from his head. Paladin has arranged conditions that stop Vision relying on those advantages.
As for Paladin's own abilities, the first two episodes offer no confirmed superhuman origin. What makes him dangerous here is preparation: he chooses the venue, limits Vision's options and places Thomas where Vision has to approach him.
His equipment has been selected for this target, down to ammunition that can penetrate Vision's body while he is caught in the electromagnetic trap. He has done more research than the pub attack initially suggests.
Who is Paladin in Marvel Comics?
Paladin debuts in Daredevil #150, cover-dated January 1978. Jim Shooter writes the issue, Carmine Infantino pencils it and Klaus Janson provides the inks. His first case involves pursuing the Purple Man, bringing him into contact with Daredevil.
He remains a mercenary rather than a straightforward supervillain. Employment puts him alongside heroes on some occasions and against them on others. He has worked with Silver Sable, joined Heroes for Hire and served in Norman Osborn's Thunderbolts.
His signature weapon is a stun gun, a sharp contrast with the lethal ammunition he uses in VisionQuest.
Marvel's own roleplaying-game profile credits him with fighting on both sides of the superhuman Civil War and abandoning lucrative assassination jobs because he can't bring himself to kill the target. Payment matters to him, but his willingness to finish a job has limits. Whether the show's version has comparable limits is still open.
Is Paul Denning his real name?
Paul Denning is an alias, not a confirmed birth name. Marvel's character material treats Paladin's real identity as unknown. Calling him Paul Denning without that qualification turns a piece of his cover into an answer the comics haven't supplied.
The show hasn't introduced the name in its first two episodes. On screen, Paladin is still simply Paladin, with an unknown history and a reputation his opponents are obliged to take seriously.
GamesRadar+ sees a more direct visual connection: it calls the helmet and goggles a nod to his comic costume, which also has a head covering with lenses. VisionQuest otherwise gives him a rougher, heavily equipped look. The contract and the centuries-long hunter tradition are much more specific to this adaptation.
Who hired Paladin?
The Client's identity remains open. The Handler detects S.W.O.R.D. encryption in a communication, and Paladin's side discusses resources such as satellite access. S.W.O.R.D. has an obvious historical interest in Vision because it rebuilt his body as a weapon in WandaVision.
None of that confirms who is speaking: S.W.O.R.D. encryption shows access to its technology, not who the caller works for.
By the end of Episode 2, Paladin has failed to deliver Vision, despite causing enormous damage. His employer's patience is already under strain. That leaves three questions: who is paying, how far will Paladin go to finish, and what does his contract actually allow him to refuse?
For the consequences of the capture attempt, read the premiere ending explainer. Our Episodes 1 and 2 review considers whether the writing makes him convincing as a threat.