Paul Bettany Says 'The Vision' Is Still "Omnipotent And Naive" In CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR
Revealing how filming Captain America: Civil War was different, or "more fun," than Avengers: Age of Ultron, Paul Bettany discusses returning as the Vision, offers praise for the Russo brothers, and explains how gets into the head space of his synthetic humanoid character.
Right after the Captain America: Civil War footage was shown exclusively at the AsiaPop Comic-Con over the weekend, Paul Bettany had took part in Q&A with the audience and discussed reprising his Avengers: Age of Ultron role as the Vision in Marvel's first "Phase Three" next year. When asked to compare and contrast working on the The Avengers sequel versus the Captain America threequel, Bettany initially joked that he was a little more used to suiting up in costume and and enduring two hours of makeup. "It was a lot of work!" he said, laughing. "We all had a bit more fun. You know, there were more improvised jokes between me and [Robert] Downey Jr., and me and Chris Evans, and it was a really loose atmosphere on-set. It was one really loose set, it was great!" The English actor continued, "I would totally lie to you if it wasn’t, but I don’t have to lie. And we all get on. They’re all a really nice bunch of boys and girls. They’re all happy to be there. They’re being terribly well-paid, so they should be happy to be there. And work’s really creative and fun, you know? I got to be born on camera, you know, that’s unlikely to ever happen again."
Later during the interview, Paul Bettany had discussed another joy of being a part of the ever-growing Marvel Cinematic Universe, particularly as a superhero. "And also, as an actor, the other part of it is knowing that you have work in a year’s time," he said. "I’ve never had that. Do Jarvis, you should do Jarvis. No, find somebody else. Oh, I … It’s the first time in my life that I’ve had the security of knowing that I’ve got a couple of movies to make…" However, when asked specically how many more appearances he will make as the Vision, Bettany would only say, "I couldn’t reveal that." It is safe to say that the Vision will definitely return in Avengers: Infinity War - Part I or Part II, if not in both, especially considering the synthetic humanoid is being powered by the Mind Gem, which is one of six infinity stones that a certain purple supervillain is out to collect by any means.
Finally, Bettany was asked his preparation mentally for the role of Vision, and in response, the actor revealed how the character will be utilized in Captain America: Civil War. "I was given comics," he started. "I also was looking to think about what could be edifying for me to learn. I took the opportunity—you see my character get born… something unlikely to ever happen to me again. He must be both omnipotent and yet totally naive at the same time. And experiencing the world in real time and his place in it. Is he going to be a force of good or a force of evil? It was really interesting, fun to play with, because he is dangerous, you do not know if he’s going to go one way or another. And I’m continuing that theme in Captain America 3." What do you think?
Directed by Anthony & Joe Russo from a screenplay by Christopher Markus & Stephen McFeely, Captain America: Civil War picks up where Avengers: Age of Ultron left off, as Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) leads the new team of Avengers in their continued efforts to safeguard humanity. After another international incident involving the Avengers results in collateral damage, political pressure mounts to install a system of accountability and a governing body to determine when to enlist the services of the team. The new status quo fractures the Avengers while they try to protect the world from a new and nefarious villain. Starring Chris Evans, Robert Downey Jr., Scarlett Johansson, Sebastian Stan, Anthony Mackie, Paul Bettany, Jeremy Renner, Don Cheadle, Elizabeth Olsen, Paul Rudd, Chadwick Boseman, Emily VanCamp, Daniel Brühl, Frank Grillo, William Hurt, and Martin Freeman, Captain America: Civil War is set for release on May 6, 2016.