Marvel Studios has released a new featurette for VisionQuest, and this one puts the spotlight squarely on James Spader's Ultron. The sneak peek describes the Avengers: Age of Ultron villain as a "monster," "devil," "killer," and "genocidal maniac."
That all seems apt, especially as the promo confirms that Ultron intends to finish what he started when he attempted to wipe out humanity in 2015. It's also made clear that he doesn't exactly hold his fellow AIs—who also inhabit Vision's Mindscape—in particularly high regard.
While it could be down to clever editing, it seems Ultron attempts to take over Tommy's body; might the villain now be looking to become human? It's an intriguing notion, and the hope is that his return in VisionQuest sets up even bigger stories down the line.
"It was really early on. Terry called me up and said, 'How about James Spader?' And I was like, 'That’s exactly it,'" Vision actor Paul Bettany recalled recently. "I hadn’t thought of it, but it’s great because then you can do the sort of intergenerational digital damage. It turned out to be exactly the way to do it."
"James is delicious. He’s got great stories. I literally can’t tell you the ten best James Spader stories because I’d get sued! But James showed up immediately. He loves that we told him to grow a beard," the actor added. "James showed up with this beard, and everybody called him Weirdy Beardy haha! He started off with this kind of Karl Marx beard, grew into a sort of Isambard Kingdom Brunel beard!"
Marvel Animation's What If...? introduced the concept of Infinity Ultron, but it's doubtful the MCU would adapt that unless it's a Variant of the villain in Avengers: Secret Wars. However, the Ultron from the Annihilation comics would be a great choice of foe for Nova and the Guardians of the Galaxy.
Check out this new look at VisionQuest in the players below.
In VisionQuest, Vision, rebooted and having escaped from those who sought to weaponise him, has been in hiding. Searching for new meaning, he consults the AI personas embedded in his programming, including F.R.I.D.A.Y., E.D.I.T.H., J.A.R.V.I.S., and the infamous Ultron.
His discreet existence ends when a bounty placed on his head thrusts him on the run with Thomas Shepard, a mysterious boy who may be Vision's son, reincarnated. As Vision evades capture, he must confront his nature, resist Ultron's influence, and unravel the enigma that is his young companion if he’s to survive.
VisionQuest stars Paul Bettany, James Spader, Ruaridh Mollica, Todd Stashwick, T'Nia Miller, Lauren Morais, Orla Brady, Diane Morgan, Polly Frame, Henry Lewis, Jonathan Sayer, with Emily Hampshire and James D'Arcy.
VisionQuest is created for television by Terry Matalas, based on the Marvel Comics. The executive producers are Kevin Feige, Louis D’Esposito, Brad Winderbaum, Mary Livanos, Terry Matalas, Jac Schaeffer, and Christopher J. Byrne, and the producer is Roopesh Parekh.
The series premieres on Disney+ on October 14.