Paul Bettany Teases Dark Marvel Series About Intergenerational Trauma — Fathers, Sons, and Denial of Pain
Paul Bettany says Vision Quest will center on intergenerational trauma, promising a series about the wounds we inherit and the fight to break the cycle.
Paul Bettany just laid out what his MCU comeback in Vision Quest is actually about, and surprise: it sounds like WandaVision-level feelings again, not a simple robot-punching show. Think identity, grief, family baggage… with killer AIs lurking in the wings.
"It is about intergenerational trauma... fathers and sons and denial of pain and denial of your own truth and coming to terms with who and what you are."
Where we left Vision (quick refresher)
Vision died in Avengers: Infinity War. In WandaVision, Wanda built a 'hex' version of him inside her sitcom bubble in Westview, while the real body got reactivated by SWORD as a blank, all-white Vision with no memories. White Vision fought Hex Vision, got his memories back, and then peaced out to figure himself out. That unresolved exit is the runway for Vision Quest.
The father/son wrinkle, and why Ultron is back
Bettany specifically brings up fathers and sons, which makes a lot of sense if you remember that Ultron literally created Vision. And yes, James Spader is returning as Ultron in the series, despite Vision frying him back in Age of Ultron. Comic-book death is a revolving door, but this one has some juicy thematic reasons to exist: creator versus creation, legacy, and what Vision chooses to be now that he has his memories but not his old life.
On the rumor front: fans are convinced Tommy (one of Wanda and Vision's kids) will show up, which would give that intergenerational angle another layer. Not confirmed, but it tracks with the themes Bettany just flagged.
Who is making this, and who is in it
Star Trek: Picard showrunner Terry Matalas is steering the series, which is interesting for anyone who enjoyed how that show mixed legacy characters with big sci-fi ideas. And the lineup has some fun, slightly inside-baseball picks:
- Paul Bettany as Vision
- James Spader as Ultron
- Todd Stashwick as Paladin, a bounty hunter
- T'Nia Miller as Jocasta, a vengeful robot
- Emily Hampshire as E.D.I.T.H., Tony Stark's AI system
- Terry Matalas as showrunner
If you are raising an eyebrow at Jocasta and E.D.I.T.H. in the same show: yeah, same. That is some deep-cut robotics lore alongside a very modern Stark-world AI. Feels like the series might lean harder into the larger AI lineage of the MCU than we usually get outside the movies.
When and where
Vision Quest is set to hit Disney Plus sometime in 2026. No exact date yet.
Bottom line: Bettany is teasing another identity-crisis story, but with sharper edges this time. Ultron back in the mix is bold, and if the show actually threads the needle between father/son sci-fi angst and the fallout from WandaVision, it could be sneaky heavy. Also, Spader chewing scenery as a smug murder-bot never hurts.