VisionQuest Goes Full WandaVision: Every Episode Plays Like a Different Movie
VisionQuest looks set to pay tribute to a different movie each episode, echoing the genre-hopping formula that made WandaVision a breakout hit.
Marvel's VisionQuest isn't just dusting off Vision for a standard comeback. Showrunner Terry Matalas says every episode is its own movie, genre and all, which makes this sound more like a cousin to WandaVision than a straight-line spinoff. Ambitious? Yep. Potentially very fun if they pull it off.
Each episode is its own movie
Matalas told the Phase Hero podcast he couldn't pick a favorite episode because each one plays like a different kind of film. Think: a season that shapeshifts week to week, not just in tone but in format. He also said every installment has moments he loves, which is a diplomatic way to hype the whole run without pointing at one standout.
WandaVision vibes, but not a rerun
WandaVision (back in 2021) used a different era of sitcoms each week, riffing from I Love Lucy to Modern Family while telling Wanda and Vision's very not-sitcom story. VisionQuest sounds like it's aiming for a similar structural trick, but swapping TV eras for movie genres. New playground, same spirit of reinvention.
The cast (and a couple eyebrow-raisers)
- Paul Bettany as Vision
- James Spader returning as Ultron — yes, the Ultron Vision appeared to wipe out in Avengers: Age of Ultron
- Todd Stashwick as Paladin, a bounty hunter
- T'Nia Miller as Jocasta, a vengeful robot
- James D'Arcy as J.A.R.V.I.S., Tony Stark's original AI
- Emily Hampshire as E.D.I.T.H., Tony's later AI system
Ultron showing up again is the headline surprise, but having both of Tony's AIs in the mix is another intriguing twist. Add Jocasta (longtime robotics name-drop for Marvel fans) and a bounty hunter, and it sounds like Vision will be navigating a very crowded, very mechanical family tree.
So what is this actually about?
Bettany has been framing the series as more than just a genre exercise. He teased a heavier emotional core with themes that run deeper than androids punching androids.
'It's 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.'
When and where to watch
VisionQuest is set to premiere on Disney Plus in 2026, lined up as part of Marvel's Phase 6. Plenty of time for Marvel to polish the genre swings — and for us to speculate about how Ultron found a way back... again.