Most Marvel Cinematic Universe fans are excited for 2026 as it will see two upcoming Marvel movie releases in the form of Spider-Man: Brand New Day and Avengers: Doomsday. However, there is also a small screen release that could also be something that fans won’t want to miss: the return of Paul Bettany as Vision in Vision Quest on Disney+.
We’ll finally catch up with the character next year in a new series. We don’t know a lot about what the future holds for Vision in the MCU, but Paul Bettany recently joked about what he hopes the future holds for him: a lot of money. Appearing over the weekend at L.A. Comic Con (via Tribune), Bettany was asked what he personally hoped to see in the next phase of the MCU, the actor quipped…
A massive paycheck
Bettany is having some fun, but at the same time, there’s probably more than a bit of honesty there. Movies that are expected to make a lot of money tend to pay the most money. And while actors may not make the money the most important part of any decision when choosing where to work, it would be silly to pretend it’s not part of the equation.
Bettany is hardly the first to say that one of the perks of working in the MCU is the money. Often getting paid a lot to make blockbusters is part of what allows many actors to afford to go on to make other films that they may be more passionate about, but that don’t always pay as well.
The last we saw of Vision in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the reconstituted all-white body of Vision, with all of his memories infused by Wanda’s magic, went flying off into the sky at the end of WandaVision. While we know a few details about the new show’s plot, including that Todd Stashwick will play an assassin hunting Vision, Bettany did reveal some of the themes that the series will deal with, saying…
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.
It may seem a little odd for Vision, a character that was originally constructed and built from various technological components, to have a story about intergenerational trauma and the relationships between fathers and sons. But this description actually does give us a bit of insight into how a key character of Vision Quest will fit into the story.
James Spader is set to return to the MCU in Vision Quest, reprising his role as Ultron for the first time since Avengers: Age of Ultron. While we may not know how that will work, since Ultron was presumed destroyed at the end of the film, at the hands of Vision himself, this does give us some explanation as to why the character will return, as Ultron is the closest thing to a father Vision has.
Paul Bettany wasn’t one of the chairs that we saw as part of the massive Avengers: Doomsday cast reveal, but expectations are Vision Quest will run before the release of Doomsday, and so the two stories connecting are certainly possible. If it happens, it surely means more big paychecks for Bettany.
