WandaVision was the first successful Marvel Cinematic Universe show on Disney+, and its sequel show, Agatha All Along, was very nearly as buzzworthy. Now, the House of Mouse is bringing the whole thing to a close with VisionQuest, which promises to be a real showcase for Vision actor Paul Bettany. However, I’m personally more excited to see the return of James Spader as Ultron because it represents an opportunity to effectively redeem the most disappointing villain in the MCU.
I say “disappointing” because Ultron wasn’t a terrible Big Bad. He was certainly more memorable than Malekith, for example, or Karli Morgenthau. However, Spader is one of the best actors in the business, someone whose performance always elevates whatever movie he is in. There was only so much he could do in Avengers: Age of Ultron, Joss Whedon’s disappointing sequel that focused too much on setting up future films and not enough on telling a cohesive story.
Ultron: Cool Idea, Bad Execution
In Whedon’s film, Ultron begins as a fairly interesting concept: a rogue AI that decides the best way to accomplish its programmed goal of protecting the Earth is to kill all those pesky humans destroying the planet. But once he breaks bad, Ultron just turns into another sneering supervillain with an army of drone characters and a fairly generic plan for world domination. The movie was a complete waste of Spader’s talent, but based on everything we know about VisionQuest, the show is going to finally redeem Ultron’s character while giving Spader a chance to really stretch his acting chops.
There have been strong rumors that VisionQuest will feature various AI characters (including Vision’s two children and Ultron) in human bodies. While some fans have lamented this as a cost-saving measure, I’m hoping this rumor turns out to be true: after all, it’s easier for James Spader to emote as Ultron when he’s not trapped behind bad CGI. The same was true of Paul Bettany, who was able to channel a deeper range of human emotions in WandaVision whenever he wasn’t buried in layers of mechanical makeup.
VisionQuest showrunner Terry Matalas (who notably brought us the acclaimed third season of Star Trek: Picard) recently spoke to these rumors, telling Phase Hero that “You do get to see robot Ultron, but you see a lot of James Spader and a lot of Paul Bettany together.” More pertinently, he claimed that “They are very much a core dynamic of the show” and that the series itself is “a delivery system for Bettany and Spade.
Spader’s Time to Shine
James Spader
Based on these comments, it sounds like we’ll be seeing a lot of James Spader in this show, which is a good thing: on top of the two-dimensional writing, the ensemble nature of Avengers: Age of Ultron really held Spader back. Like WandaVision before it, VisionQuest promises to be a more intimate affair, one that allows characters to grow and evolve over an entire season rather than one breathless movie. Additionally, centering the series around Spader and Bettany helps the show potentially deal with crunchy themes about fatherhood, legacy, personhood, and so much more.
If Matalas can deliver the goods (hey, he managed to end Picard on a good note after two wildly rocky seasons) with some solid writing, then Spader will be able to transform Marvel’s most disappointing villain into its greatest. Best case, this could even usher in a more thoughtful era for the MCU, one that appeals to jaded fans who are sick of CGI slop rather than narrative substance. Worst case, we get to see one of the greatest modern actors chewing up scenery with the vigor of Robert California.
Either way, I’m completely here for it!
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