VISIONQUEST Reveals Jim Hammond’s Human Torch and a Mysterious Creepy New MCU Villain
Marvel’s VisionQuest just dropped a new teaser, and there are a couple of shots that comic book fans are going to want to examine closely.
Along with more footage of Vision and Ultron, the promo gives us our first look at Jim Hammond’s Human Torch and introduces a mysterious red-eyed character who could have a major connection to Ultron.
The teaser briefly shows the android completely engulfed in flames, and his costume appears to pull heavily from his classic Marvel Comics design. Hammond predates Johnny Storm by decades, first appearing in 1939’s Marvel Comics #1.
Then there’s the red-eyed figure. Some fans have speculated that we’re looking at Scarlet Witch, but Jocasta seems like the much more likely answer. In the comics, Jocasta is an android created by Ultron to serve as his bride, making her a natural fit for this particular corner of the MCU.
If this is Jocasta, the bigger question is what Marvel plans to do with her origins. Her brain patterns could potentially come from one of Tony Stark’s other AI systems, or Marvel could connect her directly to Wanda Maximoff.
The visual resemblance to Wanda certainly makes the latter possibility interesting, particularly because using Wanda as the basis for Jocasta would be exactly the kind of twisted move you could imagine Ultron making.
The footage also takes us further into Vision’s Mindscape, where Ultron appears increasingly frustrated by the fact that he’s trapped there. James Spader is returning as Ultron, but the character won’t always appear as the towering metal killing machine audiences remember from Avengers: Age of Ultron.
VisionQuest showrunner Terry Matalas recently explained why he wanted Spader himself onscreen alongside Paul Bettany, rather than keeping Ultron entirely CG.
"It's funny, people say it's a budget thing, it's not, it's a James Spader thing," Matalas said. "I love James Spader. Who doesn't love James Spader? I just want to see James, and I want to see Bettany. You'll get plenty of robot action in the show. The show is very much inspired by that last scene in Age of Ultron between the two of them."
"But watching Spader and Bettany chew up the scenery was something I saw in my head from the very beginning. It is prohibitively expensive to do a CGI robot 24/7, but I also don't want to see a CGI robot. It's not going to be able to emote and do the things that James Spader can do with just the twitch of an eyebrow. So that's pretty much the main reason."
That approach should give Spader and Bettany plenty of room to play off each other while still delivering the Ultron robot action fans want. Their final exchange in Age of Ultron remains one of the more interesting moments between the two characters, and Matalas is clearly interested in digging further into that relationship.
In VisionQuest, Vision has rebooted and escaped from those attempting to weaponize him. Now in hiding and searching for meaning, he turns to the AI personalities embedded within his programming, including F.R.I.D.A.Y., E.D.I.T.H., J.A.R.V.I.S., and, unfortunately for him, Ultron.
Vision’s attempt at staying out of sight falls apart when a bounty is placed on his head. He soon finds himself on the run with Thomas Shepard, a mysterious young man who may be the reincarnation of Vision’s son.
While trying to stay ahead of those hunting him, Vision must figure out who Thomas really is, resist Ultron’s influence, and confront some difficult questions about his own identity.
The series also stars Ruaridh Mollica, Todd Stashwick, T'Nia Miller, Lauren Morais, Orla Brady, Diane Morgan, Polly Frame, Henry Lewis, Jonathan Sayer, Emily Hampshire, and James D'Arcy.
Matalas created VisionQuest for television based on Marvel Comics. Kevin Feige, Louis D’Esposito, Brad Winderbaum, Mary Livanos, Matalas, Jac Schaeffer, and Byrne serve as executive producers, with Roopesh Parekh producing.
Check out the new VisionQuest promo in the X post below and see what you make of that red-eyed character.
VisionQuest premieres on Disney+ on October 14.
