VISIONQUEST Rumored To Lay The Groundwork For AVENGERS: THE CHILDREN'S CRUSADE

Marvel Studios may have much bigger plans for VisionQuest than simply wrapping up the story that started with WandaVision.

Next month’s series will conclude the trilogy that began with WandaVision and continued with Agatha All Along, but a new rumor claims Vision’s return could also kick off the MCU’s path toward an adaptation of Avengers: The Children’s Crusade.

According to Feature First, VisionQuest "won’t connect to the larger Marvel Cinematic Universe but serves as a starting point for a new story, one that will loosely adapt the legendary comic run: Avengers: The Children’s Crusade."

That would make a lot of sense considering where Marvel has left Wanda Maximoff and her sons, and it could turn VisionQuest into an important piece of the MCU’s future.

Allan Heinberg’s 2010-2012 The Children’s Crusade centers largely on Wiccan and Speed as they search for their missing mother, Scarlet Witch, after Wiccan’s powers become unstable. Magneto joins them on their journey, while members of the Young Avengers, Avengers, and X-Men are pulled into the conflict.

Doctor Doom also plays a major role, with the heroes eventually discovering that an amnesiac Wanda is engaged to the villain. With Robert Downey Jr. now playing Doom in the MCU, that particular part of the comic could become very interesting if Marvel decides to keep it.

Possible spoilers for VisionQuest follow.

Feature First also reports that "a previous MCU character will make an appearance by the end of VisionQuest, serving as connective tissue for this upcoming plot."

The obvious candidate is Elizabeth Olsen as Scarlet Witch. Wanda returning at the end of VisionQuest would provide a pretty direct route into The Children’s Crusade, especially after her apparent death in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.

Kathryn Hahn returning as Agatha Harkness is another possibility, though Wanda would certainly carry greater implications for where this story is headed.

Marvel has already put several of the necessary pieces in place. Wiccan ended Agatha All Along searching for his brother, and VisionQuest will bring Tommy Maximoff into the picture, with Ruaridh Mollica playing "Tucker," who will serve as the vessel for Tommy, aka Speed.

The big question is what form The Children’s Crusade could eventually take. Another Disney+ series is possible, but the comic has enough major players to support something considerably larger, perhaps even a future Avengers movie.

If Marvel intends to include Doom in a substantial capacity, it’s also hard to picture Downey’s version of the character being reserved for a streaming project.

Before any of that happens, VisionQuest has its own story to tell. "The Vision, rebooted and having escaped those who sought to use him as a weapon, has been in hiding. His quest for new meaning and discreet existence is interrupted when a bounty is placed on his head, forcing Vision to forge real connections and embrace found family if he's to survive."

Paul Bettany previously revealed that the series will finally take viewers inside Vision’s mind, where he’s apparently been hanging onto several familiar artificial intelligences.

“One of the things that’s fun about that is that we finally get to see what it’s like inside Vision’s mind, and it’s more cluttered than you would think.

“He’s clearly been saving and copying and pasting [the AIs] to keep them alive inside his head. One of them, of course, has to be kept behind a pretty impressive firewall because he’s a psychopath. But he’s a clever one.”

The "psychopath" Bettany is referring to is almost certainly Ultron, though the Age of Ultron villain won’t be the only familiar AI represented in human form.

Emily Hampshire, known for Schitt's Creek, 12 Monkeys, and The Rig, will play a human version of E.D.I.T.H., short for Even Dead, I'm The Hero. Tony Stark created the technology before it eventually passed to Peter Parker following Iron Man’s death in Avengers: Endgame.

Orla Brady from Picard will play a human version of F.R.I.D.A.Y., despite earlier rumors that Kerry Condon would reprise the role. James D'Arcy is also returning as Edwin Jarvis in some capacity.

Then there’s T’nia Miller, whose credits include Foundation, The Fall of the House of Usher, and La Fortuna. She’ll play Jocasta, the Bride of Ultron, who is described as "cunning, powerful and driven by revenge."

That gives VisionQuest plenty to deal with before any potential Children’s Crusade story kicks into gear. Vision has Ultron and several other AIs bouncing around inside his head, Jocasta is entering the MCU, Tommy Maximoff is returning, and a familiar MCU character is reportedly waiting at the end.

If that character turns out to be Wanda, Marvel could have the Maximoff family pieces it needs to start moving toward The Children’s Crusade.

Considering where Wiccan, Speed, Vision, Scarlet Witch, and Doctor Doom currently sit on the MCU chessboard, this is one rumor that fits surprisingly well with what Marvel has already been building.