James Spader is back as Ultron in the official trailer for VisionQuest, Marvel’s new WandaVision spinoff. Marvel released the trailer Thursday, 11 years after Spader first played the villain in Avengers: Age of Ultron.
VisionQuest premieres with two episodes on Wednesday, October 14, exclusively on Disney+. The eight-episode series wraps up the trilogy that started with WandaVision and continued with Agatha All Along.
Ultron Is Back, and This Time He’s Human
Spader voices the robotic Ultron again, but he also appears in the flesh as a human version of the villain. Human Ultron looks like Spader with gray hair, a full beard, and glasses. In the trailer, Vision tries to save Tommy, who appears to be one of his children. Saving him means Vision has to “release” Ultron, which could create a whole new set of problems. The new trailer gives fans a good look at both versions of Ultron, as you can see below:
So what has Ultron been doing since Age of Ultron? Spader says Ultron has had access to the internet, television, and history, and he’s been consuming it and painting. He also described Ultron and Vision as having “a sort of father-son-therapist-psychopath relationship.” Paul Bettany, who plays Vision, said Ultron lives in a “fantastic prison loft” where Vision goes to him for advice.
Ultron seemed to die at the end of Age of Ultron, but showrunner Terry Matalas says Vision showed mercy. Matalas explained that Vision never really wanted to kill Ultron, even though the villain was a threat to humanity. Matalas said the idea came together fast, recalling, “Within a millisecond, I was like, ‘It’s [James] Spader.'”
What VisionQuest Is About
In the series, Vision has been hiding after escaping people who wanted to turn him into a weapon. Searching for meaning, he turns to the AI personas in his programming, including Friday, Edith, Jarvis, and Ultron. Then a bounty forces him on the run with Thomas Shepherd, a boy who may be his reincarnated son. This Vision regained the original’s memories at the end of WandaVision, but he has no emotional connection to them.
Ultron isn’t the only threat, either, since the trailer teases several villains. Todd Stashwick plays Paladin, a bounty hunter chasing Vision, while T’Nia Miller plays Jocasta, a powerful robot seeking revenge. The cast also includes Ruaridh Mollica, Orla Brady, Diane Morgan, Emily Hampshire, and James D’Arcy, among others. Matalas, who developed 12 Monkeys and served as a showrunner on Star Trek: Picard, created the series for television.
To keep up to date on all the latest Marvel news and more, be sure to follow Disney Dorks on Facebook!