REVIEW: ‘VisionQuest’ Episodes 1-2

The goliath sized studio with plenty of IP and not enough innovation to steer with returns with VisionQuest Episodes 1-2,proving again what so many of the 16 previous outings have already. For all of the many fun ideas, visual spectacle, and committed performances, a show run by the MCU will always and forever be weighed down by a single, aggravating truth: it is an MCU product first, story second. 

There’s a spectrum when it comes to Marvel TV series and, in many regards, VisionQuest should be better served than, say, the abysmal Secret Invasion or the muted Daredevil: Born Again. It is linked to the better offerings the studio has delivered in recent years, a continuation of the genuinely fantastic WandaVision and the surprisingly moving Agatha All Along.

But not only does it lack the whimsy of the previous two entries; it also lacks a protagonist with the same compelling presence as Elizabeth Olsen and Kathryn Hahn. Paul Bettany’s Vision is fine, but fine isn’t enough to sell yet another stitch in the overwhelmingly vast superhero saga. 

A group of familiar faces – and names – assemble.

Which is why they’re so lucky they have James Spader in their arsenal. Spader brings a delightful, off-kilter, no-filter energy as born again Ultron that enlivens the series immensely. He is worth tuning in for the first two episodes. Even if they’re try to convince us to spend another season with characters we’ve already seemingly found closure with, only to open up another path for the sake of potential studio-run stories down the line. Because Agatha All Along introduced us to an older, powered twin Billy Maximoff. So of course we need to find Tommy to complete the set 

The Vision we find isn’t quite the Vision we remember last seeing in WandaVision. That is by design. Having been resurrected, he’s secluded himself, retiring to work in Edinburgh and spending most of his time in his Mindspace. There, he works with other AIs we’ve come to know over the course of the series to try and understand emotions better, having severed the version of him made by Wanda in Westview, the most human and, to him, most false. 

These AIs include J.A.R.V.I.S. (James D’Arcy), the first AI created by Tony Stark and originally voiced by Bettany. In a fun nod to one of Marvel’s best and oft-forgotten series, D’Arcy reprises his role from Agent Carter as the man who inspired the AI in the first place. F.R.I.D.A.Y. (Orla Brady) is another of Stark’s AI personal assistants, with characters like the human versions of D.U.M.E. (Henry Lewis) and U (Jonathan Sayer) as little nods to the early days of the MCU, when Tony Stark tinkered in his shop. 

VisionQuest Episodes 1-2 feel too much like a retread.

They, along with E.D.I.T.H. (a miscast Emily Hampshire) – an AI whose main protocol is to try and help Vision experience fun – seek to help Vision in his, uh, quest to understand what it means to be human without the pesky memories of his life with Wanda, Billy and Tommy. The last piece to the puzzle is Ultron (James Spader), whom he keeps imprisoned. Why? It’s hard to say. The series tries to orchestrate a level of emotional investment, to convince us that Vision might have some attachment to the other AI, considering Ultron was one part of his maker, but it doesn’t fully sit. 

And this is, in part, because their ending was already so well done. Joss Whedon’s quip-riddled dialogue has had a long, ill-desired effect on the MCU, and there’s a lot about Age of Ultron that has only grown even more sour with time. But the ending sequence where Vision and Ultron lightly discuss the fraught futility of man? That was good. 

So it’s hard not to feel like this is all a retread. In the most cynical take, it’s even harder not to wonder if this is all conveniently plotted to align with the major event that is Avengers: Doomsday. Because so far, even with the mountains of plot they’re throwing at us, VisionQuest Episodes 1-2 feel more like a barrage of trips down memory lane. Don’t worry about having to re-watch what’s come before, because they’re just going to smack a little montage into the episode itself. 

Tommy is a heartbreaking and interesting character but we need more emotional connection.

It’s a shame because, on its own and plucked away from the MCU of it all, there’s charm to VisionQuest. And not just in the rambling antics of Spader, who’s delightfully leaning into full weirdo mode. Created by Terry Matalas, VisionQuest shares some of the same appealing DNA of WandaVision and Agatha All Along. From the twee designs and lush settings to the crisp lines of the suits the AIs wear, it’s an aesthetic pulled from Bryan Fuller (but you know, more Pushing Daisies and less Hannibal).

Everything in Visions Mindscape looks good, though the outside, real world suffers from the expected dour, cement coloring and difficulty making out characters in the night. But there’s a sense of style in even just the way they dress that allows the characters to pop, even if only a few of them really make us care by the end of the explosive Episode 2. 

Tommy’s (Ruaridh Mollica) story is interesting in theory, but what made Billy’s “reveal” (this was never a real secret) so enticing wasn’t the reveal itself, but how he related to Agatha. Joe Locke and Kathryn Hahn worked wonders off of one another, and it was their unlikely, tenuous bond that allowed us to understand the trauma both of them underwent. It was a new-ish character with an established one. 

There’s promise here. But VisionQuest needs to let itself exist solely for the story, not the studio.

Meanwhile, Tommy is off doing his own thing for most of Episodes 1-2 until Vision’s late rescues from the bizarrely cartoonish bounty hunter, Paladin (Todd Stashwick). It’s enough to establish the baseline of his character – his powers and how he’s survived up until now. But because so much of his screen time is spent with characters we aren’t familiar with, like his partner-in-crime, Lisa Molinari (Lauren Morais), it’s harder for us to get a sense of who he is. It’s early days still, but it’s hard to be invested in a story where the emotion is all still surface level. 

That, ultimately, is the problem with VisionQuest Episodes 1-2. It all plays too much like setup. Set up for the remaining six episodes, set up for the larger scope of story being told in the MCU, set up for whatever story may or may not ever occur for the younger set of heroes being introduced. There’s pops of color and energy, with strong style and a story about fathers and sons, the burdens of memory and legacy, that suggest a greater, worthwhile tale, but it all feels too synthetic. Maybe that’s also by design. Withholding the heart until Vision’s breaks.

Like any solid Marvel series, there’s promise to VisionQuest Episodes 1-2. But that promise is hampered by what has become a long-running distraction from the best qualities of any given TV show or film from the studio. It can’t simply exist on its own. James Spader is wily and fantastic, and while it doesn’t reach the heights of shows like Agatha All Along, WandaVision, Wonder Man, or Loki, it has a spark of life and intrigue. It will depend on how the narrative continues to unravel, how much it stays tied to the past and anchored to the future MCU five-year plans, and how much it’s allowed to explore the present story. 

VisionQuest Episodes 1-2 are available now on Disney+