The final series in a television trilogy that began with the creative WandaVision and continued through the surprisingly involving Agatha All Along is here to close out Marvel’s “Westview trilogy”. VisionQuest (starring Paul Bettany and James Spader) is eight episodes of fun banter mixed with some interesting ideas.

Viewers should hold on to that fun feeling as tight as they can. While the story is commendable and the two leads carry the load, the series feels unnecessary and is designed with an earnestness that doesn’t need to be so heavy. Marvel movies and tv have become overly serious. Every character that inhabits their productions has more malaise and grieves more constantly than anyone from Shakespeare’s Hamlet. While most Marvel products are fun, their dramatic edges have become too earnest and VisionQuest is no exception. https://www.slantmagazine.com/tv/visionquest-marvel-paul-bettany-james-darcy/Did everyone forget how to make comic book movies joyful?

To quote a character from a DC superhero film, “Why so serious?”

Paul Bettany returns as Vision. The character is far from J.A.R.V.I.S. and is not the entity from the first show or the representation featured in Avengers: Age of Ultron. Bettany is now White Vision, an emotionless entity who was resurrected under “Project Cataract” using the original body of his former incarnation. Escaping the S.W.O.R.D. (Sentient World Observation and Response Department) organization after they tried to turn him into a weapon, Vision spends his days in hiding, working at a small pub in Edinburgh, England and trying to learn how humans tick. When the work day has finished, Vision returns to the artificial intelligence-designed home he shares with other programs of his own design. J.A.R.V.I.S. (James D’Arcy, slowly morphing into Ralph Fiennes), F.R.I.D.A.Y. (Orla Brady), and E.D.I.T.H. (Emily Hampshire) make up their artificial happy home. 

There is another roommate. One whose existence meets with the disapproval of Vision’s fellow housemates; Ultron (James Spader). After the events in Age of Ultron, Vision kept fragments of Ultron’s intelligence programs and hid them inside his own.

Spader (one of cinema’s most undervalued acting treasures) gets all the best lines, delivering each one with sharp wit and gravitas. The actor’s wordplay sequences with Bettany are the highlight of the film. The two actors keep things lively as the story begins to drag with each new episode.

When bounty hunter Paladin (a terrible performance from the usually reliable Todd Stashwick) tracks down Vision, our favorite “synthezoid” goes on the run, eventually joining a grifter named Thomas Shepard (Ruaridh Mollica), who may or may not be Vision’s offspring. The inclusion of the character should have been an emotional bridge for the audience. Alas, show creator Terry Matalas and his writing team don’t know what to do with it beyond the expected father-son drama. In a plot that is already both too much and too little, this aspect of the story is less than involving and never properly explored. 

Bettany is a fine actor, but  this time out, he seems to be struggling. Vision is not the type of character who should be advanced to a lead. WandaVision worked because he had a partner in Wanda and the balance of Vision’s cold, blank, non-emotion felt right when they were together. Sure, he is a hero, but there are no real challenges in his quest to be human. By the fourth episode, the limitations of Vision’s screen presence begin to show.

While Marvel productions sometimes hold welcome surprises, the continuing need to bring back dead characters is boring. In the (used to be) rare case when a major player would fall, the fans could feel the loss. Nowadays, death in a marvel film means nothing. There are tv shows to be made and post credit, easter-egg, “gotchas” to be experienced. This knowledge dwindles the emotional stakes of any Marvel film or series. How many more times can fans cheer the return of Chris Evans; as either Captain America or Johnny Storm? The multiverse has been closed. Someone put a padlock on it, please!

There is not a lot to say about VisionQuest. Bettany is solid. James Spader is the series’ V.I.P and the true life of the party. The script’s more important questions regarding humanity (think Pinocchio) are undercooked. The series is clever, but nothing new. Everything one expects to see from a Marvel product is what you get.


VisionQuest

Episodes Written by Terry Matalas, Cindy Appel, Nicole Falsetti, Christopher Monfette, Matthew Okumura, & Michael Taylor
Episodes Directed by Christopher J. Byrne, Gandja Monteiro, Vincenzo natali, & Terry Matalas
Starring Paul Bettany, James Spader, Ruaridh Mollica, Todd Stashwick, T’Nia Miller, Lauren Morais, Orla Brady, Diane Morgan, Polly Frame, Henry Lewis, Jonathan Sayer, Emily Hampshire, James D’Arcy