Marvel Studios might be fooling the MCU fanbase with its VisionQuest trailer footage. Late last year, the Red Brand rolled out Paul Bettany's 2026 super-powered streaming series at New York Comic-Con (NYCC), debuting the first-ever footage from the project for those in attendance. This included a deeper look at Vision's plight in the new show as he encounters human manifestations of various other AI constructs (both new and old).
While the entire trailer was made to look like it was happening in the real world, with these other synthetic individuals taking on proper corporeal form, there are some who believe this could all be a massive ploy on the part of Marvel Studios, teeing up a big twist in the forthcoming series.
One of the most significant new additions to VisionQuest is the returning villain Ultron (played once again by James Spader). The former Avengers' big bad will burst back onto the scene in the upcoming show, but what exactly the evil android has planned remains unclear.
Some have theorized that Ultron's end goal could be to drive Vision made, taking the super-powered synthezoid and using him as his own robotic pawn.
During the NYCC trailer footage, the emergence of these other AIs, while meant to look like, are merely various computer programs (most of which were conceived by Vision's creator, Tony Stark) taking on a human-like form, just like Vision did all the way back in Avengers: Age of Ultron. However, that may not actually be the case.
Some have begun to wonder whether Marvel is hiding the fact that these robotic characters are actually all in Vision's head, including Ultron himself. Seeing as Vision and Ultron are of the same creator, perhaps there is still a kernel of James Spader's MCU villain hidden away within Vision's programming.
Now, with Vision renewed as the resurrected White Vision (an almost perfect facsimile of the original Vision but without the memories of said character), Ultron sees a new weakness in the hero's programming and jumps on it.
Maybe Ultron is actually the one controlling Vision's mind, and everything we have seen of the series is taking place within his robotic head. That means these new steel-skinned characters like Jacosta and FRIDAY are not actually there interacting with Vision, but rather placed in his consciousness as part of some nefarious simulation.
This theory is given a bit of credence as part of the NYCC footage, as Ultron is seen saying to Bettany's longtime Avenger, his life is a lie, and he's a "ghost haunting [his] footsteps. Perhaps this is more literal than one would expect, with Ultron essentially telling Vision in that moment that, "Hey, this is all in your head, and none of it is real."
Vision is also seen questioning what little memories he does have. In fact, in one scene, the former Avenger can be seen watching Thanos pull the Soul Stone from his head on a film monitor, adding even more fuel to this 'living in a simulation' fire.
It will be interesting to see whether Marvel is, in fact, hiding this major VisionQuest twist from fans, whether it remains hidden right up until release, or if the studio will opt to use the twist as part of its what is sure to be lengthy marketing campaign. VisionQuest is set to arrive on Disney+ sometime in 2026.
Is VisionQuest Hiding a Simulation Secret
The evidence is there for VisionQuest hiding a major simulation-based twist. The project has been teased as being about Vision struggling with his identity after his resurrection in the WandaVision finale.
What better place to grapple with such heady subject matter than by literally looking within? Vision, having to literally navigate the far reaches of his synthetic mind, feels ever-so comicbooky, yet is something the MCU has not necessarily tackled in its almost 20 years on the screen.
It would also justify how someone like Ultron could return after being vanquished at the end of Avengers: Age of Ultron.
If this were all in his head, it would also make sense given that the upcoming series has been branded as a sequel to WandaVision, another streaming show in which the characters questioned their reality.
