Paul Bettany Announces He's Returning to the MCU

Paul Bettany (Vision) revealed at MegaCon 2024 that he will return to the MCU in some capacity moving forward.

The last time fans saw Bettany's Marvel character was in 2021's WandaVision. In that project, he portrayed multiple versions of the character (original Vision in flashbacks, the re-created Vision who disappeared with Westview at the end of the series, and White Vision who flew off into the ether).

Despite this, there has been no official word from Marvel about the return of any of the three versions, which may surprise fans given the open storyline of White Vision in particular.

Paul Bettany Confirms Marvel Return

While The Direct was attending Paul Bettany's MegaCon 2024 panel on February 3, the actor confirmed that he's set to return to the MCU.

The announcement came in response to a fan asking if there was a possibility of Vision returning to the franchise in "any way, shape, or form," to which Bettany responded "Yes, 100%:"

Fan: "In any way, shape, or form, will Vision return? Or are you going to return to the MCU?"

Bettany: "[After long pause] Well, yeah... I mean, why wouldn't I? Yes, 100%."

Bettany discussed his MCU character further during the panel, answering a fan about how he went about portraying Vision's "humanity" by explaining that he starts as "sort of an omnipotent ingénue" who "becomes more human" as he learns more and more:

Fan: "What was it like to play a robot or android with a type of soul? How did you capture his humanity?"

Bettany: "No idea. Well, I do have one idea. My plan was that he's sort of an omnipotent ingénue when he's born. And then as he gets more and more sophisticated with the amount of data that he's receiving, he becomes more human."

He then shared that for "robots or artificial people," there are two mod for the type of story being told — "Pinocchio and Frankenstein." Bettany said that he sees Vision as pulling from the former and that it is "a really fun arc to play:"

"When you're doing robots or artificial people or whatever it is, I guess the two stories really are Pinocchio and Frankenstein. 'I'm a real boy now' or 'Who made me and what for?' I suppose are the stories. So we were definitely in the Pinocchio camp. And that's a really fun arc to play."

Regarding making Vision feel human, Bettany simply said that since "they paint [him] purple and they put [him] in a robot suit," the humanity comes from him:

"And how did I make him human? I am one. And they paint me purple and they put me in a robot suit. And I figure that stuff is taking care of and I just [focus] on the human stuff."

When Could Vision Return to the MCU?

With Bettany announcing that he will "100%" return to the MCU, fans may wonder when to expect to see Vision on screen again.

The first temptation is to consider the whereabouts of White Vision, and what might come of his story post-WandaVision. However, there is almost nothing to speculate on, as essentially nothing is known about where he was going and what he has been up to since.

A possible project for White Vision to make his return in could be the rumored Vision Quest series in the works. However, the series has yet to be formally announced by Marvel Studios beyond online listings, and cancellation rumors have already started spreading.

Another possibility could be Armor Wars, as Vision was created based on the JARVIS technology from the Iron Man armor; it seems that Iron Man technology (or, at least, Iron-Man-inspired technology) will serve as the basis of Armor Wars.

Additionally, Agatha: Darkhold Diaries will act as a continuation of several storylines introduced in WandaVision, and will see the returns of many characters from that show. 

Perhaps Vision — White Vision or some flashback or recreation of one of his other forms — could be one of those WandaVision returners.

Until more information is announced, though, fans can stream WandaVision in its entirety on Disney+.