It took more than a decade, but VisionQuest Episode 4 finally has Ultron (James Spader) fulfilling his original vision, literally. The show has been a full-on Avengers: Age of Ultron reunion for Vision (Paul Bettany) and Ultron, except now the AI villain is literally living rent-free inside Vision's head. In there, Ultron sports a human avatar with Spader's own face and a giant beard, a look E.D.I.T.H. (Emily Hampshire) couldn't help but poke fun at during the show's second week on Disney+. Halfway through its run, the series just closed out its latest episode with a monumental moment that was supposed to happen way back in Age of Ultron.
By the end of VisionQuest Episode 4, "Malware," Ultron has officially taken over Vision's body. After being stuck in Vision's mind ever since their Sokovia disaster (or near-victory, depending on who one asks), viewers have seen Ultron spend the first half of the season slowly earning Vision's trust.
That trust finally comes back to bite Vision during a fight with a new enemy android, Jocasta (T'Nia Miller). Ultron talks him into handing over control of their shared body, telling Vision that he can get them out of there safely and that he will not kill Jocasta.
The handoff goes about as well as any long-time MCU fan would expect. The second Ultron's in charge, he puts Vision's AI roommates on lockdown inside their mind-mansion. Then he grabs hold of a ship's wheel inside his mind-room while singing "I've Got No Strings," the same Pinocchio tune he famously used in Age of Ultron.
Out in the physical world, Vision's body finishes the iconic line as Bettany's voice morphs into Spader's.
It's such a cool MCU moment, because this is the full realization of what Vision was supposed to be in the first place: the final Ultron evolution. The cherry on top is getting the first-ever look at a devilish Bettany performing as Ultron, a true delight.
In case anyone forgot, back in Age of Ultron, that synthezoid body was never meant to be Vision at all. Ultron used the scepter carrying the Mind Stone to brainwash Dr. Helen Cho (Claudia Kim), the same Infinity Stone that ended up in Vision's forehead.
Under its control, she began building him a new form in her freaky cocoon machine (Regeneration Cradle) from synthetic tissue and, of course, some Wakandan vibranium. It was supposed to be Ultron's ultimate upgrade, the body he'd upload himself into.
That plan fell apart once Wanda Maximoff (Elizabeth Olsen) caught a glimpse of his true endgame, inside the crazy robot's messed-up head: human extinction. That is when she and her brother Pietro (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) decided to side with the Avengers.
The Avengers were able to intercept the Cradle, and Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) and Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo) uploaded J.A.R.V.I.S. (also voiced by Bettany) into it instead. Then Thor (Chris Hemsworth) famously zapped Vision to life with Mjolnir and plenty of thunder.
From that very moment, Vision's story began, and it's been a wild ride, now on his second (or third) life, depending on how it's counted. Regardless, Ultron's original idea was also just part of Vision's origin story in the MCU.
It's crazy to see, after all this time, Ultron finally in control of the body he first created for himself, 11 years after the Avengers swiped it out from under him.
Is Ultron the Villain of VisionQuest?
Right now, the Ultron from his MCU inception seems to be back and badder than ever. After giving Jocasta a warm hello, he forced her hand into vaporizing her final target: Katerina Wells.
Jocasta is still on the loose, too. Now unmasked as the Butcherbird Killer, the synthezoid who is one and the same as Dr. Josephine Carrington, Wells' colleague and AI researcher who died in 2008. She has been picking off Carrington's former research partners, and there's clearly more story to unveil as the series continues, and her origins seem a bit murky.
As for Paladin (Todd Stashwick), the gun for hire quickly faded into the background after he lost the contract with the mysterious client in Episode 3. In that same episode, his handler mocked his rough track record, which hints at run-ins with the Punisher (Jon Bernthal), Werewolf by Night's Jack Russell (Gael García Bernal), and Daredevil (Charlie Cox).
With four episodes to go, there's plenty of room for surprises. One of the most interesting aspects of the series so far is that now, none of the perceived "bad guys" are even working with each other heading into Episode 5, with everyone having different goals.
However, Jocasta was Ultron's bride in the comics, so that warm hello could be setting up an evil team-up to come. How Ultron, now having taken over Vision's body, moves next will explain a lot of what's to come. Hopefully F.R.I.D.A.Y., E.D.I.T.H., and Vision will somehow find a way to strip Ultron of his newfound power from inside the mindscape.
