VisionQuest has the daunting task of humanizing non-human characters. The titular hero is ahead of his AI colleagues because he has over a decade of stories to lean on, showing him falling in love and finding his place in the world. Most everyone else who calls Vision's mindspace home isn't so lucky because, with the exception of Ultron, they've been little more than role players in the MCU, tools that the real heroes can use in a pinch.
But Marvel Studios' latest Disney+ series doesn't gloss over how its AIs feel or what they want from their virtual lives. In Episode 3, "Reboot," FRIDAY explains to her roommates that nearly all of Tony Stark's AI assistants are based on real people from his life. Of course, JARVIS, who passed away in VisionQuest's second episode, was modeled after Edwin Jarvis, the Stark family butler. However, that's only the tip of the iceberg.
FRIDAY shows off a nifty trick: she travels into her code and pulls up an image of the real woman she's based on, Allison Hogan. EDITH later discovers that Allison, likely a member of the same Hogan family Happy belongs to, was Howard Stark's office assistant who helped raise Tony.
As the most curious of the AIs, EDITH also looks into her own past and discovers a woman named Edith Marks, a test pilot who worked for Howard Stark. She lost her husband in an accident and used thrills as a way to escape the pain. These discoveries help EDITH wrap her head around her place in the mindscape and give her newfound motivation to help Vision in the real world.
And the synthezoid needs all the help he can get because VisionQuest Episode 4 properly introduces JOCASTA, the monster who's been killing former Markridge Biotech employees who helped build the framework for modern AI. As JOCASTA attacks an event, the heroes figure out she's based on Josephine Carrington, a former company member who saw her work sold off to Tony and lost her life to an illness.
But JOCASTA reveals a startling truth: she isn't based on Josephine but an actual recreation of her mind. Whatever JOCASTA is feeling is what Josephine would've felt had her body survived its fight with the disease it was suffering from. This revelation intrigues Ultron.
When he gets control of Vision's body, he throws a wrench in JOCASTA's plan by killing her target, forcing her to flee. The Avengers villain then decides to wants to have a heart-to-heart with Tommy Maximoff. However, no matter how badly he poisons the young man's mind, VisionQuest is preparing to rock Ultron's boat even harder.
VisionQuest Might Change Ultron's MCU Origin
When FRIDAY gives her AI pals the lowdown on their situation, she explains that Dum-E and U aren't based on anyone in the real world. They're not too upset about it and decide to give Ultron the floor, since FRIDAY also left him off the list. He brushes them off and explains he's a "one-off," something Tony Stark cooked up on a whim in Avengers Tower.
If that were the case, though, FRIDAY would've just said so. And VisionQuest wouldn't have had a reason to explore the origins of Ultron's avatar. When EDITH dives deep into the files, she needs a pick-me-up because she discovers how many cool things the real Edith did. Ultron assures her there's a piece of Edith inside of her, a surprisingly comforting message from a usually wicked character.
When EDITH turns the tables and tries to get Ultron to open up about his avatar, the one played by James Spader, he doesn't really understand why he chose that form; he just knows he feels comfortable in it. Maybe that's actually the case, and there's nothing more to Ultron's appearance in the mindspace than meets the eye. However, the MCU has proven time and time again that nothing it does is by accident.
VisionQuest may be setting the stage for a huge reveal down the line: Ultron's code houses a piece of a real person. Who that could be is anyone's guess. But one name that sticks out as a potential fit is Obadiah Stane, Tony's old business partner. Although they obviously had a serious falling out, Tony once saw Obadiah as a father figure. Creating Ultron could've been Tony's way of showing love for the person he wished Obadiah had been.
The only way to avoid giving away that spoiler would be to cast someone other than Jeff Bridges as Ultron. Fortunately, Marvel Studios had Spader, who voiced Ultron in the second Avengers movie, at their disposal. With four episodes of VisionQuest left, there's still plenty of time for the truth about Ultron to come out and shake the MCU to its core.
