Marvel Studios released a brand new promo for VisionQuest that notably features a flaming man within Vision's Mind Space. Based on recent rumors and reports, the burning individual is Jim Hammond, better known as Marvel Comics' original Human Torch, who is said to finally be entering the MCU properly in VisionQuest.
Marvel Studios teased VisionQuest's new Human Torch at D23 Expo with promo art of a mysterious flaming man in the middle of a street. Fans can only assume that this is the very same figure who appeared in the WandaVision sequel's latest promo, and there is a high chance that audiences have seen him before.
Some may remember that the android Human Torch was spotted at the 1943 Stark Expo in Captain America: The First Avenger. Unlike in Marvel Comics, this Human Torch was labeled as Synthetic Man - a name he could go by in VisionQuest to avoid confusion with another hot head who is returning in Phase 6.
The flaming figure appears to be in a library within Vision's internal Mind Space in the promo, with Paul Bettany's Avenging Synthezoid looking down on him. As The First Avenger teased Stark Industries' Human Torch (known in the comics as Jim Hammond) as an android created by Phineas T. Horton for the tech empire, it stands to reason that he joins many other Iron Man-related AIs in the Mind Space.
Fans shouldn't let Jim Hammond's superhero moniker fool them, as VisionQuest's Human Torch has nothing to do with Joseph Quinn's Johnny Storm. The Fantastic Four superhero debuted decades after the Golden Age Human Torch; they just so happen to share pyrokinesis superpowers and a fiery alter ego.
Jim Hammond was introduced almost 90 years ago, in 1939, in Marvel Comics #1, sharing the issue with Namor the Sub-Mariner himself. The android Human Torch debuted as a scientific disaster but went on to become a superhero with a secret identity as NYPD police officer Jim Hammond, although his presence has been minor over the decades, perhaps due to sharing an alias with Johnny Storm.
Those eager to see more Johnny Storm on their screens won't have to wait long, as he will return on December 18 in Avengers: Doomsday, just weeks after VisionQuest wraps up on Wednesday, December 2. The burning man will also be back next December in Avengers: Secret Wars and, hopefully, with a sequel to The Fantastic Four, which is in the works for Phase 7 or beyond.
VisionQuest is set to premiere on Disney+ on Wednesday, October 14, with its eight episodes releasing weekly until Wednesday, December 2.
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