VisionQuest's Ultron actor James Spader finally revealed the truth about his MCU return after Avengers: Age of Ultron. For the first time in 11 years, since Age of Ultron, James Spader is reprising Ultron this year in VisionQuest. The robotic big bad returns to co-star alongside Paul Bettany's Vision, who is, in a way, the son of Ultron, combined with parts of Tony Stark, Bruce Banner, JARVIS, and the Mind Stone. Many have been confused about how Ultron is back in the MCU, given that he and his Sub-Ultrons were defeated in the second Avengers movie, with Vision himself landing the killing blow on his last surviving remnant.
VisionQuest stars James Spader and Paul Bettany spoke with Rotten Tomatoes about the upcoming MCU Disney+ series, and finally revealed that Ultron is still alive after Avengers: Age of Ultron due to Vision, who has had him "in prison" within his own consciousness and acting as his "psychopathic life coach."
But first, the Vision actor disclosed some contextual details about VisionQuest, noting how the synthezoid "goes into a sort of rest mode" from a Scottish pub every night, taking him to the "ghastly mansion" of the Mind Space in his head:
"Okay, so the last time we saw Vision, he was White Vision, and he had been given his memories by the 'WandaVision red Vision, but he can't attach any feelings to those memories. And he's living a sort of discrete life in a Scottish pub. And every night he locks up, and then he goes into a sort of rest mode. And then inside his head is what we call the Mind Space, which is sort of a ghastly mansion."
The MCU veteran noted that the many Stark-made AIs in VisionQuest "help him unload the data of the day," including Ultron. That gets into the explanation of how Ultron is actually still around after his Avengers death, as Vision "uploaded him into his mind" when he killed his physical body all those years ago:
"And in that mansion, it's populated by different AIs that have different personalities that can help him sort of unload the data of the day, what he's learned about human beings. And one of those AIs is Ultron. So we discover that, when he killed Ultron's corporeal body, he actually uploaded him into his mind, and he lives in this kind of fantastic prison loft, and I go to him for advice."
Within the Mind Space, Bettany noted that "Ultron lives in a very urban loft upstairs" where he has been imprisoned inside Vision since his defeat:
"The downstairs and the outside are this really strange, nightmarish, in a certain way, mansion, but in a pastoral setting, and Ultron lives in a very urban loft upstairs, and many stories upstairs isn't it like hundreds of stories or something, and he's just been imprisoned for by now it would be what 14 years or something."
Fans have heard before that VisionQuest will explore the father-son dynamic between Vision and Ultron, but Bettany also confirmed that they will have a "therapist-psychopath" relationship in the WandaVision sequel:
"We have a sort of father-son, therapist-psychopath relationship. Which is the craziest idea ever. [He is] my psychopathic life coach."
Discussing what Ultron has been doing in his loft imprisonment, Spader confirmed he has "just been consuming" everything from the outside world, while also "making trouble in this house," and, strangely enough, painting:
"He's been in prison. He's had access to the internet, television, history, and he's just been consuming, and he's been painting. He's become a painter... He's just making trouble in this house with [Vision], who he loves and hates, and all these other AIs who he couldn't give a s*** about."
Is Ultron Secretly Up to No Good in VisionQuest?
VisionQuest's marketing has emphasized both Ultron's human and robot forms, briefly featuring his familiar metal body inside the Mind Space in the official trailer, before Vision warns, "Human avatars only." But the question on many fans' minds will be if Ultron is returning to the real world or just the Mind Space.
Fans see in the same trailer that Ultron has spent his imprisoned years studying an excess of screens within Vision's mind, from movies to news to online videos, which may have left him somewhat reformed. After all, unless VisionQuest is hiding a major twist, there hasn't been any inkling of a nefarious agenda from Ultron.
While Ultron may have a secret agenda and is planning to manipulate Vision into helping him take on a new body, or even seize control of his own, it currently appears that his role will be contained to the Mind Space. The limited series appears to use Ultron as an abusive, father-like figure who may offer occasional words of wisdom on his journey to regain his humanity.
Still, there's no doubt that many would love to see Ultron back in the real world for an action-packed rematch with Vision, especially as VisionQuest is currently lacking much of a physical threat beyond Todd Stashwick's Paladin. Over the years, Ultron has been a recurring threat to the Marvel universe on the page, so it only seems fitting that he becomes a more frequent face in the MCU as well.
