VisionQuest already revealed the first look at one of its all-new villains, Coat of Arms, in the trailers. Marvel Studios' latest and greatest Disney+ series, WandaVision sequel VisionQuest, is fully loaded with major villains from the red brand. From A-list Avengers villain Ultron, to his robotic bride Jocasta, to even the lesser-known bounty hunter Paladin, who is now pursuing Vision on behalf of his client. However, VisionQuest's double-episode premiere hid one villain in plain sight, and she has some intriguing ties to the Young Avengers.
VisionQuest introduced fans to Lauren Morais' Lisa Molinari, a petty thief who happens to be best friends with Ruaridh Mollica's Thomas Shepherd, better known as Tommy Maximoff. The pair met on a prison bus to the brutal Saint Mabyn's Psychiatric Sanitarium before they escaped (with some help from Tommy's super-speed powers) and went on to run pickpocket cons together in London.
So far, VisionQuest has featured only a few minutes of Lisa, recounting her first meeting with Tommy and revealing their Bonnie-and-Clyde-esque friendship. While Tommy is, of course, destined to become the Young Avengers superhero, Speed, those familiar with Lisa in Marvel Comics know her as the villainous Coat of Arms.
Lisa may just be a pickpocket and Tommy's best friend in VisionQuest so far, but the latter episodes will honor her comic persona, Coat of Arms. After somehow becoming entangled in the chaos of Vision and Tommy's father-son adventure, Lisa will somehow end up with a pair of robotic arms on her back, paying homage to the four extra arms she wields by magical means in the comics.
The black markings across Lisa's face and the red glint in her eyes certainly give the impression that she is somehow corrupted or mind-controlled, presumably by whoever fitted her with these cybernetic arms. It's possible that Paladin or his mysterious client will possess Lisa to get to Tommy, and with him, Vision.
At one point in the VisionQuest trailers, Lisa's face glows with a vibrant, fiery color that evokes memories of AIM and Aldrich Killian's Extremis from Iron Man 3. As VisionQuest is built on connections to the Iron Man franchise and Tony Stark's legacy of AIs, it's not a stretch that AIM could be involved in the story.
In Marvel Comics, Lisa's extra arms come from Tiboro's Coat, a magical garment that once belonged to an extra-dimensional sorcerer. That origin has been overhauled for the MCU to center around advanced technology, which is far more fitting for VisionQuest, a Disney+ show that is all about AIs in the Marvel world.
Everything to Know About VisionQuest's Lisa Molinari, aka Coat of Arms
On the pages of Marvel Comics, Lisa Molinari and Tommy Shepherd initially crossed paths in juvenile detention and instantly had a mutual attraction before she was released on parole, leading them to part ways (for now). That left Lisa struggling to find meaning in life until she found the mystical Tiboro's Coat that gave her rather unique powers, leading her to adopt the identity Coat of Arms.
Tiboro's Coat has granted Lisa extra limbs, flight, and a protective shield, but its pockets also house other powerful magical artifacts. One of those artifacts was revealed in Dark Reign: Young Avengers #5, in which Coat of Arms produced a mystical chain that was even strong enough to restrain Sentry.
Coat of Arms teamed up with more morally gray, super-powered youngsters to form the Young Avengers, who approached heroics more like an artistic project to explore how society draws the line between heroes and villains. However, the Young Avengers moniker was already taken by a group that included Wiccan, Speed, Kate Bishop, Patriot, Hulkling, and more, pushing the teams into conflict.
While Tommy recognized Lisa and offered her membership in the true Young Avengers, she declined, refusing to leave her teammates behind, and they parted with a kiss on good terms. Coat of Arms and the rest of her off-brand Young Avengers team would ultimately rename themselves the Young Masters.
Lisa was notably fascinated by Norman Osborn and his villainous tenure as the Green Goblin, and the Young Masters even fought alongside him and his Dark Avengers until Lisa turned against him. Still, Coat of Arms continued down a dark path with the Young Masters, teaming up with the Masters of Evil.
Of course, that storyline is rather convoluted, and it's tough to imagine Marvel Studios going down that path, especially if Lisa is actually heading for some kind of mind-control storyline in VisionQuest. Perhaps Marvel Studios could even swerve her villainy altogether and have her and Tommy's friendship evolve into romance, leading to her becoming a member of the MCU's Young Avengers with him.
