'WandaVision': Five reasons you should be worried about the Vision's return to life after 'Infinity War'
After a long delay brought on by the pandemic, 'WandaVision' is finally set to debut on Disney+ in December and the trailer promises a certain strangeness unlike anything we've ever seen before from a live-action Marvel property. The Vision (Paul Bettany) was tragically killed by Thanos (Josh Brolin) in 'Avengers: Infinity War' and while he is a synthezoid being to whom death may mean a very different thing, there's been no mention so far of how he's being brought to life.
The trailers suggest that his return may not be as smooth as expected, and given the Vision's history — both in the comics and in the Marvel Cinematic Universe — there may be serious cause to be worried about his return. Here are the top five reasons that the Vision's return might not be the celebration it ought to be:
1. He might try to take over the world
The Vision has gone rogue a number of times — he was, in fact, first created to be the one meant to take the Avengers down in the first place. Though his humanity saw him joining the Avengers instead, one of the most memorable Vision-centric storylines from the comics saw hidden programming from Ultron within the Vision's mind get activated.
This led the Vision to take over the world's computers — something that gave him immense power back when the story released, but with today's prevalence of technology, a Vision who takes over the world's computers would be unstoppable. There's no saying what effect coming back to life might have on the Vision's mind and what subroutines Ultron may have hidden in there. Speaking of whom...
2. It might bring Ultron Back
Never forget that in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the Vision was created to be Ultron's (James Spader) ultimate form. It's only because of the Mind Stone and the inclusion of the AI Jarvis' (Paul Bettany) personality that the Vision was able to grow into a personality of his own, a unique blend of Ultron, Jarvis and something altogether new.
The Mind Stone, along with all the other gems, was destroyed by Thanos in 'Avengers: Endgame', however, and we don't know exactly how the Vision is being brought back — meaning the parts of him that return may just be the parts of him that are Ultron — or at least, enough of Ultron to bring the villain back to life.
3. It's destabilizing reality
However the Vision is coming back. Two things are for sure — Wanda Maximoff's (Elizabeth Olson) reality warping powers are at the heart of it and whatever she did, it's somehow destabilizing reality. The trailers show the couple trapped in a world that's been completely fabricated with little to no idea of how they got there.
The world changes and blurs around them from colour to black and white. The movies have, so far, not dealt very deeply with the Scarlet Witch's ability to warp reality on a fundamental level — she's never pushed herself that far. Bringing the Vision back to life might be just the motivation she needs to push her powers past their limits, but with no control over them, reality as they know it may start to unravel entirely.
4. Sinister, supernatural attentions are stirred
The trailers show that whatever new reality is being created, at the heart of it is the romance that the Vision and the Scarlet Witch never got to live out. They dream of quietly settling down together - and with that comes the idea of raising a family. In the comics, however, the decision to have kids was the beginning of the end for the couple.
It turns out that the children they had were actually the soul fragments of a man known as Mister Pandemonium — soul fragments warped into existence by the Scarlet Witch's powers.
Whether or not the same happens in the show, the Vision's soul will be returning from the afterlife to his body — and there are many denizens of the afterlife whose attentions may be roused when souls cross back and forth over the line between life and death, of which Mister Pandemonium may only be the start.
5. The Infinity Stones may return
The Vision owes his life to the Mind Stone — he quite literally can't live without it. The moment it's removed from his forehead in 'Infinity War' is the moment that the Vision dies. However, all images of The Vision that appear in the trailers show him with his Mind Stone fully intact on his forehead, despite the fact that the Infinity Stones were destroyed by Thanos.
It's not beyond the Scarlet Witch's powers to restore the Stones from the ether... but if the Mind Stone returns, how far behind are the rest of the stones? More importantly, how long is it before other villains like Thanos seek to bring the Stones together once again to gain mastery over all of reality?
Bringing back the Vision comes with a lot of dangers, both from within and without — and they're all worth keeping an eye out for when the series launches in December on Disney+.