Who is the Client in ‘VisionQuest’? Marvel fans have a theory and it points to Ultron

Ultron (James Spader) was last seen losing to Vision at the end of ‘Avengers: Age of Ultron’ (2015), when Vision lit up the Mind Stone against the final Ultron Sentry. More than a decade later, a version of him is back in ‘VisionQuest,’ living inside Vision’s Mindspace behind a firewall. Ultron originally built the body that became Vision for himself in that film. That history is why a new mystery in the Disney+ series keeps pulling fans back to him.

The mystery was unveiled with the debut of ‘VisionQuest’ on October 13, when the Client brought in the mercenary Paladin (Todd Stashwick) to bring Vision (Paul Bettany) in alive with as little harm as possible. Paladin is part of a long line of mercenaries who have used the name for decades. The Client has a distorted voice but can communicate with Paladin through hacking. They can berate them for failing to capture Vision. In Episode 6, ‘Deadlock,’ which aired October 27, the Client addressed Vision through a TV.

Now, fans have come up with several theories. One of the theories surrounding this mystery is Ultron. A Reddit user on r/MarvelStudios wrote: “I think it is Ultron, playing the long game to finally get himself his own body again. Now is the time, as he sees all the pieces available to complete the puzzle, so to speak. After he is successful, he and Vision will never find themselves capable of killing the other, as they have now shared a familial bond.” Notably, Ultron took over Vision’s body at the end of Episode 4, ‘Malware.’

However, not everyone agrees, as another user pointed out, “That would be monumentally bad screenwriting. If you hinge a twist on the obvious suspect just lying about it, you make your protagonists look really stupid and undercut the tension of the mystery.” Another user added, “I think they had Ultron be behind Paladin hunting ‘VisionQuest’ down after he saw the bounty on him in episode one to immediately dispel all the ‘Ultron is behind it’ theories. It’d be kind of lazy if they purposely did that just to turn around and say, ‘actually he is behind it all.’”

Ultron is also playing a part in how the hunt began. In the first episode, he leaked Vision’s location in Edinburgh, which led Paladin and his men to the pub where Vision works. Interestingly, Ultron told Vision he is not the Client after all. He simply pointed Paladin in the direction of Tommy Maximoff to get Vision moving. The name Ultron isn’t the only one that has been floated. There are several other characters up for consideration.

In an interview with New Rockstars, showrunner Terry Matalas noted there are plenty of guesses. However, he said the Client isn’t Billy Maximoff, and also ruled out Robert Downey Jr.’s Doctor Doom. Matalas said it’s a key character, but didn’t want fans to get their hopes up for something like the reveal of Tony Stark or Mephisto. The season has only two episodes left to air, with Episode 7, ‘Immolation,’ set to air on November 3 and the finale, 'Forever,' scheduled to air on November 10 at 9 p.m. ET on Disney+.