Marvel’s ‘VisionQuest‘ has arrived on Disney+, bringing Paul Bettany (WandaVision, Avengers: Infinity War) back as the synthezoid superhero, alongside the return of James Spader (The Blacklist, Boston Legal) as the wonderfully menacing Ultron. We caught up with showrunner Terry Matalas for an exclusive interview to discuss bringing the series to life, the gloriously bizarre world inside Vision’s head, working with Spader, and just how much freedom Marvel gave him to play with its characters.
And, because we couldn’t resist, we also managed to squeeze in some questions about ‘Star Trek: Legacy’, ‘Stargate’, ‘Doctor Who’, and the iconic franchise Terry would really love to get his hands on!
The new eight-episode series concludes the trilogy which began with ‘WandaVision’ and continued with ‘Agatha All Along’. This time, we’re following White Vision, who has all the memories of his previous existence but struggles to connect with them emotionally. He’s attempting to live a quiet life in Edinburgh while trying to understand what it means to be human. Unfortunately, somebody has put a bounty on his head, which rather complicates things.
Helping him navigate this new existence is an unusual collection of familiar AI personalities, including J.A.R.V.I.S., F.R.I.D.A.Y., E.D.I.T.H., D.U.M.-E. and U., all living together inside a rather peculiar house within Vision’s mind. Oh, and there’s also Ultron, locked away in the attic. Because what could possibly go wrong with that?
Building Vision’s AI Family And His Wonderful Retro Home
One of the first things we wanted to know was where the idea of stuffing all those AI personalities inside Vision’s head came from.
Terry revealed that the concept developed almost immediately after his first conversation with Marvel boss Kevin Feige. Marvel already knew it wanted a story about Vision reuniting with his son, but beyond that, Terry had room to explore.
His first thought was that Vision needed someone to talk to, and the character who immediately came to mind was Ultron. Terry had loved the final conversation between Vision and Ultron in ‘Avengers: Age of Ultron’ and wanted to explore that relationship further.
That quickly evolved into the idea of a strange AI household, with Ultron imprisoned upstairs and the other Stark AIs attempting to function as a family. Kevin Feige even suggested adding Tony Stark’s robotic assistants D.U.M.-E. and U. to the mix.
We also discuss the show’s fantastic production design, including the retro technology, peculiar furnishings and countless little details that make Vision’s Mindspace feel like an artificial intelligence’s slightly confused interpretation of a human home.
Terry reveals how the production team translated the workings of a quantum computer into everyday household objects, and how the interconnected practical sets at Pinewood Studios allowed the characters to move naturally through the space.
There are also some brilliant Easter eggs hidden throughout the house, from pixelated fireplaces to bookshelves representing computer files and systems.
James Spader’s Ultron, That Magnificent Beard, And A More Complicated Villain
Of course, we couldn’t talk about ‘VisionQuest’ without spending some time discussing James Spader, who delivers an extraordinary performance as a very different version of Ultron.
He’s still recognisably the terrifying AI from ‘Age of Ultron’, but after years spent absorbing human culture, he’s become more sophisticated, charming and seemingly rather more mellow. Not that you’d necessarily want to trust him with the nuclear launch codes.
Terry explains how closely he worked with Spader to develop this new interpretation of the character, and why the relationship between Ultron and Vision became such an important part of the series.
We also finally get an answer to one of the most pressing questions: where on Earth did Ultron’s magnificent beard come from?
As it turns out, that was very much Spader’s idea! Terry originally imagined something closer to the clean-shaven Raymond Reddington look from ‘The Blacklist’. Spader, however, had rather grander plans, suggesting that a long-imprisoned Ultron should have an enormous beard. He also wanted a top hat.
The result is a look which Terry admits he hadn’t initially imagined, but which became one of the character’s most distinctive features. And apparently, attempts by the production team to tame that impressive facial hair didn’t always go particularly well!
We also get into the fascinating question of whether Ultron can genuinely change, or whether his darker instincts will always win out.
How Much Freedom Does Marvel Actually Give A Showrunner?
Another fascinating part of our conversation concerns the creative freedom Terry enjoyed while developing ‘VisionQuest’.
Given the MCU’s enormous interconnected continuity, we wondered whether Marvel dictated specific story points or required certain characters to end up in particular places for future projects.
Surprisingly, Terry says Marvel was extraordinarily collaborative, with the reunion between Vision and Tommy being the main requirement established at the outset.
The studio also supported keeping the writing team involved throughout production, allowing them to continue refining the scripts as filming progressed.
We also explore how ‘VisionQuest’ deliberately mirrors ‘WandaVision’, particularly in the way both Wanda and Vision construct artificial domestic worlds while struggling with grief, identity and their pasts.
Plus, there’s the show’s gloriously dark sense of humour, including a particularly brilliant E.D.I.T.H. line involving Hannibal Lecter and dating apps, and the surprising amount of creative input Bettany and Spader had in developing individual scenes.
Star Trek: Legacy, Doctor Who… And Ghostbusters?!
Finally, we couldn’t let Terry go without asking about some of his other science-fiction work.
Having previously created ’12 Monkeys’ and delivered the much-loved final season of ‘Star Trek: Picard’, we asked whether there was anything new to report about the proposed ‘Star Trek: Legacy’ spin-off.
Sadly, there’s no new development to announce, although Terry makes the rather good point that if ‘Legacy’ had gone ahead, he might never have had the opportunity to make ‘VisionQuest’, a project he’s clearly incredibly proud of.
We also bring up the recent news that ‘WandaVision’ and ‘Agatha All Along’ creator Jac Schaeffer is taking on ‘Stargate’, prompting Terry to reveal that he’s a huge fan of that franchise too.
Which led us to another possibility: would Terry Matalas ever consider taking over ‘Doctor Who’?
With the BBC looking at the future production of the long-running British sci-fi series, we couldn’t resist suggesting that the man behind ’12 Monkeys’ might be rather well suited to a little timey-wimey storytelling.
Terry admits he loves ‘Doctor Who’ and would be honoured to be considered, but says he’d need to think carefully about how to honour the show’s enormous history while taking it somewhere new.
However, it turns out there’s another franchise he’d much rather tackle…
“Ghostbusters, that’s the one I want. Gimme Ghostbusters.”
Well, now there’s an idea we’d absolutely love to see happen!
You can watch our full interview with Terry Matalas above, as we explore the creation of ‘VisionQuest’, working with James Spader and Paul Bettany, the show’s extraordinary production design, and much more.
‘VisionQuest‘ premieres with its first two episodes on Disney+ today (Wednesday, 14 October 2026), with further episodes released weekly.
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