VisionQuest, I think, is a conclusion to the WandaVision storyline, which was messily and unsatisfyingly wrapped up earlier in the fun but wholly inconsequential Dr. Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.
In WandaVision, Wanda Maximoff (Elisabeth Olsen) nearly turned to darkness due to her trauma and the machinations of the witch Agatha (Kathryn Hahn). Then, in Multiverse of Madness, she fell to darkness because the plot really, really needed it. Eventually, Dr. Strange dropped an ancient temple on her, and that was that.
It soured the increasingly convoluted Marvel Cinematic Universe, which never did right by its female heroes, and certainly dropped the ball with Wanda, a strong fan favorite. After all, this was the story of a woman who saved the universe, lost everything in the most horrific way imaginable, then had her trauma exploited to believe she had children, only to hear she's a monster for wishing they were real.
If that was the end of it, I can't say it was a good story, but at least it had an ending. But Marvel hates finality, especially when it comes to legacy characters. It doesn't matter if Logan (Hugh Jackman) had the perfect send-off; he needs to come back for Deadpool because the new roster of heroes isn't cutting it.
So, now we have VisionQuest, a story where the resurrected Vision (Paul Bettany) sorts through his complex trauma of death, rebirth, and the lingering effects of Agatha's spell, which may have resulted in real children after all. Unlike Wanda, nobody calls him a monster, and nobody drops a temple on him. Instead, VisionQuest is about how important it is that a reluctant father can love again; just don't ask where's mommy.
Worse, VisionQuest even makes fun of how poorly Marvel treated Wanda's arc in the past, with Vision offhandedly explaining that she's not around because of said temple, and it's all very weird. After that, the series pointedly ignores the topic, only vaguely and insultingly leaving the door open for a future cameo after another reboot clears the roster once more.
These issues become more pronounced as VisionQuest plods through the same beats and themes as WandaVision during its tiresome eight-hour runtime; too slow for a movie and too hectic and exposition-driven for a good series.
After a strong opening, including a dramatic on-screen death with no lasting consequences, VisionQuest settles into a dreary repetition of The Matrix Reloaded -style monologues, empty banter, and deliciously hammy performances that deserve better material.
Most of the fun comes from Ultron (James Spader), resurrected, of course, who now resides in the magical tech realm of Vision's mind. James Spader returns to the role, mostly in human form (the limited CGI budget extends to a scant few money shots of the real thing), and instantly reminds everyone why it was a mistake to kill off the best villain in a single movie.
Spader is wonderfully snippy as the put-upon destroyer of worlds, though it often seems as if his part is written for a different show entirely. After all, while Spader hams it up literally at the wheel of a ship within the mind palace, as he takes control of an ailing Vision, the people outside die in brutally dismissive ways as the series leans further into the dark and gritty aspects of Marvel's identity crisis.
That identity crisis extends to every aspect of VisionQuest, which can't place itself anywhere in the fractured timeline. There's a new synthetic lifeform in town, a dangerous bounty hunter called Paladin chasing Vision, new faces for old voices, and numerous twists that lead nowhere, all packed into eight episodes that exist outside the MCU.
If anyone is too interesting or too powerful, you can bet they won't live past the season finale. After all, we're coming up on a major wipe in Doomsday, so much of this feels like last-minute cleanup.
Is it fun to see some of these characters again? You bet. They've never been the problem. In fact, new faces D.U.M-E (Henry Lewis) and E.D.I.T.H (Emily Hampshire) are the series standouts, and I'd love to see them in everything going forward. But we probably won't, as the series is so wishy-washy about any finality. We start in media res and end with different but equally many loose ends as before.
If only there were an ancient temple to drop down on someone. Those seem to carry the finality this story so desperately needs.
