*Spoiler*
It seems that the Marvel Cinematic Universe is starting to honor one of the franchise’s earliest easter egg back all the way back in Phase One. According to Screenrant, Marvel’s latest series, VisionQuest, has been making references to the early days of the franchise’s mythology. The reference in question was the appearance of Jim Hammond, played by Paul Bettany (WandaVision, Avengers: Age of Ultron), who was the original Human Torch. Jim Hammond first made his debut in Captain America: The First Avenger, in which the synthezoid was on display; now he has embedded his code and history inside Vision.
The series showrunner, Terry Matlas (Star Trek: Picard, MacGyver), goes on to speak with Screenrant’s Liam Crowley about Synthetic Man’s debut. He has stated, “No, that came up in the writers’ room as we were digging in. I knew from lore that Vision was created from parts and components of Jim Hammond in the comic books. And even though there was a different kind of creation in the MCU, what if some of his source code came from Jim Hammond?”
Terry continues on with his statement, “That highlighted a different kind of family story—a generational saga where the grandfather of AI, despite his brilliance, fails as a father and cannot connect with his creation. That emotional defect is then passed down to Ultron and Vision through the code Josephine Carrington wrote.”
According to Screenrant, this is an important part within the series as Vision returns to his original form and prepares to face the upcoming battle. The seventh episode left on a cliffhanger with many questions arising, such as the debut of the mysterious client, who strikes a similarity to Ultron, played by James Spader (The Blacklist, Boston Legal), which could reveal a deeper romantic connection with Jocasta, played by T’Nia Miller (Obey, Sex Education). The series’ final battle will surely be high-stakes, with the fate of all humanity on the line as the renewed Vision fights to protect what matters most to him.
What lies ahead after Phase 6 is currently unknown, but Marvel and Disney+ are sure to cook up a storm of content. All current episodes of VisionQuest are available to stream on Disney+, with the eighth and final episode scheduled to land on November 10 at 9 PM ET/6 PM PT.