Actor Paul Bettany insists he’s not finished with his work in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
In the MCU, Paul Bettany is known for playing the role of Vision. The character was last seen in the 2021 series WandaVision, and the current status of Vision is unclear. There are not any projects in development in which Bettany has been officially announced to be a part of, either on the big screen or in a Disney+ series, such as the WandaVision spinoff Agatha: Darkhold Diaries. However, per The Direct, Bettany confirmed during a panel at MegaCon 2024 that he will definitely return as Vision in the MCU in some fashion.
When asked by a fan if he would return as Vision in “any way, shape, or form,” Paul Bettany paused for a moment and replied, “Well, yeah… I mean, why wouldn’t I? Yes, 100%.”
During the panel, Bettany would also address his Vision character’s evolution. This came after another fan asked the actor what it was like to play a “robot or android with a type of soul,” as the actor is able to capture the complicated character’s “humanity” very well. To that, Bettany explained how the more Vision comes along in his journey, the more “human” he becomes. The actor goes on to compare Vision to Pinocchio and Frankenstein’s monster, but especially the former.
“No idea. Well, I do have one idea,” as Bettany said about playing Vision. “My plan was that he’s sort of an omnipotent ingénue when he’s born. And then as he gets more and more sophisticated with the amount of data that he’s receiving, he becomes more human. When you’re doing robots or artificial people or whatever it is, I guess the two stories really are Pinocchio and Frankenstein. ‘I’m a real boy now’ or ‘Who made me and what for?’ I suppose are the stories. So we were definitely in the Pinocchio camp. And that’s a really fun arc to play.”
“And how did I make him human? I am one,” Bettany continued. “And they paint me purple and they put me in a robot suit. And I figure that stuff is taken care of and I just [focus] on the human stuff.”
There have been reports of Paul Bettany returning for a Vision Quest series, but the show has yet to be officially announced by Marvel Studios, and there is still no guarantee that it will happen. There have also been rumors of the show getting canceled. The MCU continues to move on, meanwhile, and given Bettany’s confidence that he will return, chances are Marvel fans will see the character on the big or small screen once again soon enough.
