How Is Ultron Alive In Marvel's VisionQuest? The Avengers Retcon Explained

You’re all puppets, tangled in … spoilers. This article discusses major plot details from the first two episodes of “VisionQuest.”

Cats have nine lives, cockroaches keep crawling back, but no living creature can compete with the relentlessness of the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s most powerful and most persistent entities around: Artificial intelligence. “VisionQuest” reunites Paul Bettany’s synthezoid Vision with his archnemesis robot rival Ultron (James Spader) after first coming to blows in 2015’s “Avengers: Age of Ultron,” and the results are already thrilling. With Episodes 1 and 2 now streaming on Disney+, it’s like the two never even left us at all … even in spite of that pesky fact that, you know, both of them ultimately ended up dying pretty definitive deaths. But that’s the thing about the MCU, isn’t it? Death isn’t always the end for these superheroes and villains, which applies infinitely more so to their digital counterparts.

Casual fans who may not have been following closely along may be surprised to see both individuals alive and kicking in “VisionQuest,” but the premiere quickly brings us all up to speed. The opening montage includes a reminder of when Vision seemingly destroyed Ultron in the final act of “Age of Ultron” (a short-lived age, indeed), before explaining how Vision himself ended up biting the bullet at the hands of the Mad Titan Thanos (Josh Brolin) in the climactic moments of “Infinity War.” In Vision’s case, the events of “WandaVision” involved SWORD reconstructing his broken body in the form of White Vision. As for Ultron? That’s a bit trickier.

“VisionQuest” introduces a neat wrinkle to what we thought went down with Ultron before. In this retcon, it would appear that Vision didn’t entirely remove all traces of his genocidal foe. Here’s how.

You know, even as the preeminent artificial intelligence in the entire world, maybe Vision has a lot more self-improvement to do. At the top of the list, maybe working on letting go of the past would be a good start. “VisionQuest” begins with our synthezoid in a very unfamiliar emotional space — lost amid a world he can hardly relate to or understand. This isn’t the original Vision we’ve come to know and love (and lose), as he stubbornly reminds us. He’s a much more inadequate version of the hero, rebuilt with the “same body” but a “different mind” … with no capacity to actually feel the emotions and memories unlocked within him by the original Vision, conjured into being by Wanda Maximoff (Elizabeth Olsen).

That goes a long way towards explaining how Ultron is still hanging around (“rent-free,” as he so flippantly puts it) in Vision’s mind. Apparently, the android Avenger didn’t completely vaporize Ultron into nonexistence back in “Age of Ultron.” As Ultron vaguely explains early in the premiere, Vision apparently kept him backed up and “copy/pasted” him from Sokovia into this surrealistic mindspace that he’s now trapped in. Ultron sees this as cruel and unusual imprisonment, confined to quarters with only enough autonomy to pass the time arguing about subpar food delivery. But it’s clear that Vision is much more conflicted about this, evidenced by him ignoring the protests of his fellow Stark AIs in the house. 

So, that’s the how, at least. As for why Vision has kept Ultron alive? That’s another, much more complicated matter entirely. 

Every angel needs a devil on their shoulder. That dynamic between Ultron and Vision is a significant reason why “VisionQuest” feels so energetic and alive in the early episodes. Currently, Vision remains preoccupied by his ongoing studies of the human race, the attack on his Edinburgh pub and murder of poor Fiona Guthrie (Polly Frame), and the knowledge that his son Tommy (Ruaridh Mollica) exists and is in desperate need of help. At every step of the way, Ultron is there with a smart-a** remark, a snarky observation, and no intention of cutting Vision any slack whatsoever. What else are digital father figures for, anyway?

All of this raises the question of why Vision would want to subject himself to such stress and irritation and possibly danger in the first place. Well, who better to teach him how to get in touch with his human side than the metallic monster who tried to wipe them all out? Ultron, intriguingly, has undergone a serious change in perspective since the events of “Age of Ultron.” He’s come to be appreciative of our art, recognizes the pain and anger welling up within us, and even tries to bully Vision into venturing out and tasting what the world has to offer. While he almost certainly can’t be trusted, there is something worth examining about this more mature and thoughtful version of Ultron.

Is this what Vision is thinking, too? Is he tempted by the possibility that Ultron might not be beyond redemption? Or perhaps this is his way of punishing himself, viewing Ultron as a stark reminder of his own shortcomings compared to the real Vision? While we wait for answers, new episodes of “VisionQuest” stream on Disney+ every Tuesday.