Paul Bettany Isn't Ruling Out Vision's Return To The MCU
WandaVision spent much of its first season playing coy about what exactly was going on in the altered reality of Westview, where Wanda Maximoff (Elizabeth Olsen) was able to live out a rapidly-devolving fantasy life alongside a bewitched recreation of her late lover, Vision (Paul Bettany). An entire town may have been held prisoner as a result of her mentally torturous actions, but what's that compared to love, right? Anyway, Bettany is speaking up about his role in the generally well-received series and isn't counting out another return to the MCU as Vision ... or some form of him, at least.
Deadline gathered some of the cast and crew of WandaVision together, where Bettany was asked about the possibility of reprising his role as Vision at some point down the line:
"It was a beautiful culmination for all these things [Elizabeth Olsen] and I have done together. We really found a lane for ourselves, and this was different in tone from those movies. But you never know with Marvel, whether you're done, or not. So I don't want to call it the end yet. This was one of the most creative experiences of my life, joyful and free, making this show. To see it embraced by an audience the way it was, was so wonderful.
Double Vision
Those who watched the Disney+ series know that Wanda and Vision were tragically separated by the end of the show — yes, again — but not before a brand-new version of Vision (known as White Vision) was created out of Vision's actual corpse and let loose to wreak havoc on the two Avengers. The two Visions reached a meme-worthy understanding before the new one serenely floated its way out of the show, likely to reappear again if needed in some other project.
WandaVision seemed like a neat, character-driven way to indulge in more Wanda and Vision fantasy (a dynamic that was never fully explored in the movies) while still allowing the ramifications of Vision's death in Avengers: Infinity War at the hands of Thanos to actually contain meaning. The introduction of a new Vision opens the door to yet another loophole for Marvel to keep playing with all the same killed-off characters without losing any real franchise potential — look no further than Loki and What If...? for more examples of the same.
I suppose I can't begrudge comic book movies for being faithful to the comics in this way, but it does have the side-effect of hampering the emotional investment in previous movies (and now shows) where you just know that so little of consequence really matters in the end. That said, feel free to call me a hypocrite because I'd welcome more Bettany in the MCU with open arms anyway. With Marvel's history, something tells me that's more likely to happen than not.