'VisionQuest' Review: Marvel's Boring Bad-Dad Drama Series Ends MCU TV's Short Term

When his lost son reappears, an AI-equipped super-being (played by Paul Bettany) in another Marvel series has an existential crisis as he struggles to justify his existence despite spending eight hours identifying his vision.

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"VisionQuest," the new Disney+Marvel series dubbing the third season of the trilogy that began with "WandaVision" — but actually marks the end of Marvel TV's MCU experiment (or at least this run of it) — has a lot going for it.

Paul Bettany's several-minute montage-assisted monologue tells the story of his main character, Vision: an artificial superhero powered by a beautiful gem ("Mind Stone") and advanced robotics ("Flawless Computer Brain"). O.G. Vision was killed by Thanos in "Avengers: Infinity War," before being recreated as a shell of his former self (called, as if intentionally confusingly, "Vision"), and then somehow resurrected by his witch love Wanda Maximoff (Elizabeth Olsen, who doesn't appear in "WisionQues" beyond "Vision"). The magical version of Vision shared his memories with Vision, and now Vision ("t" Small) is doubled in “VisionQuest.” She remembers a past she can't forget.

Booking this mountain-crushing exhibition is a question and an answer. Introducing himself again, Vision says, "Who am I? I am Vision." Then, as he finishes the monologue, he adds, "You see, I am the Vision. And yet, I'm not."

As confusing as it sounds, VisionQuest is pretty simple: narratively, a sentient AI superhero has an existential crisis, and we're just waiting for him to rationalize the path to "self-actualization." Practically speaking, that's the character description, so if Vision shows up in Avengers: Judgment Day or some later Marvel property, there's no confusion about what to call him.

If that seems like a thin premise for an eight-hour limited series, you'll have no trouble understanding why the MCU's streaming vision as we know it is coming to an end. With few exceptions, the Disney+ Marvel era is filled with unnecessary stories that make the length of TV more like movies. Instantly forgotten shows like “Secret Invasion,” “Moon Knight” and the holiday special “Hawkeye” capture the studio's efforts to expand its labyrinthine cinematic universe into serialized television. Some series choose characters from side movies for unnecessary adventures on the small screen. Others relied solely on star power to make audiences care about new comic book characters. All of them failed to capture what makes television such a unique storytelling medium. (Marvel's refusal to hire showrunners is entirely self-serving.)

At least "VisionQuest" is deeply invested in its lead. Dedicating a limited series to a man sorting out inherited injuries is certainly a character-first approach that didn't go unnoticed in Disney Plus movies like The Falcon and The Winter Soldier and She-Hulk: Lawyer. But like many ostensibly heroic characters handled by a studio specializing in children's fiction, Vision's emotional journey is thin. What he has to do is obvious from the first minute, and yet the solution is delayed, like a complex mystery, until minute 300 or so.

With the exception of a smarmy James Spader, who plays his part as Vision's bland daddy Ultron, everything in between isn't funny enough or even diverts enough to detract from the minimal development required of our pure-hearted, sound-of-mind, but soul-dense superhero, including the ragtag tag team he lives with. ("J.A.R.V.I.S.", "D.U.M.-E" and "U.") and tasks that help him communicate emotions, you know, or whatever.

And boy, does she try to reconnect. In the outside world, Vision is back in Edinburgh, working at the same bar where he and Wanda fell in love. But at the end of his shift, as he turns off for the night, he watches the memories gifted to him by his other self, hoping they will activate a lost identity. "He knows the facts of his old life," says one of his bots. "Now he's looking to feel it."

But when a bounty hunter named Paladin (Tadastashvic) calls, he delivers news that jolts Vision out of his passive rut: Tommy Maximoff (Ruarid Mullica) is alive—or someone like him, anyway. Just like his father, Tommy doesn't know who he is: raised as Thomas Shepherd, an orphan who drifted off, he now lives with Tommy Maximoff's memories without knowing why (cue: "Agatha All Along"). Are they real? are they him Is he really Tommy, and does this make the Vision his father? Can robots father meat boys?

The (maybe) father and (maybe) son are determined to find out - until a slew of sinister masked figures kill them first. Yes, we're back to this: our heroes need to talk, but there's a man behind the curtain who keeps taking them from hideout to hideout, prompting forgettable action scenes and delaying any personal development. By now, Marvel fans should know better than to fall for these easy teases. Whoever you assume is lurking under the hood is always better than whoever turns up (especially in Disney+ series), and every reveal here is especially understated, as is their climactic impact. (All eight episodes were given to critics for review.)

For all its bells and whistles (mostly dense exposition, slick production design, and an action scene here and there), "VisionQuest" isn't complex or unique. It is a bad father drama about a son who is unwilling to accept his burdens. Sure, he's sad, and yes, he's a robot, but head writer Terry Matalas (and the big Disney writing engine) doesn't want you to think about the show accidentally becoming a theme. (Should we really care if an AI system believes itself to be human? And if so, should we jump to the same conclusion that VisonQuest encourages?) The point here is to make sure Vision — a real Vision — is ready for anyone expecting to see all the Avengers in the next "Avengers."

So is "VisionQuest" the kind of assignment Kevin Feige wants to avoid as the MCU moves forward? Yes, except I've always had a problem with that assessment of the failures of the Disney+ era. Homework is usually important and anyone who neglected their streaming homework didn't mind the movies. They just saved time - and talked a lot.

"VisionQuest" premieres Wednesday, Oct. 14 in two episodes on Disney Plus. New episodes will be released weekly until the finale on Wednesday, November 11.