VisionQuest Showrunner Addresses Biggest Ultron Criticism From Marvel Fans, And He’s Right: A Practical Look

Though Avengers: Doomsday may be the next major Marvel title that fans are eagerly waiting for, the upcoming VisionQuest is actually the next chapter of the MCU to arrive. In the same way that Doomsday will cap off some long-standing storylines, the new TV series from Marvel Studios is noteworthy for the same reason (on top of perhaps being their last new show on Disney+ for the foreseeable future). The upcoming show has been billed as the conclusion of the “WandaVision Trilogy” for some time, but the connectivity between all those shows is just one reason to be excited; another is the long-awaited return of a major Marvel villain.

Absent from the MCU since Avengers: Age of Ultron back in 2015, the return of James Spader as the villain was something that Marvel fans were ready for, but rumors began to spread long ago that his return would bring about a change. Instead of appearing as the robot Ultron we already knew, Spader’s return would be mostly in human form, a shift that sounded crazy as a rumor, but which the VisionQuest trailer put into context and confirmed. Now, VisionQuest showrunner Terry Matalas has opened up about why this change was made, addressing the fan fervor with a detail that just…makes sense.

VisionQuest Creator Reveals Why Ultron Isn’t a Robot 100% of the Time

When it was revealed that Ultron’s MCU return would be one where the evil robot wouldn’t be mechanical, but organic, a lot of Marvel fans assumed that it was a budgetary restriction. The cost for animating Ultron as a robot across however many episodes the series ended up being would almost certainly be like a blockbuster movie. Matalas says that’s not the case at all, telling Polygon it’s all about the man embodying Ultron, James Spader.

“People say it’s a budget thing; it’s not, it’s a James Spader thing,” Matalas said. “I love James Spader. Who doesn’t love James Spader? I just want to see James and I want to see Bettany. You’ll get plenty of robot action in the show. The show is very much inspired by that last scene in Age of Ultron between the two of them. But watching Spader and Bettany chew up the scenery was something I saw in my head from the very beginning.”

Matalas did confirm that it’s “prohibitively expensive” to make Ultron appear in his robot form for the entirety of the series, but specifically notes that it’s also just not a good representation of the emotional beats for the story that the series is telling. Ultron’s face might have some emotive abilities, but it pales in comparison to what Spader can pull off on set.

“I also don’t want to see a CGI robot,” he adds. “It’s not going to be able to emote and do the things that James Spader can do with just the twitch of an eyebrow. So that’s pretty much the main reason.”

It’s also worth noting that the version of Ultron that we will see in VisionQuest is the actual AI from the Avengers sequel, having been locked in Vision’s mind in a prison of sorts after their confrontation at the end of the movie. Bettany previously confirmed that this was the case, which just adds another reason why seeing Spader rather than the robot form of Ultron makes the most sense. Since he no longer has a body, Ultron can look any way he wants, and it if saves Marvel some money along the way, that’s a win-win.

VisionQuest premieres on Wednesday, October 14, on Disney+.