Vision Quest - the comic book story that changed the Vision and Wanda Maximoff forever
The MCU is adapting Vision Quest, the comic story that led to the death of the Avengers
The newly birthed 'White Vision' last seen at the end of WandaVision is officially returning in an upcoming Disney Plus streaming series entitled Vision Quest, which takes its name straight from the Vision's most transformative comic stories.
According to reports, the MCU Vision Quest will focus on White Vision as he searches for a way to reconnect with the humanity and memories of the original Vision - and the story may even include the return of Wanda Maximoff, the Scarlet Witch.
The original '80s Avengers: Vision Quest story told by writer/artist John Byrne in the pages of West Coast Avengers changed the Vision and Scarlet Witch forever, and led to the comic version of WandaVision's 'White Vision' transformation.
Though many of the plot points from the original 'Vision Quest' story were adapted into WandaVision, the Vision's personal emotional arc and the story's fallout on the Avengers are still on the table for exploration.
What happens in Vision Quest?
The '80s comic story 'Vision Quest' is actually the conclusion to a years-long arc for the Vision and his relationship not just with his wife Wanda Maximoff, the Scarlet Witch, but with the Avengers as a whole - as well as the launching point for a whole new wave of stories for Earth's Mightiest Heroes.
'Vision Quest' itself is told in the pages of West Coast Avengers, a spin-off title that showcased a California-based version of the team, and which had its own roster that sometimes crossed over with the core Avengers team.
Following the second Vision & Scarlet Witch limited series, in which Vision and Scarlet Witch's children Billy and Tommy are born, the couple moves to Los Angeles to join the West Coast Avengers.
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At first, it seems like Vision and Wanda have found the fresh start they're looking for. But things quickly start to go south for Vision when he gains special security clearance to access government files thanks to his Avengers status.
Believing Vision to be a threat to national security, a group of rogue agents from multiple government agencies come together to neutralize the Vision. The group kidnaps Vision, dismantling him and destroying his personality.
Some of these plot points were repeated in WandaVision, as seen in the group of SWORD agents who confiscate and dismantle Vision's body, resulting in Wanda retrieving and reassembling him.
How does Vision Quest change the Vision?
Though the circumstances differ slightly in comics, the results are largely the same.
The West Coast Avengers manage to recover and reassemble the Vision, though he's reborn in a colorless body, similar to the 'White Vision' SWORD construct seen in WandaVision.
Despite being rebuilt, Vision isn't exactly resurrected, as Simon Williams AKA Wonder Man, himself a founding Avenger, refuses to allow his brain patterns to be used to give the Vision a personality, as in Vision's original comic book creation.
As a result, his personality and his emotions are gone, as are most of his memories. This drives a wedge between Vision and Wanda thanks to the effective disappearance of their romance.
The pair separate, and soon after, Wanda and Vision's children are revealed to be magical illusions (again much like in WandaVision).
The story goes on much longer, with the subplot of Vision's lost personality and emotions and the resulting breakdown of his marriage with Wanda and her overall mental health lasting for years in the Avengers franchise.
The subplot of Wanda and Vision's lost relationship eventually made waves throughout the Marvel Universe with the one-two punch of the event stories Avengers: Disassembled and House of M, which both picked up the tragic story of Vision and Wanda in the early '00s.
How will Vision Quest be different in the MCU?
It's not hard to imagine how Vision Quest may be adapted to the MCU, though it is also fair to say many of the bigger plot points of the original comic story already happened in WandaVision.
That said, what hasn’t been adapted yet is the story’s second act, the part that shows what happens when a changed Vision returns to the Avengers.
Wanda’s grief over the loss of her family has already been explored through WandaVision and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.
But the story of Vision’s larger arc, and the impact of the events of WandaVision and Multiverse of Madness on the rest of the Avengers has yet to be told, potentially giving Vision Quest the same kind of character and development to the Vision the WandaVision gave to the Scarlet Witch.
There's also the question of how Vision Quest will fit into the larger MCU - as well as whether it will connect to the other already announced WandaVision spinoff Agatha: Coven of Chaos, featuring the show's villain Agatha Harkness. And of course, with a Wonder Man streaming series reportedly in the works as well, there could be a whole WandaVision corner of the MCU brewing.
Vision & Scarlet Witch Vol. 2, the story that led to Vision Quest, is one of the best Wanda Maximoff/Scarlet Witch stories ever.
I've been Newsarama's resident Marvel Comics expert and general comic book historian since 2011. I've also been the on-site reporter at most major comic conventions such as Comic-Con International: San Diego, New York Comic Con, and C2E2. Outside of comic journalism, I am the artist of many weird pictures, and the guitarist of many heavy riffs. (They/Them)