Marvel's New Disney+ Show Has Already Made TV History

Published Oct 15, 2026, 12:04 AM EDT

Since 2019, Kevin Erdmann has been one of Screen Rant's Senior Staff Writers, covering all kinds of Superhero and Star Wars media with Easter egg breakdowns, theory pieces, breaking news, and more. A huge Star Wars & MCU fan, Kevin also loves Batman (because he's Batman), but could talk for hours about why Nightwing is DC's greatest hero. 

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Warning! This post contains SPOILERS for VisionQuest episodes 1 & 2Marvel Studios' brand-new VisionQuest series has already made a significant mark on the MCU in its first two episodes alone, bringing one of the franchise's most memorable supervillains back into the spotlight while also concluding the trilogy that first began with 2021's WandaVision. However, it's also making television history in general thanks to one major actor.

In VisionQuest, Paul Bettany's Vision is in search of identity and his lost humanity in the wake of WandaVision, while also hosting several classic AI characters within his own matrix, including JARVIS, EDITH, FRIDAY, DUM-E, and U. However, it's revealed that Vision is also keeping none other than the genocidal Ultron within his digital mindscape as well, bringing back James Spader to the role 11 years after he first debuted in 2015's Avengers: Age of Ultron.

As exciting as James Spader's return as Ultron is for the MCU, it's well worth noting that his latest television debut is a much bigger deal that goes beyond Marvel Studios' interconnected universe of movies and shows and its impressive legacy.

VisionQuest Is James Spader's First TV Role Since The Blacklist

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Serving as one of his most well-known television roles, James Spader spent years playing Raymond "Red" Reddington, an enigmatic and charismatic criminal mastermind on NBC's The Blacklist, which ended in 2023 after ten seasons. Before that, Spader had already established himself as a distinctive television presence in shows like Boston Legal, The Practice, and The Office's 8th season as Dunder Mifflin CEO Robert California.

However, Spader's return as Ultron in VisionQuest is particularly interesting considering the actor's only roles since 2015 have been The Blacklist's Red on television, and the MCU's Ultron on the big screen. Now, Spader has finally returned to television after such a fairly long (and somewhat odd) hiatus to bring live-action Ultron to the small screen. With VisionQuest, Spader is allowed to delve into a brand-new iteration of Ultron, and the actor is already delivering after just two episodes of the new series.

After years imprisoned in the MCU with nothing to do but observe humanity and absorb its culture, the Ultron we get in VisionQuest has certainly evolved and grown in some fascinating ways. It means his return is far less of a rehash of the second Avengers movie and far more of a brand-new chapter for Ultron, mirroring the changes Vision himself has gone through, as he's no longer the sentient AI and synthezoid he once was either.

How Ultron Returns In VisionQuest

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While it seemed as though Paul Bettany's Vision destroyed the final Ultron drone at the end of 2015's Avengers: Age of Ultron and the Battle of Sokovia, VisionQuest has confirmed several long-held theories that Ultron was instead spared by Vision, seeing how he made it clear that he was "on the side of life". As Ultron himself confirms in VisionQuest's premiere episodes, he was indeed "backed up and copy-pasted" into Vision's mindscape after Sokovia, becoming a prisoner within Vision's matrix (explaining where Ultron has been for over a decade in the MCU).

Now, Ultron is becoming just as much of a crucial guide to Vision as the rest of the show's featured AI characters as he seeks to regain the identity, emotions, and humanity he once had (even if his methods are more violent/aggressive in comparison).

All in all, the premise of VisionQuest certainly gave Marvel Studios more than enough of a compelling reason to get Spader back as Ultron, and for audiences to get invested all over again in one of the MCU's best villains of all time. Beyond the MCU, it's just as exciting to see the new series making television history with James Spader finally returning to television to begin with.

New episodes of VisionQuest release Tuesday nights on Disney+ from Marvel Studios.