The death – or rather, deaths – of Paul Bettany’s android Vision are among the more heartrending moments in 2018's Avengers: Infinity War, with Vision first destroyed by his lover Wanda (Elizabeth Olsen) in a bid to keep the Mind Stone out of Thanos’ clutches, before being briefly resurrected only to be killed again by Thanos himself.

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Unlike most of the deaths in Infinity War, Vision’s final moments weren’t reversed in sequel Avengers: Endgame, with Wanda still left alone as the credits rolled – but now, mysteriously he’s back for Disney+ series WandaVision, which sees the super-powered couple living in a strange sitcom fantasy.

So how is Vision back? Is he still dead, is he some sort of illusion or has he been brought back to life? Having seen the first few episodes, we have some spoiler-free theories…

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Is Vision still dead in WandaVision?

(L -R): Paul Bettany as Vision and Elizabeth Olsen as Wanda Maximoff in Marvel Studios' WANDAVISION exclusively on Disney+. Photo courtesy of Marvel Studios. ©Marvel Studios 2020. All Rights Reserved.
(L -R): Paul Bettany as Vision and Elizabeth Olsen as Wanda Maximoff in Marvel Studios' WANDAVISION exclusively on Disney+. Photo courtesy of Marvel Studios. ©Marvel Studios 2020. All Rights Reserved.

This is a little complicated. Obviously Vision isn’t dead-dead given that he’s up, walking around and even using his abilities throughout the series – but there’s also evidence to suggest he’s not exactly alive either.

In a scene from the WandaVision trailers, Vision has an odd exchange with Kathryn Hahn’s Agnes where she asks him, “Am I dead?”.

“No… why would you think that?” he asks.

“Because you are,” she says.

WandaVision
Kathryn Hahn as Agnes in Marvel Studios' WANDAVISION exclusively on Disney+. Photo courtesy of Marvel Studios. ©Marvel Studios 2020. All Rights Reserved.

In other words, even the neighbours living with Wanda and Vision in their strange TV prison are vaguely aware of Vision’s death in the outside world. Wanda may even still remember it subconsciously, mentioning Vision’s “indestructible head” in the series’ first episode in a random exchange of dialogue that hints at how his forehead was caved in by Thanos.

So is Vision newly alive? Or is this new Vision a fake?

How does Vision come back for WandaVision?

WandaVision
(L-R): Paul Bettany as VIsion and Elizabeth Olsen as Wanda Maximoff in Marvel Studios' WANDAVISION exclusively on Disney+. Photo courtesy of Marvel Studios. ©Marvel Studios 2020. All Rights Reserved.

In its earliest episodes, WandaVision doesn’t offer many clues for how Vision could have come back – but we have a couple of ideas.

If it is Wanda somehow creating or controlling the sitcom world they’re living in, she may have just created an illusory or fake Vision – like the house and furniture around them, he may not be really “there” after all.

Still, given how self-aware and independent Vision is that seems unlikely, raising the possibility that Vision was able to be resurrected in some way before the events of the TV series.

Certainly, this could be possible. While Vision’s connection to the Mind Stone and some circuitry was destroyed by Thanos, most of his body was left untouched at the conclusion of Infinity War, with whatever happened to his body left a mystery so far.

Marvel, HF

So what if someone took the body and was able to reverse-engineer some of the technology? Sure, he’d have to live without the now-destroyed Mind Stone, but it was suggested in Avengers: Infinity War that this separation would be possible (it was, in fact, the initial plan to save Vision’s life).

And maybe Wanda could have had a part to play in this return as well. As noted in Infinity War, Wanda’s reality-warping abilities came from her exposure to the Mind Stone as a young woman, meaning she was the ideal candidate to destroy the stone with its own energy. By that sci-fi logic, could she not have recreated some of the energy to reinfuse Vision’s android body?

It certainly sounds possible, and who knows – maybe the whole point of the world Wanda and Vision find themselves in is for Wanda to be tricked into recreating her old lover, so some shadowy outside forces can use him as a weapon. Though why that would have to be in the style of I Love Lucy is slightly beyond us…

Will Vision return after WandaVision?

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Disney

Well, this is the billion-dollar movie franchise question. Will Vision’s return to the MCU extend beyond WandaVision, or will he finally say his goodbyes at the end of the nine-episode series?

At a guess, we’d say it depends how he was resurrected. If he’s just some sort of illusion tied to Westview and the TV world created in WandaVision, you’d have to imagine that when Wanda finally escapes or otherwise leaves behind the setting he wouldn’t be able to go with her.

However, if Vision has been brought back to life “properly” then presumably he could also return to the real world when this particular struggle has been overcome – and maybe this means we could even see him in future Marvel movies.

For now, only Elizabeth Olsen is confirmed to star in upcoming MCU movie Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, which will supposedly pick up where WandaVision leaves off – but it could be that Bettany’s own involvement is being kept secret to avoid any spoilers about what happens to Vision in the Disney+ series.

After all, Vision has managed to survive two certain dooms already – who’s to say he couldn’t do the triple?

Want more WandaVision content? Check out our latest WandaVision review, our guide to the WandaVision cast, the WandaVision release schedule, Agatha Harkness and the creepy WandaVision commercials. Plus, we ask: is Wanda pregnant? When is WandaVision set and how did Vision survive?

WandaVision releases new episodes on Disney+ on Fridays. You can sign up to Disney Plus for £5.99 a month or £59.99 a year.

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Want something else to watch? Check out our full TV Guide.

Authors

Huw FullertonCommissioning Editor

Huw Fullerton is a Commissioning Editor for Radio Times magazine, covering Entertainment, Comedy and Specialist Drama.

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