Will Vision return to his pre-death form?

One of the big questions to come out of the WandaVision finale was where White Vision (Paul Bettany) went. After having his memories were restored, his first reaction was to disappear. This leaves a question for the MCU to explore which is whether Vision will return to his form before his death in Avengers: Infinity War. The debate about the Ship of Theseus gave the original Vision the trigger that he is the true Vision in the world. However, what he will do with his new found knowledge is a debate that deserves to be unpacked.

Vision’s Epiphany:

During WandaVision, Tyler Haywood managed to bring the Vision back online using a source of Wanda’s (Elizabeth Olsen) power found in the drone that was sent into Westview. S.W.O.R.D. was then able to use this to program Vision in order to become their sentient weapon.

While fighting against the Vision from the hex, the pair comes to a peaceful resolution as they debate who the true Vision is. The Ship of Theseus is a theory that raises the question whether something which has had all of its parts replaced can it be considered the same. What this means in terms of the debate the Vision’s had is that White Vision is questioning whether he is true Vision, due being his components being replaced by S.W.O.R.D. When he regains his memories he says he is Vision before leaving.

This is all we are left with and thus raises the question of can Vision return to how he was before Thanos (Josh Brolin) killed him. If we look at what has been changed about Vision, he is without the mind stone which has been replaced by a part of Wanda’s power. This change is important and will be the reason for what Vision will be next. Losing the mind stone has seemingly removed the emotion from Vision which explains why he left Westview and didn’t stay and help his wife Wanda.

With his memories restored it is likely that Vision will seek to understand his place in the world more than ever. When Vision was originally created he had the Avengers to influence him, whereas now he left to his own devices which will make Vision a different version to what we saw before Thanos arrived.

Vision 1994 series:

From what WandaVision gave us it is safe to assume that Vision will embark on a journey of his own. Likely Vision will seek out find his meaning of life. This is where influence from the comics can be used. The 1994 4 issue Vision comic series could be a way that the MCU takes the synthezoid. This series focuses on the internal struggle Vision faces after being pieced back together. You don’t have to be a genius to see the parallels between Vision in the MCU and the comic here. Therefore, the journey Vision has embarked on could see him face troubles in understanding the purpose he serves in life.

A key line from the comic is when Vision says “My past life was nothing more than intriguing data”. If we analyse the line this could be the exact thought Vision is experiencing in the MCU. When his memories were unlocked, this didn’t cause his emotion to return, instead it opened up a different perspective, rather than the one that S.W.O.R.D. had programmed into him.

Moreover the comic also sees Vision have clashes of personality due to the multiple uses of data and memory in his system. In the MCU, Vision is made up of Jarvis, Ultron and the energy source which is now Wanda’s power, which all will give him a different personality. As such a struggle of identity could also be a story which the MCU looks to push Vision into.

Obviously the MCU will not be a direct copy of the comics but the internal struggle that Vision faces in his series looks likely to be the direction that the synthezoid embarks on in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Different Perspective:

From what we know it looks like that the Vision in the MCU will not be the same as he was before his death. Instead, pardon the pun, new visions will see the synthezoid take on a different form. Now the question will be what form he will take. In the comics Vision has been both good and evil, but in the MCU we are yet to see an evil side to him. As such while searching for his identity in the world, the conclusion he comes to could be one of evil and see the Avengers encounter a familiar foe.

Many fans are praying for a return of Ultron (James Spader) and his return could come from Vision. Aspects of Ultron are found within Vision and if we cast our minds back to Avengers: Age of Ultron, Vision describes him as unique. Therefore, there is some admiration between the pair already. In Age of Ultron it was the plan of Ultron which caused Vision to side with the Avengers, however losing all his feeling could cause Vision to lose his attachment to Earth and see the personality of Ultron within him to resurface.

We are speculating heavily now, but the data that has been unlocked to Vision will not be happy memories. There will be the obvious memories of Wanda, but without emotion they would not mean anything to him. Therefore he will be left with the memories of fighting and battles which have been commonplace since his creation. On top of this he was used as a weapon by S.W.O.R.D. which went against his will. So, this may cause Vision to turn on the humans as from what he knows they are only ever interested in fighting and causing more problems than they resolve.

A villainous turn like this from Vision would be intriguing to see because he is a threat that not many Avengers would be able to take on. Being a previous member of the Avengers would also be interesting as his view would question everyone else’s perspective within the team. As such the new perspectives that Vision sees could create a threat to the Avengers that could hurt them on a new level.

Verdict:

From what we know the direction that Vision seems to be moving in, is away from the form he took before his death in Avengers: Infinity War. Wanda also looks set for a different path, which is why the journey Vision will embark on will focus on himself for the first time in the MCU. Vision will need to find himself and understand his role in the world. Whether this means he turns to the dark side or stays faithful to the Earth can be debated, even though a villainous Vision would be fascinating to watch. Overall the likelihood that Vision returns to playing happy families with Wanda is unlikely as there is now a story to be told regarding the Vision and his place in the world.

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