Vision

Vision

Vision is the name of several fictional superheroes appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The first Vision was an alien created by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby who first appeared in Marvel Mystery Comics #13 (November 1940). The second Vision is an android and a member of the Avengers who first appeared in The Avengers #57 (October 1968) by Roy Thomas, Stan Lee and John Buscema. The third Vision was the time traveler previously known as Iron Lad, who was fused with the operating system of the second Vision. The second Vision was portrayed by Paul Bettany in the 2015 film Avengers: Age of Ultron; he reprised the role in the 2016 film Captain America: Civil War.

The robot Ultron is the creator of the Vision, a type of android he calls a "synthezoid", for use against Ultron's own creator, Dr. Hank Pym (Ant-Man/Giant Man/Goliath/Yellowjacket) and Pym's wife, Janet van Dyne (the Wasp) of the superhero team the Avengers.

Publication history

The first Vision was created by the writer-artist team of Joe Simon and Jack Kirby in Marvel Mystery Comics #13 (Nov. 1940). A mystical, extra-dimensional police officer, The Vision was published by Marvel predecessor Timely Comics during the 1930s and 1940s, a period which fans and historians call the Golden Age of Comic Books.

Decades later, editor Stan Lee and writer Roy Thomas decided to add a new team member to the superhero-team series The Avengers. Thomas wanted to bring back the Golden Age Vision, but Lee was set on introducing an android member. Thomas ultimately compromised by using a new, android Vision. The second Vision first appeared in The Avengers #57 (Oct. 1968). Thomas wanted the character to be white as befitting his ghostly name, but printing limitations of the time would have rendered him colorless, with un-inked paper where his skin should be. He settled on red as he did not want Vision to be green like the Hulkor blue like the Atlanteans. The character has been compared with Spock from Star Trek, but Thomas said that he was barely aware of the TV series at the time. He acknowledged being influenced by the Adam Link character by Otto Binder, one of the first robots treated as a sympathetic character rather than as a mechanical tool.

In The Avengers #75 (April 1970), the Scarlet Witch is reintroduced to the team and soon becomes a love interest for the Vision. Thomas recounted, "I felt that a romance of some sort would help the character development in The Avengers, and the Vision was a prime candidate because he appeared only in that mag... as did Wanda, for that matter. So they became a pair, for just such practical considerations. It would also, I felt, add to the development I was doing on the Vision's attempting to become ‘human.’" Thomas also came up with the idea of the Vision having been created from the body of the Human Torch, but only planted a vague clue to this (in The Avengers #93) before leaving the series. It was finally followed up in The Avengers #134–135. Writer Steve Englehart explained, "That plot was well known in-house for years, and since Roy [Thomas] and Neal [Adams] hadn't had a chance to do it, I did it on my watch with Roy’s blessing."

The Vision and Scarlet Witch were married in Giant-Size Avengers #4 (June 1975). The couple starred in the limited series Vision and the Scarlet Witch #1–4 (Nov. 1982 – Feb. 1983), by writer Bill Mantlo and penciller Rick Leonardi. This was followed by a second volume numbered #1–12 (Oct. 1985 – Sept. 1986), written by Steve Englehart and penciled by Richard Howell, in which the Scarlet Witch gives birth to twin boys conceived with the Vision through magical means.

The "Vision Quest" story in West Coast Avengers #42–45 (March – June 1989) by writer/penciller John Byrne took the character away from his earlier depictions as a "synthetic human" and emphasized his android nature. The story had the Vision's memory and human brain patterns wiped out, severed his relationship with his wife, revealed their children to be essentially imaginary constructs, and included a two-page spread showing a dismantled Vision. Journalist Karen Walker later commented, "This image alone has probably done more to shape how future writers (and readers) perceive the character than anything before or since. Once seen broken down into component parts, it’s hard to truly move past that image and think of the Vision as a synthetic man, not a machine."

The Vision appeared in a solo limited series, Vision, #1–4 (Nov. 1994 – Feb. 1995), by writer Bob Harras and penciller Manny Clark. Nearly a decade after that came a second four-issue volume (Oct. 2002 – Jan. 2003), written by Geoff Johns and penciled by Ivan Reis.

The series Young Avengers, which ran 12 issues from April 2005 to August 2006, introduced a new Vision, who is a combination of the synthezoid Vision's program files and the armor and mental engrams of the hero Iron Lad.

Vision appeared as a regular character in the 2010–2013 Avengers series, from issue #19 (January 2012) through its final issue #34 (January 2013).

The Vision again appeared in a solo series, Vision, with #1 that started in November 2015 and is ongoing.

Fictional character biography

Silver Age Vision: The Avengers #57
(Oct 1968)  cover pencils by  John Buscema

The robot Ultron is the creator of the Vision, a type of android he calls a "synthezoid", for use against Ultron's own creator, Dr. Hank Pym (Ant-Man/Giant Man/Goliath/Yellowjacket) and Pym's wife, Janet van Dyne (the Wasp) of the superhero team the Avengers. Ultron sends his new servant to lead the Avengers into a trap. The Wasp is the first to encounter the synthezoid, and describes it as a "vision" while trying to escape. Adopting the name, the Vision is convinced by the Avengers to turn against Ultron. After learning how Ultron created him, using the brain patterns of then-deceased Simon Williams (Wonder Man), the Vision becomes a member of the team. The team initially believes the Vision's body was created from that of the android original Human Torch. The Avengers later are told that the time lord Immortus used the power of the Forever Crystal to split the original Human Torch into two entities – one body remained the original Torch while Ultron rebuilt the other as the Vision. This was part of his plan to nurture a relationship for the Scarlet Witch that would prevent her from having any children, as her power level meant that any offspring she might have could threaten the cosmic beings of the Marvel Universe.

Not long after joining the team, the Vision is temporarily controlled by Ultron, and rebuilds Ultron of adamantium, battling the Avengers before regaining control of himself. Shortly after that, the Vision first meets Wanda Maximoff, the mutant Scarlet Witch, with whom he later becomes romantically involved.The two eventually marry and, via the Scarlet Witch's hex powers, they have twin boys named Thomas and William.

When the Vision attempts to penetrate an energy field erected by the villain Annihilus, he "shuts down", and even after regaining consciousness weeks later, remains paralyzed and assumes a holographic form. He eventually regains control of his body and becomes team leader.Having become unbalanced by these events, he attempts to take control of the world's computers.^[17] With the aid of the Avengers, the Vision is restored to his normal self, but now closely monitored by a coalition of governments.

In the "Vision Quest" storyline, rogue agents of the United States government, manipulated by the time traveler Immortus, abduct the Vision and dismantle him. The Avengers recover the parts, and Dr. Pym rebuilds the Vision, but with a chalk-white complexion. However, the revived Simon Williams does not allow his brain patterns to be used again to provide a matrix for Vision's emotions, explaining that the original process, done without his consent, had "ripped out his soul". This, along with damage to the Vision's synthetic skin when he was dismantled, results in the synthezoid's resurrection as a colorless and emotionless artificial human.

The original Human Torch also returns from his own apparent demise, casting doubt on the Vision's identity. The Vision and the Scarlet Witch's children are then revealed to be fragments of the soul of the demon Mephisto, who had been broken apart by Franklin Richards shortly before the birth of the twins. The twins are absorbed back into Mephisto, which temporarily drives Wanda insane. Although she recovers, Wanda and the Vision separate, each operating on a different Avengers team.

The Vision gradually regains his emotions, by adopting new brain patterns from deceased scientist Alex Lipton, and gains a new body that resembles his original. In addition, Simon Williams' brain patterns gradually reemerge and meld with Lipton's patterns, restoring the Vision's full capacity for emotion.^[21]

Shortly after a reformation of the Avengers, the Vision sustains massive damage in the final battle with the sorceress Morgan Le Fey, and although incapacitated for several weeks, is eventually rebuilt and recovers. While recovering, the Vision gives up his attempt to reconcile with his wife, although he is revealed to retain a fondness for her culture, such as visiting a restaurant that specifically caters to Wanda's childhood community simply because he enjoys the ambience. Remaining a member of the Avengers, he briefly becomes romantically involved with teammates Carol Danvers (a.k.a. Warbird/Ms. Marvel) and Mantis before attempting again to reconcile with the Scarlet Witch. Grief over the loss of the twins, however, drives Wanda insane again, and she attempts to alter reality to recreate them. This causes a series of catastrophic events that includes the Vision crashing an Avengers Quinjet into Avengers Mansion. The Vision advises his teammates that he is no longer in control of his body, and then expels several spheres that form into five Ultrons. The Avengers destroy them, and an enraged She-Hulk tears apart the remains of the Vision, having been driven to a breaking point by the rapid slew of attacks against the Avengers. The Avengers later believed that Ultron may have put a command in the Vision that would have been activated by the Avengers' Code White alert during one of the many periods in which Vision was held prisoner by Ultron, though this was never confirmed. The Vision's operating system and program files are later used in the creation of Iron Lad's armor. In Mighty Avengers the original Vision is briefly separated from Iron Lad by the power of the Cosmic Cube.

During the "Chaos War" storyline, the Vision is one of many deceased heroes restored to life after the events in the death realms. Vision joins with the other resurrected Avengers in their fight against Grim Reaper and Nekra. During the fight, Vision blows himself up while in battle with Grim Reaper, killing them both.

Following the "Fear Itself" storyline, Tony Stark is able to rebuild Vision who once again joins the Avengers. After being informed about what happened after his destruction, the Vision sees She-Hulk, telling her he does not blame her for what happened. He then goes to Utopia to confront Magneto, threatening Magneto to tell him where Wanda is. Magneto uses his powers to subdue the Vision but spares him, saying he believes Wanda still cares for the Vision and that Magneto does not want to hurt her more. Captain America talks to the Vision afterward, telling him he needs to move forward.

During a subsequent confrontation with the returned Wanda at the start of the "Avengers vs. X-Men" storyline, Vision claims that her use of his body to attack his friends is something that he cannot forgive and, while he banishes her from the mansion, he also sheds tears after her departure.

During the Marvel NOW! relaunch, Vision leaves the Avengers in order to find himself following a battle with Sunturion. After departing the team, he is shown visiting Billy Kaplan, the teenage reincarnation of one of his sons.

Following the "Age of Ultron" storyline, Vision joins Hank Pym's Avengers A.I. alongside Monica Chang, Victor Mancha, and a reprogrammed Doombot.

In the miniseries Ultron Forever, the Vision and Black Widow of the present are drawn into the future by what appears to be Doctor Doom to assist a team of Avengers from various points in the team's history - including an early Hulk, James Rhodes as Iron Man, Thor when he was afflicted by the curse of Hela, the female Thor of the present, and Danielle Cage from a future where she wields Captain America's shield - to assist Doom in defeating Ultron's conquest of the world. Although Doom's true plan is revealed to be a desire to take Ultron's place, the Vision reveals that this Doom is actually the Doombot who worked with him in the Avengers A.I., convincing him to abandon his plan by noting that simply following Doom's example ignores the more positive aspects of Doom's history as the man who refused to let anyone else dictate his terms.

Powers and abilities

The Vision is described as being "...every inch a human being—except that all of his bodily organs are constructed of synthetic materials." The Solar Jewel on the Vision's forehead absorbs ambient solar energy to provide the needed power for him to function, and he is also capable of discharging this energy as optic beams; with this, he can fire beams of infrared and microwave radiation. In extreme cases he can discharge this same power through the Solar Jewel itself which amplifies its destructive effects considerably, albeit at the cost of losing most of his resources. By interfacing with an unknown dimension to which he can shunt and from which he can accrue mass, thus becoming either intangible or extraordinarily massive, the Vision can change his density, which at its lowest allows flight and a ghostly, phasing intangibility, and at its heaviest, a density ten times greater than that of depleted uranium,which gives him superhuman strength, immovability, and a diamond-hard near invulnerability. On one occasion, the Vision uses this extreme density to render unconscious the villain Coun

t Nefaria; at other times, he thrusts an intangible hand into them and then partially re-materializes it, a process he describes as "physical disruption." This effect typically causes great pain and results in incapacitation, as when used against the Earth-712 version of the hero Hyperion. Being an artificial life-form/android of sorts, the Vision has superhuman senses, superhuman stamina, reflexes, speed, agility, strength (even without being at high density), superhuman analytical capabilities, and the ability to process information and make calculations with superhuman speed and accuracy. The Vision was trained in hand-to-hand combat byCaptain America, is an expert in the combat use of his superhuman powers, and is a highly skilled tactician and strategist. The Vision is an expert on his own construction and repair.

After the Age of Ultron, Vision joins the Avengers A.I. team where his "evolve" protocols were activated and now his body is formed from millions of nanobots.The Vision of the Young Avengers is able to use Iron Lad's neuro-kinetic armor to recreate the former Vision's abilities, including strength, density manipulation, and flight. The yellow solar cell on the Vision's forehead can also emit a beam of infrared and microwave radiation. The Vision is also capable of energy and holographic manipulation,shapeshifting and time travel.