We anticipate that “Vision Quest” will astonish Marvel fans in 2026. This is the third part of a trilogy centering on Wanda Maximoff (Elizabeth Olsen) and Vision (Paul Bettany) — succeeding “WandaVision” and “Agatha All Along.” The series will see the return of White Vision from the climax of “WandaVision,” a replica of the original Vision without past memories, likely embarking on a profound “vision quest” to determine his future path.

Though plot details remain scarce, it is confirmed that Vision will once again encounter his creator, Ultron (James Spader), in the series. In “Avengers: Age of Ultron,” Vision supposedly eradicated Ultron’s final piece, but a fragment might have remained hidden. Notably, the villain is expected to appear drastically different: reports suggest Ultron will take on a human form in this TV series. Instead of Spader performing motion capture to embody Ultron, he might simply show up as himself on set.

As an ill-intentioned artificial intelligence, Ultron harbors intense animosity towards humanity and aims to annihilate all organic beings. It will be intriguing to observe his reaction to his new form, yet it remains unclear whether Ultron actually turns human or merely adopts a human guise for reasons that are not yet disclosed.

An intriguing wrinkle to “Vision Quest” suggests that the show’s really going to hone in on what separate artificial intelligence from true humanity. The same reports about James Spader playing Ultron in human form indicate that several other AIs will appear the same way, although the casting is still up in the air for at least one. 

Various outlets have stated that Kerry Condon would portray a human form of F.R.I.D.A.Y., one of Tony Stark’s (Robert Downey Jr.) AIs that Condon has already voiced in several Marvel projects. Despite initial reports that Condon would be in “Vision Quest,” the actor has denied such involvement, at least at the moment. She told Entertainment Tonight, “It’s not true. I saw that and I was like, ‘Who’s saying these things?’ I wouldn’t say there’s no chance, but at the moment, it’s not in the cards for me.”

One casting that’s more solid is Emily Hampshire as a human manifestation of E.D.I.T.H., an AI that Tony posthumously gifted to Peter Parker (Tom Holland) in “Spider-Man: Far From Home.” Lastly, there’s T’Nia Miller’s casting as Jocasta, who in the comics is Ultron’s cybernetic bride but switches side and fights with the Avengers. Robots and AI appear to be at the forefront of “Vision Quest,” and it’ll be fascinating to see what the show has to say about the merging of humanity and technology and what the future of AI could hold for the real world. 

Are all of these “Vision Quest” AIs only appearing human in a computer simulation, or have they all transferred their consciousnesses into part-organic hosts? If it’s the latter, they’ll all have to contend with existing on a mortal plane. AI accepting the idea they can die, especially considering that Thanos (Josh Brolin) has already killed Vision once in “Avengers: Infinity War,” would be an intriguing place to take the MCU. Then again, we could be thinking too hard about this, and all of these AIs looking like people could simply come down to money. 

Over the last year or so, the mandate at Marvel has changed to focus more on quality over quantity after spending the post-“Avengers: Endgame” era cranking out so many new movies and Disney+ series. Disney CEO Bob Iger told CNBC that the company is planning on scaling back costs: “You pull back not just to focus, but it’s also part of our cost containment initiative, spending less,” he explained. Having James Spader portray Ultron as human is much more cost-effective than spending a ton of money to create a performance-capture or CGI Ultron. Notably, the performance capture in “She-Hulk: Attorney at Law” cost roughly $25 million per episode, which may simply be too much for a Disney+ show to be profitable. 

Disney will likely produce fewer Marvel TV shows while aiming to keep costs down on whatever is produced, and making all these AIs look human is one way to lower the budget for “Vision Quest.” Ideally, the show will find a creative solution for explaining why they look like this, while tying back into the show’s greater themes.