The Vision is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by Roy Thomas and artist John Buscema, the character first appeared in The Avengers #57 (published in August 1968).Marvel Legend Reveals What Stan Lee Initially "Hated" About ... https://www.hollywoodreporter.com › heat-vision › age... May 1, 2015 – Stan Lee is the face of the Marvel Universe, but its summer crown jewel wouldn't exist without Roy Thomas. Thomas and artist John Buscema created key characters featured in Avengers: Age of Ultron, including the titular killer robot, played by James Spader, and the breakout android The Vision (Paul Bettany). The Vision is loosely based on the Timely Comics character of the same name who was an alien from another dimension. The character is an android (sometimes called a "synthezoid") built by the villainous robot Ultron created by Hank Pym. Originally intended to act as Ultron's "son" and destroy the Avengers, Vision instead turned on his creator and joined the Avengers to fight for the forces of good. Since then, he has been depicted as a frequent member of the team, and, for a time, was married to his teammate Scarlet Witch. He also served as a member of the Defenders, and is the father of Viv Vision.
The Vision was created from a copy of the original Human Torch, a synthetic man created by Phineas T. Horton. Ultron took this inert android and added more advanced technology to it, as well as new programming of his own design and a copy of human brainwave patterns. The result was the Vision, a synthezoid driven by logic, but possessing emotions and being able to achieve emotional growth. As an android, the Vision has a variety of abilities and super-powers. In the 1989 story "Vision Quest", Vision was dismantled, then was rebuilt with a chalk-white appearance and now lacked the capacity for emotions. A greater understanding of emotions was regained in 1991, his original red appearance was restored in 1993, and his full personality and emotional connections to memories were restored in 1994 in his first self-titled limited series, Vision. Another four-issue limited series, Avengers Icons: The Vision, was published in late 2002. From 2015 to 2016, Vision had his own series again written by Tom King, during which he attempted to live in the suburbs with an android family, of which the only surviving member, his daughter Viv Vision, then joins the Champions, whom Vision oversees.
Since his conception, the character has been adapted into several forms of media outside comics. Paul Bettany plays Vision in the Marvel Cinematic Universe films Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015), Captain America: Civil War (2016), and Avengers: Infinity War (2018), the television miniseries WandaVision (2021) and VisionQuest (2026), as well as the animated series What If...? (2021).
Publication history Creation and development While working as the writer of the superhero-team series Avengers, Roy Thomas wanted to add a new character to the roster. A great fan of Golden Age heroes, he first thought to bring back Aarkus, a 1940s hero who had been called the Vision due to his spectral appearance and smoke-based abilities. This original Vision had appeared in stories published by Timely Comics, the company that later rebranded as Marvel Comics. Roy Thomas discussed the matter with Marvel editor Stan Lee, who co-created the Avengers team with artist Jack Kirby. Lee enjoyed the idea of a new member, but did not want it to be an alien or visitor from another dimension. After he suggested creating a new character entirely and that it could be an android instead, Thomas compromised by creating a new android character who resembled Aarkus and also called himself Vision.
Thomas spoke further into the design by stating, "I suspect I suggested a cowl instead of a bald head, although the jewel on his forehead (now so important in the films) may have been either my idea or, I suspect, a design element tossed in by John. I did ask him to give Vision a chest symbol a diamond as a focal point, because he could make his body as hard as diamond. I took that from the WWII comic hero Spy-Smasher"
The character has a capacity for emotions but is primarily driven by logic and curiosity. Unused to emotions and how they could influence his behavior, he would be at times guarded or unsure how to express himself. His personality has been compared with Spock from Star Trek, but Thomas said he was barely aware of the TV series at the time and was influenced by the Adam Link character created by Otto Binder, one of the first fictional robots treated as a sympathetic character rather than only a mechanical tool or a monster. Artist John Buscema designed the character by adjusting the appearance of Aarkus. Originally, Thomas wanted the character to be colored chalk-white, befitting his ghostly name. Printing limitations of the time would have rendered him colorless by leaving that portion of the page un-inked rather than using white ink, meaning it would be more vulnerable to smudges because images and text on the other side of the page would possibly be visible and seem to overlap the character. Thomas and Buscema settled on giving the character a colorful costume and red skin. The original Vision, Aarkus, had been depicted with light green or sometimes light blue skin in his original comics. Red was chosen for the new android character because Thomas believed Marvel readers had gotten used to blue skin indicating a member of the Atlantean race, while green skin could bring comparisons to the Hulk.
1960s and 1970s The android Vision first appeared in The Avengers #57 (published in August 1968 but with a cover date indicating October). The cover of the issue was an homage to the first page of the first comic story to feature Aarkus. When Thomas created Ultron, he gave the robot an origin of having been created by Dr. Hank Pym and then turning on his creator. Thomas mirrored this by having Ultron create the Vision to be his son and ally, only to then have the new android join his enemies, the Avengers. To cement the character was not truly as cold and emotionless as he might appear, and that the stories would not treat him as if he were, The Avengers #58 included a scene where, after realizing he has been accepted by the Avengers not only as a new teammate but as a person, Vision excuses himself and silently cries.
Vision appeared with Spider-Man in Marvel Team-Up #5 (1972), "A Passion of the Mind", in which they defeat a giant robot scout from the Kree-Skrull War that was interfering with Vision's brain waves.
In The Avengers #75 (1970), Wanda Maximoff (the Scarlet Witch) rejoins the team with her brother Pietro (Quicksilver). Over time, Wanda became a love interest for 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.'"
Originally, Thomas considered the Vision to be an android entirely created by Ultron. Later, Ultron had built the Vision from the body of the original Human Torch, who had been described in his Golden Age stories as a perfect, synthetic replica of a human being. Thomas only planted a vague clue to this in The Avengers #93 before leaving the series as writer. This aspect of the Vision's origin was finally revealed in The Avengers #134–135 (1975). 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."
After learning that he had once been the original Human Torch in another life, Vision felt a stronger sense of identity. Englehart then had Vision and Scarlet Witch marry in Giant-Size Avengers #4 (June 1975).
However, in a story written for the "What If...." anthology but intended to be in continuity, Thomas suggested that the Vision was actually built by Ultron from a different android that, like the Human Torch, had been designed and built by Phineas Horton, known as Adam II.
1980s Years later, the couple starred in their first limited series called The Vision and the Scarlet Witch #1–4 (Nov. 1982 – Feb. 1983), by writer Bill Mantlo and penciller Rick Leonardi. The mini-series showed Vision and Wanda moving into a house in Leonia, New Jersey, hoping to strengthen their marriage by enjoying a life and experiences outside of the Avengers. This was followed by a second limited series that lasted 12 issues (Oct. 1985 – Sept. 1986), written by Steve Englehart and penciled by Richard Howell. Despite their previous home being burned down by people who consider the marriage of an android and a mutant to be unnatural, Vision and Wanda move back to Leonia and again attempt to live a suburban life outside of their duties as superheroes. The series cemented that the Vision and Simon Williams (Wonder Man) now regarded each other as twin brothers, since part of Vision's programming was based on the brainwave pattern of Simon. Early in the series, the Scarlet Witch is captured by a community of sorcerers who engage in a magical ritual that goes wrong, loosing deadly magical energy. To contain the loosed forces, the Scarlet Witch channels this powerful magical energy and is able to use it to grant herself a wish for a family. She becomes pregnant and nine months later gives birth to twin boys, Thomas and William ("Billy").
Englehart later took over as writer for the Avengers spin-off series West Coast Avengers, featuring a new branch of the team that was based in Los Angeles. Having grown fond of Vision and Wanda, he added them to the Avengers West team. Later on, John Byrne took over as writer/penciller for West Coast Avengers (which would soon be retitled Avengers West Coast). Byrne believed it was a mistake to give an android character emotions and to give him and Wanda a family. His "Vision Quest" story in West Coast Avengers #42–45 (March – June 1989) had the Vision dismantled, his human brain patterns wiped out, and his artificial skin rendered chalk-white (modern printing techniques and paper meant it was now more feasible to give a character chalk-white skin or costumes). Rather than portray the Vision as a synthetic man, Byrne depicted his parts as purely robotic and his skin as a costume-like shell. 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 Vision as a synthetic man, not a machine."
Vision's memories were restored but not his emotions. As such, he could no longer reciprocate Wanda's feelings or even express love for his children, which led to the annulment of their marriage. Byrne then went further, undoing the Vision's origin by revealing he was not the original Torch. The same issue depicted the original Human Torch being reactivated and meeting the Vision face to face. Following this, Byrne revealed that the children of Vision and Wanda were not real, explaining that Scarlet Witch had suffered a "hysterical pregnancy" and her temporarily increased power had projected this desire for children into creating imaginary constructs. The children were then wiped from existence. Further trauma led to Wanda becoming catatonic soon afterward. Rather than nurse his wife, Vision left Avengers West, concluding he could not help Wanda further and his presence would be more useful as a member of the NYC based team. Byrne also had Vision refuse an offer by Wonder Man to restore human brain patterns to his mind, possibly restoring his capacity for emotions in the process.
1990s