VisionQuest episode 7 sees Paul Bettany doing triple duty and brings some comic book-accurate lore into the fold. But who are those two other characters, and how do they play into the sticky situation that Vision, Tommy, and the AIs have gotten themselves into?
Warning: full spoilers for VisionQuest episode 7 follow.
The seventh episode of VisionQuest takes us back to the past and begins with a scientist named Phineas Horton (played by Bettany) obsessively toiling away at his latest creation. His wife and child are getting ready to leave him, as it seems he's unable to care for anything other than his work. What is he working on? Well, he's creating the synthezoid J.I.M. Hammond, aka the Human Torch. Later on in the episode, Bettany plays Jim Hammond (meaning that all three share a face, but more on that in a moment).
Horton made his first appearance in Marvel Comics #1, circa 1939, as the scientist who used something known as a solar cell in order to create superpowered, synthetic humans. His first creation, and perhaps the one he was most proud of, was J.I.M. Hammond, aka the original Human Torch (who has no direct connection to the Fantastic Four's Johnny Storm). Of course, during a presentation at the World's Fair, an early version of J.I.M. malfunctioned and burst into flames in front of a packed room of reporters (something Dr. Katerina Wells touches on during her presentation in VisionQuest episode 4).
As Horton refused to give up on J.I.M., he agreed to place him in a fireproof holding cell of sorts while he worked on the factors that could control the whole self-immolation thing (or at least factors that would make it more predictable). He lives quite a long life in the comics, as does Horton. In VisionQuest episode 7, we learn that Horton and Hammond died together in sort of a sad father-and-son ending.
In VisionQuest episode 6, we learn that each AI has its own source code that is based on a living human. Could this be why Phineas Horton, J.I.M. Hammond, and Vision all have the same face? In the comics, Horton is the father of AI, and Ultron creates Vision based directly on Horton's designs. This seems to be the case for the MCU, though this isn't entirely confirmed in VisionQuest episode 7. We can, at the very least, confirm that all three characters played by Bettany more or less share the same connective tissue.
VisionQuest episode 7 is streaming now on Disney Plus. Make sure you're there the moment the finale drops with our VisionQuest release schedule, or check out our spoiler-free full-season VisionQuest review while you wait for the final episode.
