“VisionQuest” key art featuring James Spader and Paul Bettany.
Disney+/Marvel Studios
VisionQuest, a new Marvel series starring Paul Bettany and James Spader coming to Disney+ this week, is earning unanimous praise from Rotten Tomatoes critics.
An eight-episode miniseries, VisionQuest was originally scheduled to premiere on Disney+ on Wednesday, Oct. 14, but the streaming platform just moved the debut of the series to Tuesday. Bettany reprises his Marvel Cinematic Universe role as Vision in the series, in which the character has been rebooted and has escaped from the people trying to weaponize him.
Now in hiding with a bounty on his head, Vision searches for the meaning of his new existence, while at the same time resisting the influence of the AI persona of the villainous Ultron (Spader), who is embedded in his programming.
VisionQuest also stars Diane Morgan, James D’Arcy, Ruaridh Mollica, T’Nia Miller, Emily Hampshire and Orla Brady, while Terry Matalas serves as the showrunner of the miniseries.
The review embargo for VisionQuest lifted on Monday at 3 p.m. ET/12 p.m. ET, and currently the miniseries has earned an 87% “fresh” critics’ score on Rotten Tomatoes’ Tomatometer based on 23 reviews. RT’s Critics Consensus, Audience Summary and Popcornmeter score based on verified user ratings are still pending.
VisionQuest is the third part of the WandaVision trilogy of series on Disney+. The trilogy began with 2021’s WandaVision, which earned a 92% “fresh” critics’ score on RT based on 428 reviews, and was followed by 2024’s Agatha All Along, which earned an 84% “fresh” score based on 218 reviews.
Note: The RT critics’ score for “VisionQuest” will be updated as more reviews are posted on the site.
What Are Individual Critics Saying About ‘VisionQuest’?
Nick Schager of The Daily Beast is among RT’s critics who give VisionQuest a “fresh” critics. Alluding to WandaVision in his RT review summary, Schager writes, “A sequel that stands on its own two feet, even as it harkens back (and operates as a companion piece) to its popular predecessor.”
Josh Wilding of Comic Book Movie also deems VisionQuest “fresh.” Wilding writes in his RT review summary, “Paul Bettany and James Spader are masterful in VisionQuest, a staggering achievement by Marvel Studios and Terry Matalas that understands its characters, does right by them, and delivers one of the best MCU stories ever told.”
In her brief but “fresh” RT review summary of the miniseries, Liz Shannon Miller of Consequence calls VisionQuest “an entertaining reminder of the high points of this era.”
Hunter Ingram of The Wrap is also a fan of VisionQuest. Ingram writes in his “fresh” RT review summary, “For a series that could be as banal as the ones and zeros that power it, VisionQuest is among the more humane and hopeful things Marvel has produced, and gives the WandavVision trilogy a sendoff as solid as the vibranium build of its hero.”
Tom Percival of Metro largely praises one of VisionQuest’s MCU leads in his “fresh” take of the series on RT, writing, “James Spader just makes the character so brilliant; he’s fierce, funny and fiendish all at once. I adore that character, and I’m delighted that Marvel’s most underrated villain got another chance to shine.”
David Fear of Rolling Stone is among RT’s critics who give VisionQuest a “rotten” score, writing, “Vision may provide half the title, yet actual vision is the one thing this series sorely needs.”
Alison Herman of Variety isn’t a fan of VisionQuest, either. Herman writes in her “rotten” RT review summary, “VisionQuest can be enjoyable in its comfort zone of zanily tweaking the Mindspace. But when it’s time to venture out into the tactile world, the show doesn’t leave a lasting mark.”
Ben Travers of IndieWire also gives the miniseries a “rotten” score on RT, writing, “For all its bells and whistles, VisionQuest isn’t complicated or unique.”
VisionQuest premieres with the first two episodes of the series on Disney+ on Tuesday.
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