VISIONQUEST Canonizes the First Ever Marvel Comics Story

The MCU has adapted various pieces of Marvel Universe lore ever since 2008’sIron Man. Sometimes very faithfully, and sometimes not. For films like Captain America: The First Avenger, they even went as far back as 1940’s Captain America #1 for inspiration. But in the seventh episode of VisionQuest, the MCU has gone back to the literal beginning of Marvel, adapting elements of 1939’s Marvel Comics #1. The writers of VisionQuest have canonized events from that very first Marvel story, “The Human Torch,” by Carl Burgos. Without this story and character, Marvel as we know it today probably wouldn’t even exist.

VisionQuest Flashes Back to Dr. Phineas Horton and His Original Synthetic Man

In flashbacks in VisionQuest, we go back to 1939, to the mansion of scientist Phineas Horton. We see he’s an older man who looks just like Vision (and, of course, is played by Paul Bettany). We find out he is selling his estate in England to create an “artificial man,” someone who could replace his recently deceased son. His wife begs him to notice that even though he’s lost one child, he still has a young daughter, Victoria. Getting no response from Horton, his family leaves him. His wife tells him that she hopes he builds something that can love him back. He informs her that his only priority is to finish perfecting J.I.M. (Joule Individual Machine). Horton finds himself completely consumed with his creation. And this creation is an android who looks just like him, almost as if it’s a new child to replace his lost son.

As we learned in earlier episodes, J.I.M. didn’t last very long as a synthezoid, even though his creator called him a “hero,” suggesting he had a brief superhero career. But as Vision said, “His mind was obsolete from conception. His inability to process complex emotions spun his clockwork too quickly, flooded his solar cells with oxygen until his entire being was consumed in fire.” Eventually, the Horton family donated his inert body to Markridge Biotech, and his programming became the source code for the Vision decades later. When Ultron was creating Vision in Age of Ultron, he was clearly passing down some form of digital DNA.

ThisVisionQuestFlashback Adapts Marvel Comics#1 from 1939

All of this is a fairly faithful adaptation of the first Marvel Comics story. In that first story, Dr. Phineas Horton created the Human Torch, curiously named, as he wasn’t human at all. Horton presented his synthetic man to the public at a press conference in Brooklyn. Horton displayed him in a hermetically sealed glass tube. This is the same case we saw him in at the Stark Expo in Captain America: The First Avenger. When Dr. Horton activated him and brought him to life, his skin burst into flame upon contact with oxygen. The people of New York treated him like a monster, and sealed him away in concrete.

But he escaped, learned to control his flame, and took on the name Jim Hammond. He even became a police officer. The Torch became one of Marvel’s (then Timely Comics) signature heroes, alongside Captain America and Namor, the Sub-Mariner. Namor also debuted in Marvel Comics #1, although he wasn’t the cover character, or the first story in the issue. This Torch went inactive after World War II, and the Fantastic Four’s Johnny Storm eventually took his name. In the pages of Avengers, they eventually revealed that Vision was based on the design of the original Human Torch.

Thanks to VisionQuest, we now know that much of that original Golden Age comic book story is at least partially MCU canon now. Just as in the comics, Phineas Horton built the synthetic man, and he was a hero for at least a brief time. He also burst into flame, although we don’t know if he ever took the codename Human Torch. It seems he only immolated once, so it’s unlikely. We also know that he used the Jim., but it’s unknown if he ever took the surname Hammond. But just as in the comics, he was the basis for the Vision, created decades later.

VisionQuestLeft Out the Kang Connection

One thing that Marvel Comics did was eventually retcon the Human Torch’s origins to include Kang. The time traveler from the far future was the person who showed Dr. Horton future technology, allowing him to build an artificial man centuries before such technology existed. We don’t know if Kang helped Dr. Horton in the MCU, but it seems Marvel Studios wants to get away from all things Kang the Conqueror these days. Although a mention of Victor Timely would have been nice, it would have explained just how Horton made such an advanced being with ‘ 30s-era technology.

J.I.M. Could Have an MCU Future, Only in Stories Set in the Past

There is definitely more story to be told in the MCU for J.I.M. Did he fight in World War II, alongside Captain America and Namor? Did Kang or Victor Timely have anything to do with his creation, they just didn’t show it? While we don’t foresee a Human Torch streaming series on Disney+, a one-off Special Presentation would be very cool. We think Paul Bettany would relish such a project, in fact. We’ll have to wait and see how much more of J.I.M., a.k.a. the Human Torch, Marvel Studios has planned.