If you can believe it, WandaVision, the first Marvel Cinematic Universe TV series to air on Disney+, came out five whole years ago. More than a lifetime in the land of humanity, but perhaps six in blockbuster media. We’ve waited all this time to learn anything <a href="https://comicvibe.com/christopher-miller-slams-spider-man-beyond-the-spider/” title=”Christopher Miller slams 'Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider”>beyond cursory information regarding VisionQuest, Terry Matalas’ third part in the trilogy which includes WandaVision and Agatha All Along. At this year’s D23, the show floor featured a bit of VisionQuest goodness, with a particularly intriguing painting front and center.
The painting depicts a singular figure standing in the middle of a narrow road with buildings on either side. The man is engulfed in flames and the fire rages outward and up the walls of the buildings. This leads many to speculate that VisionQuest will feature the original Human Torch. No, not an early Johnny Storm, but Jim Hammond.
In the very first issue of Marvel Comics in 1939, writer-artist Carl Burgos introduced an android named Jim Hammond who would burst into flames as the Human Torch. At first, this version of the Torch was a monster, but quickly he became a hero. Marvel Mystery Comics #9 from 1940 depicted the very first comic book crossover, with the Human Torch meeting Namor, the Sub-Mariner.
So what does this have to do with the Vision? Well, in the comics, the Vision wasn’t the result of Ultron, Tony Stark, J.A.R.V.I.S., and an Infinity Stone, like in the MCU. As first depicted in Avengers #133-135, the Vision was Jim Hammond’s lifeless robot body which Ultron 5 found. The evil robot suffused the android body with the Wonder Man’s essence. Hammond’s memories erased and powers altered with the coerced help of the Human Torch’s original creator, Phineas Horton.
Now, we’ve learned in the past that Ultron will feature heavily in VisionQuest, though we don’t know exactly how. Could he have become some kind of Human Torch-esque android now. We’ll likely get more info as D23 unfolds.
