Marvel’s greatest villain, Ultron, survives another day in the universe after making it to the end of “VisionQuest.” The Marvel series, which ends the “WandaVision” trilogy, brought back the infamous character from “Avengers: Age of Ultron,” retconning his apparent death in that film. By the end of the “VisionQuest” finale, Ultron has a new form as a horde of nanobots but is free to live and roam the Earth. But the first “VisionQuest” post-credit scene teases that he may have another mission before he can truly enjoy living.
That mission involves Jocasta, another synthezoid, created by Marvel’s secret father of AI, Virgil Horton, to replace his lover, Dr. Josephine Carrington. Ultron and Jocasta fall in love with each other, but Virgil kills Jocasta in the series finale to stop the synthezoids from escaping. Though they didn’t know each other for long, Ultron clearly cared about her since he almost wiped out London in a grieving rage after her death. The post-credit scene is a little ominous, showing Ultron in human form looking out the window in Virgil’s mansion while tapping a USB labeled “Jocasta.” It’s likely a backup of Jocasta, but does Ultron plan to rebuild her, or does he have a more nefarious plan?
However, showrunner Terry Matalas told Entertainment Weekly that the post-credit scene won’t directly lead into a new project. “For me, it was just a promise of some kind that Ultron’s not done,” he said. “Whatever he’s going to do, for good or for bad, he promised Vision he doesn’t wanna do it alone. And he has this backup. So what is he gonna do? Then he completes it by spiking the lens and looking right at us. It’s kind of on us to decide.”
Ultron’s next chapter is unclear as Marvel rolls back on TV shows
Currently, Ultron’s future in the MCU is up in the air, leaving questions after “VisionQuest” about when we’ll see him next. But that’s not a first for the character. “Avengers: Age of Ultron” was released over a decade before “VisionQuest.” And as shown by “VisionQuest,” Marvel is always willing to pull characters out of the vault after a long time, including an “Iron Man” villain who hasn’t been seen since the start of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
However, fans and critics have loved James Spader’s Ultron performance throughout the series, so Marvel would be keen to use him again. An ideal follow-up would be giving him his own series, as they did with “WandaVision” antagonist Agatha Harkness with “Agatha All Along.” However, Marvel seems to be pulling back on live-action television series, with only “Daredevil: Born Again” Season 3 coming out in 2027 and a spy thriller show titled “Zodiac” greenlit for 2028. It is possible Ultron could be involved in the “Zodiac” series since not much is currently known about the show.
As for Marvel movies, there’s no film in development that would feature Ultron as a main character, but he could appear in a cameo. Terry Matalas teased in his interview with Entertainment Weekly, “There was more to the scene that we may put out one day,” which may mean that the showrunner has already laid the groundwork for Ultron’s next appearance in the post-credit scene but it was cut. If the full scene gets released, maybe fans will finally know when they’ll get to see their favorite art-loving, genocidal murderbot again.
