Having been a part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe since the first Iron Man, Paul Bettany is one of the most established veterans in the blockbuster franchise – but truthfully his role in the movies is only just beginning. In The Avengers: Age of Ultron, he will see himself transformed from voicing the digital butler Jarvis, to playing the android known as Vision. It’s already been assumed that this would only make Bettany’s presence in the world more important, but now the actor has confirmed that he has a bright, long future ahead of him with Marvel.
Bettany is currently doing the worldwide press tour for his latest film – the comedy Mortdecai - and it was while talking with News.com.au in Australia that he hinted that he will be a part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe for many years to come. Discussing the job security that comes with signing a multi-picture Marvel contract, the actor told the site,
“That’s the really great thing about the Marvel gig for me. I have never known if I have had a job six months out ever in my life. And now I know that they have plans and I can be even more judicious about the stuff that I do outside of that work. I can wait for the right thing and feel really attached to it.”
Up until this year, Paul Bettany’s role in the Marvel Cinematic Universe has been limited to just a voice role – having “brought life” to Jarvis in Iron Man, Iron Man 2, The Avengers and Iron Man 3, but things are getting much more intense and involved for him performance-wise in this summer’s The Avengers: Age of Ultron. The new Marvel movie will be introducing the first live-action version of the android Vision – named for being the perfect vision of humanity – and given that Bettany will be playing the role, it’s been assumed by many that it’s Jarvis’ AI that will be inside the red and green machine. Now that he has corporeal form, there are many more opportunities for Bettany to explore in the MCU – but where will he go? Where will we see him?
At this point in time, the most obvious answer to that question is The Avengers: Infinity War, which will be split into two parts, released in both 2018 and 2019, and is expected to bring everyone in the entire big screen Marvel Universe together. But could he show up before then? Might there be a place for him in Doctor Strange or Black Panther? It’s also possible that Vision might have a long shelf life after the events of Infinity War, and perhaps even could someday get his own solo film. We’ll just have to wait and see what the response to him is in The Avengers: Age of Ultron.
