Although Paul Bettany started out in the Marvel Cinematic Universe as the voice of Tony Stark’s AI J.A.R.V.I.S., since 2015, he’s been appearing in this franchise as Vision, who was killed off in Avengers: Infinity War, the 19th of the Marvel movies in order. But in addition to WandaVision seeing Wanda Maximoff recreating her late lover within the Hex she established in Westview, the Disney+ series also saw the original Vision’s body being reactivated as White Vision. That version of the android will be leading his own upcoming Marvel TV show, and word’s come in that an important Iron Man character has been added to the lineup of characters, though I’m pretty confused by this move.
Faran Tahir, who played Raza in the MCU’s first movie, has been tapped to reprise his role in what’s informally been called Vision Quest, per Deadline. You may also recognize Tahir from movies and TV shows like 2009’s Star Trek, Elysium, Warehouse 13, Once Upon a Time, 12 Monkeys and The Old Man. James Spader is also on board to reprise Ultron in the series. Star Trek: Picard’s Todd Stashwick has been added in an undisclosed role, and it’s also rumored that James D’Arcy and Kerry Condon will respectively return as Edwin Jarvis and F.R.I.D.A.Y.
For those of you who need a refresher on Iron Man and don’t have the time to stream the movie with your Disney+ subscription, Raza was the leader of the Ten Rings terrorist cell operating in Afghanistan. He had his men kidnap Tony Stark and attempted to force the billionaire industrialist to build him a Jericho missile, but Tony was able to escape captivity by donning the Mark I Iron Man armor. It was later revealed that Raza had allied himself with Obadiah Stane, but after Jeff Bridges’ character retrieved the remnants of the Mark I to build his Iron Monger suit, he had Raza and his men executed for failing to kill Tony.
Which brings me to why I’m confused: how is Raza still around and able to appear in Vision Quest, which is being showrun by Terry Matalas. Now don’t be wrong, I’ve been absorbing superhero media for a long time, so I know how death is rarely permanent when it comes to stories from Marvel to DC. But when it comes to the MCU, that rule isn’t followed nearly as much, and oftentimes when an actor does reprise their deceased character, it’s either through a flashback, a project set before the character died, or as a variant of that original character.
But this is Raza we’re talking about; I find it hard to believe Obidiah Stane would have bungled killing him, and I would be surprised if there were any cosmic or magical forced at work that brought him back to life. So what’s going on here? Well, I suspect that we won’t actually see Raza resurrected, but rather appear as a representation within Vision’s mind. If he somehow has access to Tony Stark’s memories, then it would make sense why the terrorist would appear before Vision, as he, Ultron, Edwin Jarvis and F.R.I.D.A.Y. were all important parts of Tony’s life, for better or worse.
We’ll find out if my theory is true when Vision Quest premieres sometime in 2026. For now, MCU fans can look forward to shows like Daredevil: Born Again, Ironheart and Wonder Man premiering on the 2025 TV schedule.
