Note: This story contains spoilers from “VisionQuest” Episode 8.
Tuesday night’s “VisionQuest” finale may not have brought the full Maximoff family reunion that fans were hoping for, but it definitely delivered on part of it. The men of the family came together once more, and according to series star Ruaridh Mollica, it was an “absolutely epic” experience.
In the show’s finale episode, Vision (Paul Bettany) finds himself trapped in the home of Virgil (James Spader), the human inspiration for Ultron’s avatar, alongside Jocasta (T’Nia Miller). Vision went alone, leaving a message for his son Tommy (Mollica) explaining his decision. Of course, Tommy isn’t about to just accept that lying down.
He quickly pieces together that it was his brother Billy (Joe Locke) that put him into this body, and that Billy is still out there somewhere. To try and connect with him, Tommy recruits Lisa to help him re-create the circumstances that led to their brief mental connection last time: drowning. It works, and the boys connect in a sort of dream space hex created by Billy himself.
Yes, Joe Locke appears in the flesh and the two brothers reunite for the first time in their teenaged bodies. Billy even marvels at the fact that Tommy is Scottish now, while Tommy marvels at the fact that his brother is, well, a witch.
“It was absolutely epic,” Mollica told TheWrap of filming their first scene. “We’d met for a coffee the week before, and we were discussing all of it, like, ‘Oh my God, we’re twin brothers! We’re going to be together! It’s so exciting.’ And then on the day, it was amazing.”
“To have Tommy be able to enter that hex spell world with Billy in that space, it was amazing,” he continued. “We step on set and we used practical flames in this room, which arguably was probably quite dangerous. And we’re tiptoeing around all this fire, and the bones of the dog from ‘WandaVision’ were used to create the hex spell, which I don’t even know if that made it in.”
“I can almost guarantee you that isn’t still in there,” Bettany reassured Mollica with a laugh.
Alas, Bettany is right. According to “VisionQuest” creator and showrunner Terry Matalas, this particular “WandaVision” easter egg — RIP Sparky, gone but never forgotten — was ultimately cut from the episode.
“It’s in the deleted scenes,” Matalas confirmed to TheWrap. “I had this idea that I wanted to make Billy like, ‘You know I am kind of a witch, it’s kind of messed up!’ “And so there’s a moment where Tommy looks down, and he’s like ‘Are these bones? These are dog bones.’ And [Billy’s] like ‘Look, I had to do it.’”
Matalas is hopeful that “VisionQuest” will join the few Marvel TV series that have gotten a physical media release and fans will be able to see the deleted scene there. The showrunner promises the scene was “really, really funny,” and they finished filming it for posterity, but ultimately, the humor is what led to the cut.
“It was too funny in a moment where we needed tension to be turning up,” Matalas explained. “It’s one of those things. It’s like sometimes you got to throw out your babies, but it’s a great bit.”
The good news for fans is that the sequence isn’t the only moment that Billy and Tommy get to share in this series.
As the finale draws to a close, Vision once again has to face off against Ultron, as he hopes to wipe out the human race after losing his love Jocasta at the hands of Virgil. To stall Ultron’s attack, Vision pulls them both, along with Edith (Emily Hampshire) into their own sitcom called “UltraVision.”
Unfortunately, to keep Ultron in there and occupied long enough to stop him, Vision has to fry both of their cores. He’s successful, but it also leaves sweet Tommy with the once-again-dead body of his father. The speedster desperately tries to use the same trick that brought Vision back in the pool earlier in the series, but it’s not enough. He needs a bit of, well, magic.
Enter Billy, this time not in a hex space in Westview but in person. Even though he’s a baby witch, he managed to figure out portals (or he had the help of his ghost mentor Agatha, but we don’t see her at any point, so it’s hard to say for sure). Together, the Maximoff boys use their powers to bring their dad back to them.
“It was an absolutely epic moment, and I love Joe,” Mollica recalled. “And then we went off to do a play together after that, but we couldn’t talk about it at all, and so that was hard to keep that secret. But knowing that we were together and this was happening, it was beautiful. I love that guy.”
For Bettany, the moment was equally as “joyful,” even as Vision was coming to terms with the loss of his beloved Wanda.
“On one level, the the task set us by Kevin Feige was, ‘I want you to get white Vision back to red Vision. How are we going to do that?’” Bettany explained. “And so, Vision begins to flush red when he finally accepts the truth of what has happened to him and what he has lost.”
“And then the reunion at the end was just — it’s a joyful experience,” he continued. “And it’s the — family is forever, right? This terrible thing has happened, but family is forever, and that is what gives him the real power to fight that final battle.”
Mollica was quick to note that fans of the comics might also notice a certain parallel, if they’re looking closely.
“There’s that great picture of Wanda hugging her sons, and I feel like we got to do that with you,” he said to Bettany. “And bring that image that is so cherished and beloved to fans and everyone. That moment of love and reuniting of the sons and the parents.”
“VisionQuest” is now streaming on Disney+.
The post ‘VisionQuest’ Stars and Creator Break Down That ‘Absolutely Epic’ Finale Reunion appeared first on TheWrap.
