Marvel Origins: The Vision

As the intense anticipation over Marvel Studio's Avengers flick continues to build throughout American cinematic culture, the probing question over this beloved comic book team has become: "Which heroes will Marvel directors and producers select for depiction in the movie?" After all, with a team as immense in size as the Avengers, there is certainly no shortage of options. From the fearless team leader Captain America to more well-known icons such as Iron Man, Black Widow, The Incredible Hulk, and the Mighty Thor, Marvel execs certainly have a good bit of source material to work with. Not to mention, the vast majority of the aforementioned characters have already received or will be receiving their own live-action feature films. Although there have been countless Avengers over the course of the team's lengthy publication history, one who stands out in dynamics and diversity is The Vision.

Perhaps the team's most peculiar and odd member, the original Vision was known as "Aarkus, a green-skinned crimefighter from another dimension, who appeared in a short-lived series drawn by Jack Kirby in the early 1940s." (Sanderson, Peter. Marvel Universe. Abradale Publishers, 1996). Although he was seen as an extra dimensional android of sorts, the term most often used to describe the Vision was "synthezoid", as he was "an artificial being composed of mock-organic parts and hence not a robot in the usual sense of the word." (Sanderson, 127). Much akin to actor Brent Spiner's acclaimed character Data of Star Trek: The Next Generation, the Vision was often cast as cold, emotionless, and uncaring. His simple logic and rationality often balanced out the more intense actions and quickly-decisive emotions of his fellow teammates.

Originally created by Marvel writer/editor Roy Thomas, the Vision was himself the scientific creation of the indestructible automaton Ultron, one of the Avenger's most nefarious foes. In opposition to his fellow Avengers and many other heroes of the day, he remained unique in that what little humanity he retained was often downsized to reveal his supernatural, otherworldly powers.

With an air of sentience, he wowed series readers and fans with his ability to physically increase the density of his own body, to the geological strength of a diamond. Similar to DC Comic's Superman, the Vision drew his powers from the sun and other sources of mass solar radiation, granting him the ability to fire intense beams of heat from his eyes, as well as the power of flight. However, "his most disturbing power was his ability to sink his immaterial hand into an opponent and then slightly rematerialize it, inducing intense shock in his victim; if the Vision made the least error, he could easily kill a person this way." (Sanderson, 127).

Since his appearance in The Avengers #57 (Oct. 1968), the Vision's character has undergone several changes and modifications, as is often the case with new series writers and artists. During the 1980s, he co-starred alongside his fellow Avenger and wife the Scarlet Witch (aka Wanda Maximoff, the twin sister of the Marvel hero known as Quicksilver) in a limited series penned by writer Bill Mantlo and penciler Rick Leonardi: Vision & The Scarlet Witch #1-4 (Nov. 1982-Feb. 1983) (Vision Bio: www.wikipedia.org). He is often referred to as having endured the Golden Age of Comics, as well as the Silver and Bronze Ages. However, his Modern Age publication persona involved his membership into Marvel's The Young Avengers, a series which ran for twelve issues (April 2005-August 2006).

This latest manifestation the Vision's character was somewhat of an escape from the original ideas of Roy Thomas, as it was revealed that he was an amalgamation of the old Vision's computer mainframe operating systems and the synthetic armor of Marvel's Iron Lad (aka Nathaniel Richards). Through a series of subsequent adventures, this younger version of the Vision would ultimately regain his own individuality, ridding himself of the Iron Lad's psyche within, and would eventually go on to join the organization known as S.H.I.E.L.D., headed by the eye patch-wearing super-agent Nick Fury (to be played by actor Samuel L. Jackson in the upcoming film).

With such interesting publication history and room for intergalactic adventures, Marvel directors and producers would do well to include the Vision in their cast for The Avengers live-action film. For now, the Internet Movie Database (www.imdb.com) lists the following actors/actresses and their respective characters in their lineup for this highly-anticipated release:

Scarlett Johansson: Natasha Romanoff/the Black Widow
Robert Downey Jr.: Tony Stark/Iron Man
Edward Norton: Bruce Banner/The Incredible Hulk (rumored)
Chris Hemsworth: the Mighty Thor
Samuel L. Jackson: Nick Fury
Don Cheadle: Colonel James Rhodes (rumored)
Lou Ferrigno: The Incredible Hulk (voice) (rumored)
Tom Hiddleston: Loki (rumored)

The film has been given an official release date of May 4, 2012.