Last year, io9 was able to speak with Paul Bettany, who plays the Vision, and Elizabeth Olsen, who plays Wanda/Scarlet Witch, about their characters’ romance in Avengers: Infinity Arc. Bettany previewed the way that his character will be affected by Thanos’s quest (spoiler alert: badly), and Olsen spoke about the opportunity to do such an “emotional arc” in a superhero film.
Both actors emphasized the importance of romance for their characters’ arcs. “Vision’s been on this quest to understand what being human is,” Bettany said, “and I think Scarlet Witch, in a large degree, helped him figure that out and what love is.”
Olsen also said that having Vision by her side makes the conflict more personal for Wanda. “This is definitely the most emotional arc I’ve done in an Avengers film, that’s for sure,” she said. “… It just feels like you have something really specific to work with all the time. That feels nice. There’s an anchor point to everything, which is what you’re constantly looking for when you’re doing these movies. … You have your partner, your life partner with you by your side, and that creates a different kind of stakes, as well.”
(Quick aside, but … “The most emotional arc?” Wanda, what about your brother?)
Of course, it isn’t going to be valentines and hearts for Wanda and the Vision. Thanos is on a quest for the Infinity Stones, and Vision unfortunately has one lodged in his head. As io9 and other sites have reported, Vision’s injuries are what first bring the Avengers to Wakanda looking for help—injuries we can pretty safely assume arose when Thanos tried to remove the stone. “It’s gonna be kind of a significant arc,” Bettany said, “’cause I got one of the stones in my head …. These bad guys are trying to get the stone out of my head, and so Wanda and I fought them off, and then we’ve ended up here [in Wakanda] for surgery. I always get confused on how much we can talk about, like are we allowed to explain what we try and do in Shuri’s lab?”
Marvel’s publicist gave the expected answer: “No.”
Now, I’ll be honest. This is definitely not the subplot I was hoping they’d spend much time on. I have no doubt that Wanda and the Vision have their shippers—and you do you, TMSers who enjoy this pairing. But even after two films, I couldn’t invest myself in these two and their relationship. In part, the obvious visual age difference between Paul Bettany and Elizabeth Olsen kept weirding me out, especially since all the other characters kept calling her a “kid” and referencing how she could “go back to high school.” No, thanks. I also didn’t get a real sense of chemistry or connection in their scenes. As a result, I don’t feel like this relationship is going to make Vision’s potential death more meaningful or poignant for me.
And given how stuffed with sub-plots and jammed with characters this film will be, I’d rather the Infinity War team spent their screentime on something else. As always, though, I’m willing to be surprised.
What do you all think, though?
(via io9; image: screengrab of Marvel Entertainment/Walt Disney Studio’s trailer)
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