Marvel Studios has tapped renowned executive producer Terry Matalas of "Star Trek: Picard" to breathe new life into the iconic synthezoid Vision, played by the talented Paul Bettany. The eagerly anticipated Disney+ series, currently untitled, is scheduled for a thrilling premiere in 2026, and Bettany will reprise his role with Matalas serving as the showrunner.
After Vision's tragic demise in the hands of Thanos in the 2018 blockbuster "Avengers: Infinity War," he made two remarkable returns in the groundbreaking 2021 series "WandaVision." First, he appeared as a spectral creation conjured by his beloved Wanda Maximoff (Elizabeth Olsen), a magical feat powered by her profound grief. Then, he returned as a rebuilt android, a nuts-and-bolts creation with a ghostly white hue and no recollection of his past life. In the thrilling finale of "WandaVision," the two Visions engaged in an epic battle, ultimately leading to Wanda's Vision restoring the memories of the ghostly Vision. However, Wanda ultimately allowed her Vision to fade into obscurity, leaving the ghost Vision to embark on a new journey of self-discovery.
Marvel's decision to bring in Matalas was firmly backed by his outstanding work on Season 3 of "Star Trek: Picard," which garnered widespread praise for reuniting the cast of "Star Trek: The Next Generation" and earning Matalas a WGA award nomination for the series finale in 2023. His impressive credentials and creative vision have greatly impressed the Marvel brass, including chief Kevin Feige, a self-confessed Trekkie, who recently appeared alongside Matalas on a two-hour episode of the popular "Star Trek" podcast "Inglorious Treksperts."
An earlier iteration of the Vision series was in the midst of development, helmed by the innovative mind of "WandaVision" creator Jac Schaeffer. However, Schaeffer's focus shifted to spearheading a separate spinoff titled "Agatha All Along," starring Kathryn Hahn, scheduled to debut in September. With the addition of Matalas to the team, this marks Marvel's first fresh live-action series acquisition in nearly two years, signaling a profound transformation in the company's approach to television production for Disney+.
Initially, Marvel adhered to a feature-film model, engaging head writers to conceive predetermined (and often pre-announced) shows, while vesting most leadership responsibilities in the hands of directors and creative executives. Recently, Brad Winderbaum, Marvel's head of streaming, television, and animation, revealed to Variety that starting in 2022, the company embarked on a shift to a more "traditional" approach to television, embracing a longer development cycle and reverting to hiring writer-producers to oversee the entire production as showrunners. Additionally, Marvel is undergoing a rebranding of its live-action TV output, renaming it Marvel Television, and scaling down its production output to approximately two shows per year, down from as many as four previously.
Prior to joining "Picard," Matalas was the creator and showrunner of the critically acclaimed Syfy series "12 Monkeys," produced by Universal Cable Productions, which ran for four exciting seasons. He also served as executive producer and showrunner for Season 4 of the CBS reboot of "MacGyver" and has contributed his writing talents to various other projects such as "Nightflyers," "Nikita," "Terra Nova," and "Star Trek: Enterprise." Moreover, Matalas has a penchant for restoring classic cars, having restored multiple "Back to the Future" DeLoreans that have made cameo appearances on "Jay Leno's Garage," Super Bowl commercials, and even the Academy Awards.
