7 Essential Marvel Comics To Read Before 'VisionQuest'

Published Oct 8, 2026, 11:36 AM EDT

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Of the numerous Disney+ Marvel Cinematic Universe shows, some of the most popular have been WandaVision and its sequel, Agatha All Along. Turns out, though, that's no duology. According to the trailer, the upcoming VisionQuest series is acting as a trilogy-capper to the story that began all the way back in 2021. Way back in the finale of WandaVision, Marvel Studios introduced a plot thread of a new, White Vision (Paul Bettany) being created. He escaped into the world and has not been seen since.

VisionQuest, however, is changing that and telling the story of this android and who he's going to become. With him spending his time in his own mind with the rest of the other artificial intelligences from the MCU, like Ultron (James Spader), Friday (Orla Brady), and more, this series is sure to be a tribute to the lovable robots of the MCU. More importantly, though, he comes across a young man named Thomas Shepherd (Ruaridh Mollica), a young man who might be—most definitely is—one of his once-thought-lost sons. Many MCU-only fans may not know that VisionQuest is actually taking a lot of inspiration from a good selection of comic books. If they're looking to get a taste of what's to come in the 2026 miniseries, these comics are definitely worth taking a look at.

Young Avengers #10 (2006)

Speed, Tommy Shepherd, looking confused in a detention facility in Marvel Comics

While this may initially seem like an off-the-wall pick, Young Avengers #10 (2006) has a ton of relevance to VisionQuest. This 2006 book shows the first real appearance of one of the Maximoff sons, Tommy Maximoff, aka Speed. With the new Disney+ series being the first introduction to the real-world Tommy in the MCU, fans are going to want to take a look at how he was brought to life in the comic books.

Young Avengers #10 (2006) follows two stories: Hulkling discovering his true heritage as a dual Kree and Skrull being, as well as the Young Avengers breaking Tommy out of a detention facility for juveniles to recruit him. They then go up against the Kree Army and the likes of Super-Skrull himself to save their fellow teammate. So, while this may not be anything like the actual story that will appear in VisionQuest, there's zero doubt they will most likely take some notes from Speed's characterization in this 2006 story. Plus, who knows? Maybe the MCU will be introducing the Young Avengers sometime soon, so a good read featuring this youthful team would be a good precursor to that possibility.

Avengers Assemble Annual #1 (2013)

Vision standing in a doorway smiling in Marvel Comics

While it may be an Avengers title, Avengers Assemble Annual #1 (2013) follows the story of Vision himself as he attempts to find peace amongst the chaos of his life. When the villain known as Sunturion reappears in the Avengers' lives, Vision takes the lead to stop him. This allows for some phenomenal character work for the Android Avenger that acts as a gigantic change in his status quo within the Marvel Comics universe.

As stated, the character work done on Vision during his conflict with Sunturion opened a lot of doors for the writer, Christos Gage. He drew multiple parallels between the villain and hero that allowed for deep character analysis of the artificial intelligence. Most importantly, this leads to Vision beginning his quest to reconnect with his sons, which is a major plot point—as already stated—in VisionQuest. One can only hope that in the Disney+ adventure, he manages to reconnect with Billy (Joe Locke), as well, and not just Tommy.

Avengers #57 (1968)

It is always important to know where a hero came from, even if they're now a copy of the original. Actually, it's clear in the trailer that White Vision is going to be looking back on the memories of the original Vision, watching his origins in his mind—literally in a fake movie theater. Therefore, it's a great idea for fans of the character to do their own look back on the origins of comic book Vision, which happens in Avengers #57 (1968).

When Vision makes his way to Avengers Headquarters and collapses, the team is beyond curious about what could be happening here. To make matters more complicated, they also happen to be in the middle of a conflict against the terrifying Ultron-5. It's established here that he's actually been sent by said villain to destroy the Avengers. However, he goes on to lead them to the mechanical madman's base and takes him on himself. With VisionQuest really honing in on Ultron being the "father" of Vision, Avengers #57 (1968) doesn't just act as an origin for the character, but the point at which he turns against said father, as well.

The Vision (1994–1995)

Vision flying away with Jocasta on his arm in Marvel Comics

When a character like Vision—aka someone less popular than the main Avengers—gets his own solo series, there's no doubt that they're going to get some awesome character development. That is most certainly the truth when it comes to the four-issue miniseries, The Vision. Pitting him up against Ultron again, bringing him face-to-face with the new Jocasta, and the comic "White Vision" called Anti-Vision, The Vision is a huge book for the hero. Everything here kicks off with Vision beginning to experience human-like dreams and, well, visions—pushing him to travel to New Orleans to discover more about his past and creation.

With this story including Anti-Vision, Jocasta, and Ultron all in one book, it's a great read before VisionQuest—all those characters being involved in the series in some way. MCU-only fans may not know who Jocasta is—played by T'Nia Miller in the show—so this isn't just a big book for Vision, but for her as well. Most importantly, The Vision deals with him gaining more autonomy, which is exactly what White Vision is experiencing in VisionQuest.

Collider Exclusive · 8 Questions · 2 Minutes Which MCU Character Is Your Best Friend? Steve Rogers · Tony Stark · Peter Parker · Shuri

Pick where you meet, what they text you at two in the morning, what they hand you on your birthday and what the two of you keep arguing about. Four very different people are waiting on the other side: the one who never leaves, the one who is exhausting and worth it, the one who replies in four seconds flat, and the one who will roast you and then fix your life.

🛡️Steve Rogers(Captain America)

🛠️Tony Stark(Iron Man)

🕸️Peter Parker(Spider-Man)

🐆Shuri(Black Panther)

FIND YOUR FRIEND →

Where do the two of you meet? Nobody in this universe makes a friend somewhere normal.

AIn a gym at six in the morning, where the two of you are the only people awake. BAt a party you were not really invited to, where they talked to you for an hour. CQueuing for coffee in Queens while something loud happens six blocks away. DIn a lab you had no clearance for, and they decided to let you stay.

NEXT QUESTION →

Your phone lights up at two in the morning. What does it say? You find out what kind of friend somebody is by what they send at that hour.

ANothing at all, because they are already outside, having heard you had a rough week. BFour hundred words about an idea they just had, plus a schematic you cannot read. CAn apology for texting so late, followed by a question that could have waited. DA meme aimed directly at you, sent with no context and absolutely no mercy.

NEXT QUESTION →

It is your birthday. What do they hand you? The present is never really about the present.

ASomething small they made themselves, handed over slightly awkwardly. BSomething absurd and expensive that fixes a problem you mentioned once, months ago. CA gift that clearly took months of saving, wrapped badly, with a long note inside. DAn upgrade to something you already owned, installed without asking you first.

NEXT QUESTION →

What does a good Saturday with them actually look like? Superheroes have days off, and this is how they spend them.

AA long walk, an old diner and a conversation you had both been avoiding. BWhatever they decide at noon, which somehow ends with you in another country. CBad takeaway and an old film on their couch, interrupted about eleven times. DTwo hours in a workshop, arguing about whether your idea would even work.

NEXT QUESTION →

You have your worst day in years. What do they do about it? This is the part of a friendship nobody puts in the trailer.

AThey sit next to you and say almost nothing until you are ready to talk. BThey throw money, noise and three terrible plans at it until one of them helps. CThey turn up with food, refuse to leave, and then check on you every day for a month. DThey tell you the honest version of it, which nobody else was willing to say.

NEXT QUESTION →

Every real friendship has one fight it keeps having. What is yours? The thing you argue about is usually the thing you like most about them.

AThey take risks with their own life that they would never let me take with mine. BThey vanish into work for weeks and expect me to be completely fine about it. CThey keep apologising for things that were never even slightly their fault. DThey are three steps ahead of me and do not always bother explaining why.

NEXT QUESTION →

The alarm goes off and you are both in the field. What is your job? You get one role on the team, and it says a lot about who you want next to you.

AHolding the front line so that everybody behind me gets out of the building. BDoing the thing nobody has a plan for yet, at speed, and inventing the rest. CGetting people off the street quietly before anyone realises we were there. DRunning everything from a screen and talking the rest of them through it.

NEXT QUESTION →

Ten years on, what do you want this friendship to be? Eight questions in, this is the one that decides who picks up the phone.

AExactly the same, because some people are simply permanent and that is the appeal. BLoud and complicated and worth every bit of the trouble it caused along the way. CStill the person I look out for, and still the first one who checks on me. DTwo people who keep each other sharp and never once get sentimental about it.

REVEAL MY BEST FRIEND →

The Line Is Ringing Your Best Friend Is…

Four people, four completely different ideas of what it means to have somebody in your corner. Here is who picked up, what they would ask of you, and what you would get back.

Steve Rogers

You want the friend who does not leave. Steve is the one who turns up at the door without being asked, who remembers what you said you were worried about, and who has never once made you audition for his attention.

His entire character is built on a single sentence, which is that he will not abandon somebody just because it has become expensive to keep them.
He is far funnier than people give him credit for, and the joke is almost always at his own expense rather than yours.
The friendship comes with a cost, since being close to Steve means being dragged into fights that were never yours and being glad about it later.
You would get a friend who tells you the hard thing to your face and then defends you to everybody else in the room.

Tony Stark

You want the friend who is genuinely exhausting and completely worth it. Tony will forget your birthday, then build you something at four in the morning that you did not know you needed, and hand it over as though it were nothing.

He is bad at saying the warm thing out loud, so he says it in hardware instead, which is why everybody around him ends up with upgraded everything.
Being his friend means putting up with the disappearing, the deflecting and the jokes that arrive about ninety seconds too early.
What you get in return is somebody who will spend an unreasonable amount of money and effort on a problem the moment it becomes yours.
He is the loudest person in the room and the one most likely to be quietly panicking about all of you.

Peter Parker

You want the friend who replies in four seconds and apologises for it. Peter is earnest in a way that is almost unfashionable, and he will take on far more than he can carry rather than admit that he is struggling.

He is the only one on this list who needs looking after as much as he looks after you, and that balance is exactly what makes it a real friendship.
Nobody in the MCU is better at the small stuff, from remembering the thing you were nervous about to showing up with food you did not ask for.
Spider-Man: Brand New Day arrived in July 2026 and put him back where he works best, which is broke, local and carrying the weight on his own.
You would get a friend who is sincerely, embarrassingly happy for you when something goes right, with no edge to it at all.

Shuri

You want the friend who insults your shoes, fixes your phone and then quietly rearranges your entire life for the better. Shuri does not do soft reassurance, and that is the reason you would believe her when she says you are fine.

She is the smartest person in almost any room she walks into and treats that as a reason to tease you rather than a reason to lecture you.
The teasing is the affection. When Shuri stops making fun of you, something has gone seriously wrong and you should probably ask her about it.
Her story is the one on this list that goes somewhere genuinely dark, which is what turned her from a scene stealer into the emotional centre of the films.
You would get a friend who never pities you, never softens the truth, and never once lets you take yourself too seriously.

↻ RETAKE THE QUIZ

Avengers: The Children's Crusade (2010–2012)

When Billy Kaplan—the other Maximoff child—begins to experience a spike in his power that rivals that of the Scarlet Witch, he and the Young Avengers seek her out to get help. Avengers: The Children's Crusade (2010) is the book in which Billy and Tommy discover that they are actually the reincarnated children of Wanda Maximoff. With this exact scenario happening right now in the MCU post-WandaVision, this is a pretty vital book to take a look at.

With it being unclear whether the young Tommy in VisionQuest knows the true origins of his power and, well, himself, this would be a good book to pick up. If Tommy discovers the truth within VisionQuest, they'll most likely take some inspiration from Avengers: The Children's Crusade. This shocking revelation is heart-wrenching as the sons reunite with their mother. This is also a big book for the universe in general, featuring the death of Scott Lang's daughter, Cassie Lang (also known as Stature).

Vision (2015–2016)

The Vision family standing in front of a house waving in Marvel Comics

The most famous Vision-centric book from Marvel Comics, without a doubt, is the likes of Vision (2015). For anyone who's already read it, it's already more than clear that VisionQuest is arguably taking the most inspiration from this book—visually, at the very least. In fact, WandaVision also took huge visual inspiration from this book, too. It's a critically acclaimed series that is beloved all across the board.

Wishing to live the typical American life—nuclear family, nice neighborhood, the works—Vision builds himself a family and moves into a suburban home. While the visuals may look happy and bright, the series actually does a very deep exploration of psychology, free will, grief, and more. One could almost say this was WandaVision before the series was ever conceived. With VisionQuest also taking major inspiration from Vision (2015), and the story having some of the best character work for Vision, this feels like a must-read at the very least. Not to mention, the vibes and visuals of this book are unforgettable, drawn by the iconic Gabriel Hernandez Walta.

West Coast Avengers #42–50 (1988–1989)

White Vision standing in front of Scarlet Witch in Marvel Comics

One of the most important and impactful White Vision stories in comics is easily West Coast Avengers #42–50 (1988–1989). This is pretty much the origin of exactly who White Vision is in the MCU. When he goes missing and is found to be completely dismantled by the government, Hank Pym manages to fix him, but his personality is fully wiped out, and he's colorless. These nine issues of West Coast Avengers (1985) are easily one of, if not the biggest turning points, in Vision's comic history.

This catalog of issues covers his slow recovery. However, he's not turning back into the exact same Vision he once was—but gaining personality again, nonetheless. This is about as close to VisionQuest as the comics have ever gotten, with the nine-issue story arc even being called "Vision Quest". This is a devastating moment in his comic book career, and his journey to gain personality once again is one that is abundantly compelling. It makes complete sense why Marvel Studios decided to take so much inspiration from this story arc for both WandaVision and VisionQuest.