Once Paladin takes a job in VisionQuest, an unbreakable contract binds him to it. Played by Todd Stashwick, he belongs to a centuries-long line of hunters who pursue the highest bidder’s targets, killing heroes and villains alike. Now he’s hunting Vision.
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VisionQuest fuses Marvel Comics and Star Wars to create a new villain
“The Boba Fett of the Marvel Universe” is how creator and showrunner Terry Matalas has described Paladin. It’s a Star Wars comparison, not a crossover: the series gives a Marvel mercenary a hunter tradition that his sparse comic-book backstory never established.
At the start of VisionQuest, Vision (Paul Bettany) has taken a job in an Edinburgh pub while he works out who he is after WandaVision’s strange events. Between attempts at socializing, he sifts through memories he can’t quite connect with and meets other AIs in a digital mind palace. That quiet routine ends when Paladin leads a hit squad into the pub and they kill Vision’s kind boss. The assault opens an elaborate operation to capture the former Avenger, prompting Vision and his allies to investigate their attacker.
Who is Paladin in Marvel Comics?
Paladin made his comic-book debut in 1977, on Gil Kane’s cover for Daredevil issue 150. The cover announced: “Some call him hero. Some call him villain. He’s Paladin, the man-stalker without equal! And Daredevil is his prey!”
Inside, Jim Shooter follows the classic Marvel team-up pattern: a fight comes before the realization that both characters are on the same side. Someone has hired Paladin to track down Kilgrave, the mind-controlling villain also known as the Purple Man, and Daredevil is looking for him too. Their clash eventually gives way to an exchange of information about their shared target.
Across subsequent comic runs, Paladin became an honorable anti-hero who still insists on payment. He has partnered with Spider-Man and the Avengers, joined Heroes for Hire, and handled work for S.H.I.E.L.D. His client list isn’t exclusively heroic, though: it also includes the Hellfire Club, along with contracts to hunt Elektra and the Punisher.
How is Paladin different in VisionQuest?
The comics left much of Paladin’s past unexplored, giving Matalas room to establish the lineage and contractual rules described above. The show’s hunter also has a particular distinction in his approach: he’ll kill anyone who crosses him, yet hates collateral damage.
His resources matter more than superhuman abilities here. Comic-book Paladin has enhanced strength, speed, and durability, whereas the screen version doesn’t seem to have superpowers. Instead, he relies on a very impressive arsenal, access to plenty of mercenaries, and immense technical knowledge. Those resources let him trap Vision and fire adamantium bullets capable of damaging the android’s vibranium body.
Diane Morgan plays his unnamed superhacker ally, who helps locate Vision and capture Tommy (Ruaridh Mollica), Vision’s reincarnated son.
Because Paladin and the hacker are never shown together in one room, Polygon’s Samantha Nelson suspects the ally could herself be an AI, comparable to F.R.I.D.A.Y. (Orla Brady) or E.D.I.T.H. (Emily Hampshire). Nelson’s theory is that their conversations show the hacker’s virtual form, much like the figures in Vision’s mindscape. That remains an interpretation, not a confirmed explanation.
Who is Paladin working with?
Whoever commissioned the hunt appears to have kept their identity from both Paladin and his ally. Breaking into Paladin’s secure communications demonstrates the employer’s considerable hacking skill, while their instructions leave no doubt about one requirement: they want Vision alive.
Paladin assumes S.W.O.R.D. hired him because the communication used one of its satellites. In his account, the intelligence agency wants Vision back after putting considerable effort into rebuilding him following his death at Thanos’ hands.
Nelson considers that explanation possible but is skeptical. Plenty of organizations and villains could want Vision, she argues, and knowledge of the Ultron (James Spader) backup he carries could give still more of them a reason to capture him.
The backup inside Vision already tipped Paladin off to his hiding place. Nelson suggests that another Ultron backup, located elsewhere, might have commissioned the hunt. Vision is trying to understand himself after his body and consciousness were fragmented; perhaps Ultron similarly wants access to Vision’s mind so he can put himself back together.
If that theory proves correct, completing Paladin’s assignment could have disastrous consequences for the whole world.
