Paul Bettany: From Voice to Vision

To many fans of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the name Paul Bettany does not ring a bell. For those unfamiliar with the actor, don’t question whether you have seen all of the movies. Paul Bettany goes by several other names in the franchise. What started as a voice acting role as Jarvis to the iconic, infinity stone wielding Vision, Bettany has had a long career full of turns.

 

Bettany was born in Harlesden, London, England, into a creative family. His mother and grandmother were retired actresses while his grandfather was a musician and promoter. To top it all off, his older sister is a writer. He first came to the attention of mainstream audiences when he appeared in the British film Gangster No. 1 (2000), and director Brian Helgeland’s film A Knight’s Tale (2001). He has gone on to appear in a wide variety of films, including A Beautiful Mind (2001), Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (2003), Dogville (2003), Wimbledon (2004), and the adaptation of the novel The Da Vinci Code (2006). 

 

INSIDER spoke with Bettany about how he landed the role of Vision in 2015 during press for Avengers: Age of Ultron. “I had just had a meeting with a producer, who will remain nameless, who told me that my career was over. He said ‘You’re done, you’re done in this town,'” Bettany told BBC Radio 1 of a shouting match he had at the time. “My phone rang and it was [‘Age of Ultron’ director] Joss Whedon and he said, ‘Do you want to play the Vision in the next ‘Avengers’ movie?'” Bettany said. He immediately accepted the offer, and just like that, his career was back on track. Perhaps the movie where he served the greatest importance, Bettany’s Vision was an integral part of Avengers Infinity War. As Thanos was collecting the six infinity stones, one of which being in Vision’s head, the two had a battle resulting in Vision’s death. While this was sad for fans worldwide, Bettany had made an impressive 20 million dollars up until this point in his career, which seemed like the end of his journey in the MCU.

 

Disney+ seemed to pull Bettany back into the universe. WandaVision, a hit show in 2020, saw the return of Bettany and even gave him the chance to star as himself for a couple of episodes. This show has been widely proclaimed as one of the best things Marvel has made, and in the end, directors have left room for Bettany to return. Appearing in the final two episodes of the series, White Vision was created by SWORD as a weapon made from the original Vision’s parts. He was initially a foe, but an existential discussion with the true Vision gave him a new purpose. White Vision was last seen flying off to parts unknown, and his future in the MCU remains up in the air. Fans patiently await the next appearance of Bettany’s character, as each appearance is more thrilling than the last.