Terry Matalas, the executive producer of “Star Trek: Picard,” has been enlisted by Marvel to bring Paul Bettany’s synthezoid character, Vision, back for a brand-new, unnamed Disney+ series that premieres in 2026. Matalas will be the showrunner, while Bettany will reprise her role.
Following his death at the hands of Thanos in 2018’s “Avengers: Infinity War,” Vision made two appearances in 2021’s “WandaVision.” The first time was as a spectral creation made by his beloved Wanda Maximoff (Elizabeth Olsen) using grief-fueled magic. The second appearance was that of a reconstructed, plain-jane android with a ghostly white appearance and no memory of his previous life.
Following the conflict between the two visions in the “WandaVision” finale, Wanda’s vision helped the ghost vision regain its memories before letting her own vision fade away. After those things happen, the new program will probably follow Ghost Vision as he investigates his newfound calling in life.
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Marvel appointed Matalas after the studio executives were very impressed with his work overseeing Season 3 of “Star Trek: Picard,” which brought back the cast of “Star Trek: The Next Generation” to worldwide praise and earned Matalas a nomination for a WGA award for the 2023 series finale. (Marvel Studios head Kevin Feige, a self-confessed Trekkie, even recently shared the stage with Matalas in a two-hour “Star Trek” podcast called “Inglorious Treksperts.”)
An earlier version of the Vision series was in development with “WandaVision” creator Jac Schaeffer, but Schaeffer turned his attention to a separate “WandaVision” spinoff, “Agatha All Along,” with Kathryn Hahn, which will premiere in September.
With Matalas on board, Marvel will have picked up its first new live-action series in over two years, marking a significant shift in how the business develops television for Disney+. Originally, Marvel used a feature approach, hiring head writers to develop preset (and sometimes already revealed) shows while delegating most management responsibilities to directors and creative executives.
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Marvel’s head of streaming, television, and animation, Brad Winderbaum, recently told Variety that, beginning in 2022, the company began to shift to a more “traditional approach” to TV, with a longer development period and a return to hiring writer-producers to oversee the entire production as show runners. The business is also renaming its live-action TV production as Marvel Television and limiting the number of series produced per year to about two, down from four.
Prior to “Picard,” Matalas was the creator and showrunner of the three-season Syfy series “12 Monkeys” for Universal Cable Productions. He also served as the executive producer and showrunner for Season 4 of the CBS adaptation of “MacGyver,” and he has written for “Nightflyers,” “Nikita,” “Terra Nova,” and “Star Trek: Enterprise.” He’s also refurbished many “Back to the Future” DeLoreans that have featured on “Jay Leno’s Garage,” Super Bowl ads, and Academy Awards.
Matalas is represented by CAA and Anonymous Content.
Bettany Returns for the 2026 Series with Matalas as Showrunner
It was in October 2022 when we learned that the Elizabeth Olsen and Paul Bettany-starring WandaVision would serve as a launching pad for a second spinoff, with Marvel Studios and Disney+ in development on a project that would focus on Bettany’s vision.
The series was set to focus on Bettany’s character’s efforts to regain her memories after the events of the original series and was to be overseen by WandaVision creator, writer, and executive producer Jac Schaeffer (Agatha All Along). ,
Less than two years later, Variety is reporting that a vision-centric series starring Bettany is set for the small screen in 2026—but with some big changes: Terry Matellas (Star Trek: Picard) has been brought on board as showrunner. Has been selected. Has been selected to work as. The new series, which is still expected to shed light on Vision’s personal journey after WandaVision,.
During an interview with Esquire in March 2021, Bettany made it clear that he was enjoying his time with Marvel Studios and the MCU and saw himself playing Vision for some time to come. “I frequently hear individuals who haven’t watched the movies argue that the Marvel superhero films are always the same. And they’re really not. They’re self-consciously different.
The idea is for people who haven’t seen them [and] who remember ’80s superhero movies and whatever success they had in replicating a formula,” Bettany said during the interview about the themes and approaches in the MCU. Said in defense of diversity.
The success stems from the fact that they were created by people who liked this very rich source material. We managed to create a TV show that celebrates the golden age of American television and is also about grief. I think it’s so funny and weird, and it’s a great thing to be a part of, the actor said, explaining what sets WandaVision apart from the rest of the MCU.