Is VisionQuest’s Client the man who inspired Ultron’s human form? The Jocasta clue explained

VisionQuest episode 7 may have dropped a clue linking the Client’s mysterious past to the man who inspired Ultron’s human form, and we all missed it.

While Tony Stark and Bruce Banner created Ultron in Avengers: Age of Ultron, the Disney+ series suggests that the technology behind him has much older roots.  In the penultimate episode, we find out that Jocasta’s former human identity, Dr Josephine Carrington, once worked on artificial intelligence technology with a mysterious man. He was also her romantic partner, and he looks exactly like Ultron’s human avatar, played by James Spader.

But during one of Jocasta’s recovered memories, the man says, “Peace in our time.” It’s the same phrase Ultron uses in Avengers: Age of Ultron.

So, was Ultron based on this man in more ways than just his appearance? Could the human scientist’s ideas have influenced the artificial intelligence that eventually became one of the Avengers’ biggest enemies?

It’s not confirmed, but the episode gives us a few reasons to consider the possibility.

Ultron’s origins could go further back than Tony Stark and Bruce Banner

When Ultron first appeared in Avengers: Age of Ultron, his creation was tied to Tony Stark and Bruce Banner’s attempt to develop a global peacekeeping programme using the Mind Stone.

But VisionQuest introduces an earlier chapter in the MCU’s artificial intelligence history. Jocasta’s recovered memories reveal that Josephine Carrington worked with a research partner on foundational AI technology. Their work was eventually sold to Stark Industries, which is an important connection considering what Tony would go on to create.

The series also introduces Phineas Horton, the scientist responsible for creating J.I.M., the original Human Torch, back in 1939. His experiments show that people were attempting to create artificial life decades before Stark and Banner began their work.

Basically, the MCU is showing us that the technology behind its most important AIs didn’t just appear out of nowhere. Now that’s where Jocasta’s ex becomes interesting because he was involved in the research that helped establish the foundations of later AI technology. His connection to Ultron could therefore be much bigger than a shared appearance.

Was Ultron based on more than just his human appearance?

The episode makes a clear connection between the mysterious scientist and Ultron’s human avatar. But the more interesting question is whether their connection extends to Ultron’s thinking. After all, the man doesn’t just look like Ultron. He also uses a phrase that has become closely associated with the villain.

In Avengers: Age of Ultron, the AI believes that destroying humanity is the only way to achieve lasting peace. His interpretation of that idea is obviously twisted, but he genuinely sees himself as a solution to humanity’s problems.

Now, consider what happens in Jocasta’s memory. Her ex-partner says, “Peace in our time.”

It suggests that the idea of peace was already part of the human man’s thinking before Ultron existed. Could this be a clue that Ultron inherited some of his beliefs from the person whose appearance he adopted?

It’s certainly possible. If the man’s work and ideas influenced the AI technology that eventually reached Stark Industries, some of his thinking could have found its way into Ultron’s programming.

The episode establishes the connection between the man, Jocasta and the early AI research, but it doesn’t confirm that Ultron inherited his personality or philosophy directly from him.

What does the human scientist have to do with Vision and Jocasta?

Well, the Client doesn’t just want Vision. He also approaches Jocasta and offers to restore her missing memories. Both characters have something the Client appears to need. 

There’s a possibility that the Client wants to use Vision’s body and Jocasta’s recovered memories to complete the original AI project he developed with Josephine. If that’s correct, his interest in the two characters could be connected to unfinished work from his past. But his exact intentions remain unknown, and the series has yet to explain what he ultimately wants to achieve.

So, the Client could be the mysterious man from Jocasta’s past, but the episode hasn’t confirmed this.

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