'VisionQuest' Sets Up Another Key Young Avenger Before 'Secret Wars'
VisionQuest ( 2026) is set to be the last big MCU story before Avengers: Doomsday (2026) hits the big screen, with another Young Avenger already teased to make his formal debut in the show. The VisionQuest trailer released at D23 2026 included plenty of robotic returns, including a new appearance from Ultron. Another character of massive importance in the trailer is seemingly Tommy Shepard, played by Ruaridh Mollica.
Teased as a major point of emotional contention for Vision in the show, Tommy is one of his reincarnated sons with Wanda Maximoff. Similar to his brother Billy, Tommy’s age change is a central mystery of the story and could end with a new young hero being present in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Given the way the Young Avengers have been steadily introduced in this era, it seems like the franchise is adding one more potential recruit ahead of the next Avengers films.
Tommy: Vision And Scarlet Witch's Other Son, Explained
Tommy Shepard is one of the two sons of Vision and the Scarlet Witch. In the comics, Tommy and Billy were seemingly lost to Mephisto as infants but reborn in the modern day. After being broken out of juvie by the Young Avengers, Tommy becomes a dedicated member of the team and forms a bond with his brother, Wiccan. As in WandaVision (2021), Tommy has a degree of superspeed that matches his uncle, Pietro Maximoff, aka Quicksilver.
Whereas Wiccan has become a more prominent character in the core Marvel Comics universe even after the first volume of Young Avengers concluded, Tommy has become much more of a supporting character. He was a kidnapping victim in the second volume of Young Avengers, was established as bisexual thanks to his romantic dynamic with X-Men student Prodigy, and was an occasional background player in larger crossovers. This is actually probably for the benefit of the MCU version, who doesn’t necessarily have to replicate the snarky juvie attitude of his comics counterpart.
How Does Tommy Fit Into The MCU?
After the concluding chapter of the Vision and Scarlet Witch-centric storyline that played out across WandaVision, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022), and Agatha All Along (2024), VisionQuest could make for a good chance to establish a new young hero for the franchise. Up to this point, Tommy has only been seen in WandaVision as a child. Although that child was seemingly erased by the end of that show, Agatha All Along confirmed that his brother, Billy, had actually survived and had maintained his magical abilities.
The trailer for VisionQuest shows a more restrained young man than the snarky teen that was introduced in the comics, playing a more important role in solidifying Vision’s humanity and future in the franchise. This could even potentially be more in line with Vision’s daughter Viv than his comics version. A synthesis of the pair could give Tommy a bit more staying power than in the comics, where Speed is the least developed/focused on character among Vision’s three children.
It’s not hard to see him, whether with super speed or more mechanical capabilities, fitting into whatever Young Avengers team has been getting set up in the modern MCU. There’s also his romance with the X-Men-adjacent Prodigy, which could give him a natural connection to the incoming X-Men corner of the MCU.
Could Tommy Join The Young Avengers?
There are a couple of big questions about Tommy’s odds of joining the Young Avengers. The team has been informally introduced in the form of Ms. Marvel and Hawkeye’s friendship, with other young heroes like Ironheart, Stature, America Chavez, and Wiccan all poised to join any such team. If Tommy has either super speed like in WandaVision, he’d be an easy fit for the group. Even without those powers, whatever experiences he picks up after helping contend with Ultron and discovering the identity of his father could be useful.
VisionQuest being among the last MCU releases before Doomsday adds extra reasons to bring him in, even if just because audiences will be recently familiar with him. Tommy is a fun character in the comics, even potentially taking on the role of Quicksilver from his deceased uncle as a means of finally paying the long-dead speedster his due. Tommy’s potential importance gives MCU fans extra incentive to watch VisionQuest, especially as it leads directly into Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars (2027).
