‘Avengers 2′ – Who is Vision?

By now, we're sure you've heard the news that Paul Bettany has been cast as Vision in 'Avengers 2.' We've had a lot of people ask us, "Wait, wasn't he already the voice of JARVIS in the 'Iron Man' movies? Is this the same character? Something different?" It does get a little complicated, so we're here to help explain exactly who Vision is.

Vision is described as a "synthetic humanoid" in the comics, which basically means he's an android designed in the human form. It's not unlike a Terminator, but significantly more advanced than the old T-800.

Vision was created by Ultron (the main villain in 'Avengers 2' who will be played by James Spader), with the idea that Vision would assist him in destroying The Avengers. His human form was designed after the Human Torch, but considering the Human Torch doesn't exist in the 'Avengers' universe, we're guessing this is where JARVIS comes in, but more on that in a bit.

Ultron implanted a "control crystal" in Vision that keeps him subservient, but eventually Vision is able to fight past the mental control of Ultron and saw that The Avengers are fighting for good. He betrayed his creator and joins the Avengers in their fight against him, becoming a crucial ally and a frequent member of the superhero team, even striking up a romantic relationship with Scarlet Witch (to be played by Elizabeth Olsen).

In the comics, Ultron is created by Hank Pym, the original Ant-Man. While Pym will be played by Michael Douglas in 'Ant-Man,' Joss Whedon has confirmed that neither Pym nor the modern day Ant-Man, Scott Lang (Paul Rudd), will appear in 'Avengers 2,' leading many to assume that it will be Tony Stark who accidentally creates Ultron. Building off that assumption and the casting of Paul Bettany, we can surmise that in 'Avengers 2,' Ultron uses the JARVIS A.I. from Stark's lab to power Vision and later, it will be JARVIS' loyalty to Stark that breaks the control crystal (Vision would later extract the control crystal from his mind).

Though he's a humanoid, Vision is still a functioning replica of the human form, including almost all anatomy and organs, including blood and living tissue. The only difference being he was created by Ultron to be exponentially stronger and faster than the traditional human and has the ability of flight. His other powers include the ability to create holograms, energy manipulation, supersonic hearing and solar energy beams that shoot from the crystal on his forehead and measure 500 to 30,000 degrees Fahrenheit.

While the film is called 'Avengers: Age of Ultron,' it's important to remember that is in title only and both Marvel and Whedon have confirmed that this will be an original story, not based on "Age of Ultron" comic arc from 2013. (Whedon says he loved the villain and liked the title and just about everything else will be his own creation.)

'Avengers 2' opens in theaters on May 1, 2015.