Despite portraying one of Marvel’s most celebrated’s heroes, Vision actor Paul Bettany has very rarely been seen on-screen within the MCU in his most human form, and that was after establishing his voice-only role as J.A.R.V.I.S. The Brit will be front and center for the upcoming Marvel series VisionQuest, both a spiritual and direct continuation of WandaVision, and everyone amped up to watch his latest performance can apparently thank a seldomly namechecked 2011 box office flop.
VisionQuest is hitting the 2026 TV schedule in October, more than 15 years after the release of Scott Stewart’s 2011 action-horror Priest, in which Bettany plays a theocracy-backed vampire killer with a cross smack-dab in the middle of his face. Despite its stacked cast — the callsheet also included Karl Urban, Maggie Q, Christopher Plummer and more — Priest earned much critical scorn and only grossed $29.1 million domestically, less than twice that of its $14.9 million opening weekend. (It made $79 million worldwide against a $60 million budget.)
For all that it isn’t remembered so fondly outside of a dedicated fanbase, Priest apparently has the distinction of being a catalyst for Joss Whedon casting Paul Bettany as Vision casting, which the actor explained in an episode of Happy, Sad, Confused (via YouTube). In his words:
That was Joss [who wanted me to be Vision]. Actually, that’s a pretty great story, ‘cause I’d made a movie called Priest, and it had tanked…. There may be many reasons why Priest tanked, but one of them was, it was supposed to come out in January. And [the studio] had a problem with Green Lantern, and they realized they would lose less money if they put Green Lantern in our spot and us in Green Lantern’s spot. And then we came out between Thor and something else.
At the time, it was reported that Priest also pushed its January premiere date back to provide the time needed to convert the film into 3D, with the idea that the format upgrade would be the ticket to bringing in audiences. With Bettany's comments, it sounds like Green Lantern's 3D appeal was part of the reason why Sony went all in on the post-production conversion.
It was a tough landscape for a movie trying to play into superheroic characters without being either a Christopher Nolan movie or one of Marvel's Phase One releases. But if nothing else, it gave Bettany a cinematic platform where his action and stunt talents could be witnessed by others, such as Marvel head honcho Kevin Feige. Arguably the best
Landing Vision understandably helped Bettany's state of mind at a time when he felt the brunt of Priest's lack of impact as a summer release.
You’re sitting there, unable to get hired, ‘cause you’ve been in this film that’s tanked. And then, when Joss Whedon asked me to do it, I found out, when he talked it through with Kevin [Feige] and co., they were like, ‘Yeah, I mean, he’s fun, and we’ve really enjoyed working with him, but can he play a superhero?’ And they showed him Priest.
Certainly, Bettany was already of known value to Feige & Co. for his work as J.A.R.V.I.S. in the Iron Man movies and The Avengers, but more for his soothing voice than his robotic innards. If not for Priest, WandaVision might not exist, and that just isn't a reality I want to get used to.
Priest doesn’t seem to be available to watch on any major streaming platforms at the moment, while Ryan Reynolds’ Green Lantern can be viewed via HBO Max subscription. But I guess Bettany came out ahead in the end, considering he’ll be reprising Vision to head up his own TV show 15 years after Priest, while the same can’t be said for the actor and DC hero. (Case in point: Lanterns’ newest trailer dropped.)
Get your peepers on VisionQuest when it lands on streaming via Disney+ subscription on Wednesday, October 14.
