Captain America Civil War: Paul Bettany on Vision's love for Scarlet Witch

[SPOILER ALERT: This article discusses plot points from Captain America: Civil War. Read on only if you have seen the film.]

He’s a synthetic being with a mind stone in his forehead. She’s been described as a “walking nuclear bomb.” Sounds like the perfect couple to us! Well, maybe not, but there was definitely a connection being forged between the Vision and Scarlet Witch in Captain America: Civil War.

We discussed that relationship with the man who plays Vision, Paul Bettany, when he stopped by Entertainment Weekly Radio (SiriusXM, channel 105). We started by asking about Vision’s sudden interest in cooking, which is somewhat curious considering he does not, you know, eat.

“I think he has a real connection with Scarlet Witch,” says Bettany. “They both have these new burgeoning powers that they don’t understand, and they don’t know how powerful they are, and that must be kind of scary. And so I think he’s worried that they’re both dangerous. So he feels this real connection with her. And she’s a bit of a depressive at the moment so he’s just trying to cook for her.”

But how is this new synthetic being comprehending emotions like love? “He has logic in abundance,” says Bettany. “And logic does not afford any room for loyalty. New information could come to light and he might flip to Captain America’s side. But love solidifies things and provides loyalty. So if he’s there to protect mankind — or frankly, the universe — he needs to figure out what’s good about these creatures, and I think that’s the quest that you find him on. And, of course, in the comics, the relationship becomes romantic. We’ll see moving forward what happens for Vision and Wanda.”

But Vision is still clearly getting a handle on the whole l-o-v-e thing, as Bettany notes. “You see him in the first movie, he’s born. He’s omnipotent, but he’s incredibly naïve. And in this movie he’s kind of beginning to take a more paternal role in the superhero family, and he’s growing at an exponential rate, and by the end of the movie he has a real emotion and real human reaction and he makes first mistake that he’s ever made.”

Ah, indeed: The Mistake. He’s referring to that big Avengers face-off scene at the airport where Team Iron Man and Team Cap face off in all their superhero glory. Distracted by his newfound feelings for Scarlet Witch, Vision takes a shot at Falcon, but ends up hitting — and paralyzing — War Machine instead. So what happened there?

“What happened there is that his judgment was clouded there by real love and affection,” says Bettany. “And he responded in a quick and thoughtless way.… I really love that the moral compass of the movie is this synthetic person who’s trying to figure out what it means to be human. It’s a neat idea, you know?”

We’ll see how this mistake and Vision’s adaption to human emotions impacts both the character and the team around him moving forward. To hear more from Bettany on the Vision–Scarlet Witch connection check out the SoundCloud clip above.