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A vision of The Vision: An interview with Paul Bettany in Manila


 
 
Paul Bettany, the versatile British actor behind JARVIS and Vision in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, treated fans and the media to a candid panel discussion and press Q&A after the exclusive screening of clips from the upcoming "Captain America: Civil War".

Bettany was in Manila as a guest of the first Asia Pop Comic Con (APCC).
 
On what gets him to geek out
The consummate actor, Bettany revealed that he'd geek out over Robert de Niro. "He's one of the actors that inspired me to become an actor". When asked about comics and movies, Bettany declined to mention The Rival Company That Must Not Be Named. "You're all trying to get me into trouble, aren't you?", he laughed. But when pressed, he gave in and said "The Walking Dead". "I have this really irrational fear in life. My fear is that The Walking Dead will end. It keeps me awake at night. I love it so, so very much and I love everybody in it. I've been watching it since the beginning. I'm so frightened of a life without The’ Walking Dead’”.
 
On transitioning from JARVIS to Vision
The main difference? More work goes into being Vision. "For JARVIS, I go in the studio for two hours then leave with a bag of cash like a thief. For Vision, that was the first time I had to work for my money. Robert Downey Jr. laughed his ass off the first time I climbed into my Vision costume. And it's very difficult to go through the bathroom in."

 
On the differences between playing JARVIS and Vision
As what happens when you get in with a bunch of geeks, questions from the audience delved deeper into JARVIS and Vision as characters. "JARVIS is a servant. There's nothing servile about Vision. He's omnipotent but naive. He's dangerous."
 
Vision’s choice to be part of Team Tony for the Civil War was also explored."He [Vision] is with Tony because of logic. I don't think he knows anything about loyalty yet. He’s on his own journey of learning what being human is. The interesting thing and slightly dangerous thing about Vision is that because he works entirely logically until he discovers what it means to be human, his allegiance can flip if it's logical if he thinks the outcome is correct.”
 
On Vision's relationship with Tony Stark and Ultron
It’s pretty difficult to be between two quarrelling parents, especially when one of them is intent on world domination. “There's a good side and a bad side to most paternal relationships. Mine [Vision’s] just happens to be split between a really good guy who's a superhero and a really bad guy who's an evil supervillain.”
 
On who’d win in a fight: Vision or Iron Man?
Who’d win in a fight: an android in a vibranium body with the Mind Stone or  a genius billionaire playboy philanthropist?  "I can put my hand through a human being and rip his heart out. Just saying."
 
On if he could be any other Avenger, who would he be?
"Iron Man, definitely. My four year old daughter loves Robert Downey Jr. She loves Iron Man more than she does Vision. It's pretty humiliating." Sorry Paul.


 
On the fans and the future of the superhero genre
“I think the strength of the entire Marvel Universe and the company as a whole is that they are a company of fans. The people making the movies, from the bottom to (Marvel Studios president) Kevin Feige at the top, are fans. And so you feel like the object is very well-protected. Sitting there with thousands of fans screaming at the screen [during the exclusive screening of clips from Civil War] was really reassuring that we're not messing it up.”
 
“In the end, all of this shall pass. But I see no signs of it abating right now which is really good news for me! Culture goes through all sorts of fads but this is a really long one. I don't know when that's going to happen [the fad ending] but I hope it's not for many years.”
 
“Captain America: Civil War” is scheduled for release on May 6, 2016. — TJD, GMA News
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