Todd Stashwick Wants ‘VisionQuest’ Villain Paladin to Join the Thunderbolts
Every Marvel series seems to leave behind at least one character fans want to see again. In ‘VisionQuest‘, that character is Paladin, the relentless bounty hunter chasing Vision across the season. The actor playing him already has an idea about where he should go next.
Todd Stashwick plays Paladin, a mercenary hired by a mysterious Client to hunt down and capture Paul Bettany’s synthezoid. He debuted in the October 14 premiere and quickly became one of the series’ standout additions. Even though he works as a villain, the show has also given him a strict moral code, including a firm rule against harming civilians.
In a recent interview, Stashwick said he would love to see Paladin join the Thunderbolts in the MCU. He joked that the hired gun would fit right in with that crew, saying “He would fit right in with that group of miscreants.” The comment plays on the team’s identity, which has been built around flawed operatives with complicated pasts.
Marvel hasn’t announced any plans for the character beyond the series, so for now his wish remains just that. His fate in the finale will likely decide whether he has a future in the franchise at all.
The pitch has deep roots in the comics. Paladin first appeared in a 1978 issue of ‘Daredevil’ under the name Paul Denning, and he has been a guest star across the Marvel universe ever since. He has also served on teams including Heroes for Hire, Silver Sable’s Wild Pack and the Thunderbolts.
During the ‘Dark Reign’ era, Norman Osborn created a secret Thunderbolts strike team and hired Paladin in ‘Thunderbolts’ #129 by Andy Diggle, Roberto De La Torre and Carlos Magno. He joined alongside Yelena Belova, Ghost, Ant-Man (Eric O’Grady) and Headsman, and two of those characters, Yelena and Ghost, are part of the MCU’s version of the team.
The ‘VisionQuest’ take on the character differs from his comic origins. The series reimagines Paladin as a mantle passed down through a lineage of elite assassins, which gives him an honor-bound, grounded background. That reframing suggests he was designed to fit beyond a single series.
Stashwick has described him as a cracked mirror of Vision, shaped by a father who didn’t want him and a new father forged out of violence. He also said the character was modeled after Boba Fett, which fits a bounty hunter who plays by his own rules.
Critics and viewers have responded to the performance. Den of Geek praised Stashwick for giving the character more personality and edge than his comic counterpart, turning one of Marvel’s more forgettable villains into something genuinely cool.
His arc has also deepened as the season went on. In episode 6, Paladin protects Tommy and Lisa when Raza shoots Vision, and Vision heals him afterward, which marks a shift in their relationship. That mix of menace and loyalty is exactly what the Thunderbolts have built their identity on.
The new trailer for ‘THUNDERBOLTS*’ has been released. In theaters on May 2. https://t.co/gVqRvwoZ1k
— DiscussingFilm (@DiscussingFilm) February 9, 2025
For Stashwick, joining Marvel is a reunion of sorts. The ‘VisionQuest’ showrunner is Terry Matalas, who worked with him on ‘Star Trek: Picard’, where Stashwick played the cranky Captain Liam Shaw in the third season. He has also appeared in ’12 Monkeys’, and he grew up reading comic books, so Paladin was a character he knew from the edges of the Marvel world.
He revealed the role alongside Matalas at a Star Trek convention in Las Vegas last year, and confirmed it on Instagram with a 1978 Paladin comic. That fan-first attitude helps explain why he is so eager to see the character grow.
‘VisionQuest’ has two episodes left, with episode 7 arriving on November 3 and the finale on November 10. How Paladin’s story ends will determine whether Marvel can use him elsewhere. If he survives, a mercenary with super strength, no fixed loyalty and a Thunderbolts history is exactly the type of morally gray professional the studio loves to recruit.
Would you like to see him join the team?
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