The ship of Theseus is a fun thought experiment. For those of you who don't know what the ship of Theseus is, it involves the ship the ancient Greek hero Theseus used to sail to the rescue of the people's children from the Minotaur. He was successful, and the ship was kept by the people as a way to remember and honor him over time. However, as time passed, the ship's parts have all been replaced again and again due to natural wear and tear, which raises the question: Is this still the ship of Theseus?
It's a question that's been attached to a Marvel character in the MCU named Vision, a plot thread Disney/Marvel dropped for a while but only recently picked back up.
To say that I had any hope that Disney would deliver anything worth watching lately is like saying I had hope that my dog would learn how to cook me an excellent dinner. At best, I'm going to get a slobbery chew toy and a half-eaten strawberry. Both will be covered in his hair.
But after watching the previews for "VisionQuest," Marvel's latest Disney+ show, which promised to conclude the Vision storyline, I couldn't help but be intrigued and decided I would give the show a shot.
I won't get too far into the storyline at this point because it's not important and most of you won't care anyway. Suffice it to say that Vision is a philosophical character with immense power who, through a complicated set of events, has a son who is in peril. Vision's issue is that he has a disconnect from the son because, technically, it's his son through a metaphysical occurrence that happened to a previous version of himself that died when Thanos, the last big bad, killed him. Being a robot, his body was rebuilt and his personality restored, but not his memories or his connections.
So the "ship of Theseus" question usually follows him around. Is this Vision or not? What I was blown away by was Disney's response to the question, because it comes right out of a C.S. Lewis playbook. Something I didn't expect because I didn't think Disney/Marvel was capable of deep thought anymore, and even then, I didn't think it was capable of directly rejecting modern thought in the process.
Yet, this show does it, and it does it in one spectacular scene.
The antagonist of this show made it clear to Vision that he has his son, and if he wants to save him, he's going to have to come show up and rescue him himself. Vision told him previously that he has no connection to this man, yet the antagonist rightly concludes that Vision is too moral an entity to let that pass, and having a son will likely be something that helps him find his direction, which Vision has been struggling with due to being someone he's technically not yet, still inheriting his identity from.
The scene in question shows Vision talking to Ultron, the big bad from "Avengers: Age of Ultron," and an entity that Vision technically derives from in part. Ultron delivers something like an anti-Screwtape piece of advice that actually encourages Vision to — and I can't believe I'm saying this about a Disney show — disregard his identity and act. Ultron makes it clear it doesn't matter if he's the ship of Theseus, and that it's a stupid question anyway. Vision is Theseus, not the ship, so be the king, not a boat.
This is actually solid writing from Disney for a change. I’m enjoying this show despite bracing myself for the sudden drop. https://t.co/ToHb5Q9nQp
— Brandon Morse (@TheBrandonMorse) October 17, 2026
Identity means very little. Stop wondering about who or what you are. Stop getting hung up on trivialities that ultimately don't mean anything.
Act. It's what you do that matters, not who or what you are.
You could have knocked me down with a feather. A mainstream show telling us to disregard identity and do the right thing? Is this the same company that created "She-Hulk: Attorney at Law"?
When did they get so Lewisian?
In Lewis's Screwtape Letters, this is one of the very things Screwtape attempts to help his nephew Wormwood, a junior tempter, understand. Keep your target from acting by continuously questioning and over-analyzing his identity or status. "Let him do anything but act."
"The great thing is to prevent his doing anything. As long as he does not convert it into action, it does not matter how much he thinks about this new repentance. Let the little brute wallow in it. Let him, if he has any bent that way, write a book about it; that is often an excellent way of sterilising the seeds which the Enemy plants in a human soul. Let him do anything but act.”
I'm not going to sit here and tell you that Disney intentionally meant for this to be that kind of moment. I'm not going to put money on the idea that Disney suddenly found its old moral compass and is writing its scripts with that foundational belief. I'm fully ready to believe that this was a total accident.
But this is probably one of the better scenes — and I'd actually say one of the better shows — I've seen from the mainstream entertainment industry... so far. I'm still waiting for the show to bait-and-switch its quality for the message. If it doesn't, I'll be surprised and will be the first to sing this show's praises.
But I can't tell you how refreshing it is to see this kind of thought in a show again.
I can't believe I'm going to say this, but well done, Disney.
