Listen, I’m gonna talk about how Vision is a person and how much I Do Not Get how people have trouble accepting this.

This is a character who has like four separate scenes in Age of Ultron alone dedicated to establishing his personhood. The Avengers Tower scene to establish that the hammer really does judge worthiness, there’s Scarlet Witch reading him to establish his mind is definitely like a human being, we have Vision declaring himself an individual, we have Vision lifting the hammer and establishing Mjolnir has judged him a worthy person.

“BUT WAIT THERE’S THAT THING ABOUT HOW HE’S BASICALLY AN ELEVATOR, BASICALLY”

NO. You have bad narrative comprehension! Your English teacher failed you! Putting aside that Thor laughs dismissively at those comments, there is no point to Vision lifting Mjolnir if it has no meaning!

This is like watching Titanic and going “hey, but Rose DID just let Jack go! What the heck movie, she just said she wouldn’t!” Like, yeah, maybe I get if you completely missed everything related to character, narrative, or thematic resonance, that’s how you can interpret it… but for everyone else, Vision is worthy because he’s worthy.

Is it just a matter of looking at the smallest, most passing view of a character and making a decision based solely on that? Is this like watching Civil War and going “Hey, that Captain America guy isn’t pro-government anymore! But he’s called Captain America and that sounds pro-government to me! What the heck!” and having missed the last two movies that are explicitly about him defying government authority? So, like just looking at Vision and going “oh, android” and deciding that’s it, that’s the character, no further thinking needed.

And, hey, maybe Age of Ultron didn’t convince you. He’s too perfect, and he sounds just like JARVIS, so maybe he’s just following a set of protocols! “Okay,” say the writers, “How about a movie where he gets caught up in his emotions, makes mistakes, has regrets, and changes? That’s what real people do!”  

“NO.” you say. “HE’S GOT LIKE PURPLE CIRCUITRY STUFF ON HIS FACE AND IT DOESN’T COUNT.”

“Really? Ok. Well, THIS movie is about how Vision starts off by deciding he doesn’t want to be loyal to any specific team, but the person he loves, thus defying any semblance of protocol loyalty to Tony. Only to make the choice to let his own actualized life be taken by the woman he loves to save trillions. Tragically being destroyed to do what he was created for (to protect life), by who he wanted to live for (his love, Wanda).”

And at this point I can’t even pretend to get into the head of someone who thinks this isn’t enough. Is it like a shipping thing? Is making Vision just a robot like the Wanda/Vision equivalent of making Pepper Potts an abusive shrew so Tony can hook up with whoever? Is it because he wielded Mjolnir, and some people want that big ‘Oooo’ moment to count for their fave instead? Like we have three different movies that are really damaged narratively by refusing to accept Vision as a person. Why even watch these movies? Why even consume any kind of speculative fiction if you only want to accept stuff specifically within your sphere of existence?

I Don’t Get It.

But, it doesn’t really matter. The writers, directors, crew, actors, and everyone else with a say in it make the decisions about this, and they decided to tell a story of a God of Thunder who finds him worthy to defend Earth. Of a war hero who would sacrifice his life to defend him. Of a hardened ex-Russian spy who is deeply struck by his death. Of a woman who loves him till the moment she dies.

And if you insist on believing that this stuff doesn’t count, that Vision’s personhood doesn’t qualify or matter to the narrative, well, that’s your choice. But I gotta say–you’re really missing out.