White Vision’s Return From The Dead Was Teased By Banner In Infinity War

WandaVision episode 9 revealed that White Vision truly returned from the dead, a possibility that was first teased by Bruce Banner back in Avengers: Infinity War. The finale episode featured an intense confrontation between the White Vision resurrected by S.W.O.R.D. and the "conditional" Vision revived by Scarlet Witch, and the showdown was resolved, in his true fashion, by Vision's logic. White Vision was given the directive to destroy the "real" Vision, but through their discussion, White Vision realized that he himself is also a "real" Vision, which conflicted with his programming. It opens the door for Wanda's beloved and the Avengers ally to return for real in the form of White Vision.

As the two iterations of the synthezoid discuss who is the real Vision, becoming truly philosophical in the process, White Vision explains that, as he has retained no memories, his identity can not be that of the true Vision. Wanda's Vision counters by saying, "But you do have the data. It is merely being kept from you... As a carbon-based synthezoid, your memory storage is not so easily wiped." He then liberates the memories contained within White Vision's memory, who realizes he is also the real Vision. He leaves and is not seen again in WandaVision.

Vision returning in this way raises the question: How can Vision exist with no Mind Stone, the powerful object that was used to energize the original version of Vision? In the episode 8 mid-credits, Hayward's team is shown using Scarlet Witch's powers, inhabiting the drone they earlier sent into the Hex, to reboot the body of the synthezoid that was still in their possession. But the question of whether White Vision is the real Vision – at least to Wanda – remains. He was shown the memories by another version of himself. Can he believe that he is the true Vision? In Avengers: Infinity War at least, there is something of an answer as Bruce Banner confirms to Vision that he is not one single element of what made him, whether that be Ultron, Stark, or the Mind Stone, he's all of them combined and something more.

By the same token as Banner's reassurance to Vision in Infinity War, it's not just the unlocked memories that make Vision, it's also his humanity, which he inherited and learned from those who helped build him. As Banner puts it to Vision, “Your mind is made of a complex construct of overlays. J.A.R.V.I.S., Ultron, Tony, me, the stone. All of them mixed together.” Since then, others have also contributed, including when Shuri attempted to remove the Mind Stone in Avengers: Infinity War, and Wanda herself, given S.W.O.R.D. used her power to reenergize him.

In WandaVision, S.W.O.R.D. and Hayward have effectively achieved what Shuri set out to do – to let the Vibranium synthezoid live independently of the Mind Stone. And now that White Vision has the memories of the original Vision, he's in the perfect place to become the real Vision. Maybe Wanda doesn't need to be so alone in her lake house. Of course, White Vision doesn't have the intimate memory of saying goodbye to Wanda during her sacrifice as she closes the Hex, and there are plenty of other issues for the two to work through, but there is potential that Vision could become the "real" Vision once more, as hinted originally in Avengers: Infinity War and reaffirmed in the season finale of WandaVision.

Next: What's Next For White Vision In The MCU After WandaVision?