Popverse's top stories of the day

• The curious festive magic of the holiday movie, and why we shouldn't think too much about it
• WATCH: The cast and creator of Star Trek: Lower Decks talk journeying to the undiscovered country with the show's final season
• Long before The Boys and The Franchise, Marvel explored the dangers of Hollywood and superheroes with X-Statix

It might have taken a few years, but Marvel is ready for its Vision check-up. Star Trek: Picard showrunner Terry Matalas has signed on to create a new Disney+ series for Paul Bettany’s synthezoid character, following up from his last appearance in 2021’s WandaVision.

The show, as-yet-untitled, will be the second Disney+ spin-off from the 2021 miniseries, with the first — Agatha All Along — set to debut in September 2024. An earlier version of the Vision series was in development some years back with WandaVision showrunner Jac Shaefer attached, but it fell into limbo as Agatha All Along took shape. Both that series, and the new show, which is targeted for a 2026 debut on the streaming service, will pick up from the last time audiences saw the character, disappearing from Westview with newly-restored memories after a confrontation with his Wanda-created simulacrum.

The new show is an important one for Marvel, as it’s the first new live-action project to be greenlit by the studio for Disney+ in two years, and comes following the announcement that Marvel would be slowing down its release schedule to “focus more on quality.” As the first of these next-generation Marvel Studios projects, it’ll be interesting to see what can be learned from the untitled Vision show’s development and eventual release.

According to Variety, which broke the news of Matalas’ hiring as showrunner for the new show, Bettany is expected to return as the Vision for the new series; it’ll be interesting to see what the writer/producer, who has already dealt with both a passionate fanbase and deep pre-existing mythology with his Trek work, does with the MCU. Judging by the response to his Picard series, fans might be very, very excited to see what’s coming up for the one-time Avenger.

Keep up to date on Popverse's Marvel coverage, with these highlights:

• Marvel Studios has accidentally created a new Phase that predates Phases 1 - 6: the MCU Phase Zero
• Which Secret Wars comic the Russos are basing Avengers 6 off of
• Overgrown children of the atom: Marvel's X-Men can't evolve past their '90s commercial peak
• The biggest outstanding questions of the Marvel Studios' movies & TV shows
• Marvel's accidental closure on the Kang storyline
• Robert Downey Jr. is entering his villain era
• Donald Trump is the landlord for Marvel's House of Ideas
• For Marvel actors, the MCU also stands for the Marvel Commercials Universe
• The Fantastic 4: First Steps offers Marvel a visual makeover, courtesy of a classic movie designer
• Marvel Studios swapping out Doctor Doom for Kang offers the chance to jettison the Multiverse Saga
• What Marvel Studios boss Kevin Feige is saying (and not saying) about the MCU X-Men franchise says a lot about the future of the Mutant Saga
• If Marvel is going to bring Loki back for Secret Wars, it's time to give him an upgrade
• With Daredevil, and spinoffs from Black Panther, What If, and more, Marvel Studios' 2025 Disney+ slate is bigger than ever, and that might be a big deal for the future
• If Kraven the Hunter flops, Sony's Spider-Man Universe could look for a Marvel-assisted reboot