The original villain of the MCU is making an unexpected comeback in a Disney Plus series that we never saw coming, leaving us completely baffled.

Nothing is gone from the MCU forever. Marvel‘s first project of 2025 makes that much clear, as Captain America: Brave New World will bring back Tim Blake Nelson’s the Leader for the first time since 2008’s The Incredible Hulk. Seeing as not many fans were scrambling to see the guy with the funky forehead again 17 years later, you might’ve thought this would win the prize for unlikeliest MCU comeback. And yet an upcoming Disney Plus show is about to snag the top spot.

The Disney Plus show in question is Paul Bettany’s Vision series — originally, and maybe still, called Vision Quest. Following hot on the heels of the surprisingly successful Agatha All Along, the Vision show is yet another expansion of the WandaVision-verse, this time starring White Vision as he seeks to “regain his memory and his humanity.” Star Trek: Picard‘s Terry Matalas serves as showrunner.

Remarkably, Vision (/Quest) was already set to bring back a long-lost villain in the form of James Spader’s Ultron, returning for the first time since 2015’s Age of Ultron. This addition makes a lot of sense, though, considering Ultron’s ties to Vision’s creation. The latest casting news is far more head-scratching, though, as it delves all the way back to the MCU’s origins.

The original antagonist of the MCU is making a comeback (and it’s not Ironmonger).

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According to Deadline, Faran Tahir is back in the MCU for the Vision series, reprising his role as Raza. This marks Tahir’s second ever Marvel appearance, even though he was there when the franchise took its first steps. For those that haven’t caught the 2008 film that started it all for a while (go watch it, it still holds up!), Raza is the leader of the Ten Rings terrorist cell that kidnaps Robert Downey Jr.’s Tony Stark in Afghanistan, precipitating his creation of the first Iron Man suit.

Although Jeff Bridges’ Obadiah Stane/Ironmonger is revealed to be the one pulling the strings by the end of the movie, Raza’s antagonistic role in the film’s first half means he really has the honor of being the original MCU villain. Even so, we never expected Tahir to come back, especially since the Ten Rings have been so thoroughly retconned since Iron Man — Shang Chi introduced the real Ten Rings and confirmed that immortal warlord Wenwu was the organization’s actual leader.

On a larger level, Raza’s comeback is quite surprising given how much the MCU has evolved from its early days, when it focused on arms dealers being taken hostage by Afghan militants. This evolution is highlighted by the fact that his second appearance will be in a series centered around a resurrected android (whose previous incarnation was wed to a sorceress and had a stint as a sitcom actor). How he will play a role in White Vision’s narrative remains a mystery.

Tahir is the fourth cast-member to be attached to Vision so far, after Bettany, Spader, and Todd Stashwick (reuniting with Matalas after Picard), who’s been hired for an unknown role. Expect more to follow as filming starts ahead of the series looking to land on Disney Plus sometime in 2026.