Grok cracks cryptic VisionQuest code ahead of Avengers: Doomsday

Warning: Major VisionQuest spoilers ahead.

Not that it ever really went away, but the Marvel Cinematic Universe is so back. Rounding off a trilogy that started with Jac Schaeffer's WandaVision in 2021, the story of the Vision and the Scarlet Witch continued in 2024's Agatha All Along, and now comes to a close with Terry Matalas' VisionQuest.

As the last project before the MCU goes careening into the reality-shattering events of Avengers: Doomsday, we always suspected the series would cue up Robert Downey Jr.'s long-awaited return (this time, playing Doctor Doom).

Before we get to what THAT jaw-dropping post-credit scene means for Doomsday, it appears Marvel Studios just spoiled a major surprise ahead of time.

What was Marvel's hidden VisionQuest code?

VisionQuest was still very much Paul Bettany's story, charting the sympathetic sythanzoid's troubles as he comes to terms with the loss of his beloved Wanda Maximoff (Elizabeth Olsen). Also along for the ride, we got T'Nia Miller as the misunderstood Jocasta, Todd Stashwick as Paladin, and Ruaridh Mollica as Vis' son, Tommy.

There was also the notable return of James Spader, who reprised his role as the villainous Ultron from Avengers: Age of Ultron. Things came to a head in a finale that was packed with AI, nanobots, androids, and a healthy dose of heartache.

Posting on X before the VisionQuest finale, the official Marvel Studios account shared a binary code of ones and zeroes with no context. Before too long, someone asked Elon Musk's Grok to decipher the code, and with it being no problem for the AI chatbot, it was cracked in a matter of seconds.

Replying to the OP, Grok wrote: "Cracked it. The binary translates to: 'We could never truly leave each other, even if we tried'."

Grok reminds us that Wanda said this line in the WandaVision finale, adding: "Marvel dropped it right before the VisionQuest season finale, teasing the family-is-forever theme and possible Wanda/Maximoff connections.”

At the end of WandaVision, Wanda uttered the line as she tucked her twin boys into bed and broke her Westview spell to wipe them and her fabricated Vision out of existence.

With the binary code solved, many were cheering a potential Maximoff family reunion in the VisionQuest finale. Sadly, that never happened.

Although Olsen returned to the MCU after WandaVision to co-lead Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, she famously broke bad and sacrificed herself to save everyone from the darker aspects of her Scarlet Witch persona...or did she?

What does VisionQuest's post-credit scene mean for Avengers: Doomsday?

While some were disappointed that the many teases of the Scarlet Witch's return led to nothing during Agatha All Along, VisionQuest had one final tease that confirmed Olsen's return to the MCU. Within seconds of VisionQuest's credits rolling, X was flooded with posts about her miraculous survival.

The finale ended with RDJ's Doctor Doom lifting the rubble of Mount Wundagore from Wanda's lifeless corpse and her coming back to life. A masked Doom is heard saying: "Scarlet Witch, awaken. Your powers will be mine."

Even though it's good news that Wanda is back in the land of the living, the implication is that she'll be recruited to Doom's team as he clashes with Earth's mightiest heroes.

There had been earlier questions about the mysterious Latverian Witches who've featured prominently in Doomsday's marketing. Long before we got VisionQuest's tantalizing tease, there had been much speculation that Wanda could be one of them.

That's still just a theory, but when Matalas was asked if it's a coincidence that VisionQuest released right before Doomsday, he said it's 'absolutely' the case.

Diving deeper in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, he explained why Wanda was saved for the final seconds instead of coming to glue her fractured family back together. According to Matalas, there were “no true directives from Marvel other than Tommy was going to meet Vision, and that by the end, cold white Vision would return to his original red self."

Cheering this 'blank canvas', it left him free to dabble in this world and deliver what's arguably one of the best post-credit scenes to grace the MCU yet.

Whatever Doom is up to, it looks like he's assembling his own team of Anti-Avengers, having 'collected' Mark Ruffalo's Bruce Banner/Hulk in a new scene added to the theatrical release of Avengers: Endgame Encore.

Even if Wanda might be on the wrong side for now, we're one step closer to a true WandaVision reunion.