Paul Bettany’s MCU miniseries VisionQuest debuted to largely positive reviews on Tuesday, October 13, but social media users are now urging viewers to boycott it.
The backlash stems from text exchanges between the actor and Johnny Depp dating back to 2013, in which the two discussed fatally harming Depp’s then-fiancée, Amber Heard.
Highlights
- Paul Bettany and Johnny Depp’s resurfaced 2013 texts have sparked calls to boycott VisionQuest.
- Depp defended the messages in court, describing them as a joke inspired by a Monty Python sketch.
- The MCU miniseries previously faced backlash over alleged AI use, prompting showrunner Terry Matalas to deny the claims.
“I refuse to give this man any recognition. Ya’ll moved too fast,” one user wrote.
The show previously faced controversy over allegations of generative AI use during production after viewers pointed out visual anomalies, including stair banisters leading nowhere and picture frames with repetitive fruit or flower patterns.
Resurfaced texts between Paul Bettany and Johnny Depp have sparked boycott calls against VisionQuest
Bettany and Depp met in Venice while filming the 2010 romantic thriller The Tourist and quickly became friends.
Reflecting on their bond, Bettany told the Toronto Sun in 2014, “I looked at [him], and he looked at me, and we haven’t stopped laughing since.”
When Depp filed a defamation lawsuit against Heard in 2022 over her 2018 The Washington Post op-ed, in which she suggested Depp had subjected her to domestic violence, several exchanges between the two actors were presented in court.
“Let’s burn Amber,” the Pirates of the Caribbean star wrote to Bettany on June 11, 2013, per the documents.
He responded, “I’m not sure we should burn Amber,” adding that “she is delightful company and pleasing on the eye.”
However, he soon followed up with another suggestion: “We could of course do the English course of action and perform a drowning test. Thoughts?”
Seemingly enthusiastic about the idea, Depp replied, “Let’s drown her before we burn her!!! I will f**k her burnt c**pse afterward to make sure she’s d**d.”
Sharing a screenshot of the exchange on X on Wednesday, October 14, one user wrote, “Reminder, everyone! Boycott VisionQuest! Paul Bettany and Johnny Depp were talking about ways to r*pe and burn Amber Heard.”
“Absolutely not watching it,” one commenter responded.
“Never wanted to watch it and I certainly won’t now,” another added.
Depp defended himself by calling the texts a joke inspired by a Monty Python sketch
During the trial, Depp told the court that his friendship with Bettany was always grounded in their shared “abstract sense of humor” for dealing with difficult situations in life.
He explained that the messages reflected that dynamic.
Depp argued that the text about burning Heard was a reference to Monty Python, the British comedy troupe formed in the 1960s, specifically a sketch in which suspected witches are identified and drowned.
“This is a film we’d all watch when we were 10,” he said.
Depp also accused Heard of involving Bettany in their legal dispute because she had always viewed the actor as “a threat” to their relationship.
“Ms Heard despised Mr Bettany mainly because we had become such close friends and for her he was a threat and would take me away from her,” he told the court.
Bettany said he had not been in touch with Depp during his marriage to Heard
Addressing the public release of his messages with Depp in a 2022 interview with The Times, Bettany said he found the situation “embarrassing.”
“We live in a world without context, and I didn’t know Johnny when he was married to Amber,” he added.
“I knew him before. But we hadn’t spoken for years during the marriage. I didn’t know them. So I wasn’t around for any of that.”
Notably, Bettany’s claim that he had not been in contact with the couple during their marriage came after he publicly defended Depp’s character in 2016.
Taking to Twitter at the time, the actor wrote, “Known Johnny Depp for years and through several relationships. He’s the sweetest, kindest, gentlest man that I’ve ever known. Just saying.”
VisionQuest previously faced boycott calls over alleged AI use during production
“I can point out AI in at least six places in the trailer itself,” a Reddit user wrote in September.
“So the furniture built into the wall was just a human error?” another asked.
“No need to watch this series, especially because Disney, which makes a cr*p ton of money, decided to take the easy route,” a third remarked.
However, months before the boycott calls began, showrunner Terry Matalas told ScreenRant that no generative AI had been used in the series’ production.
“There hasn’t really been a need,” he told the outlet in May 2025, though the interview was published only on September 17 this year.
“All the designs nod to how our current form of AI processes things,” he added.
For those unfamiliar with the storyline, VisionQuest follows White Vision, the android introduced in Avengers: Age of Ultron.
To make sense of his existence, he retreats into an internal digital mansion called the Mindscape, where his core programming manifests as a family of legacy artificial intelligences from the Marvel Cinematic Universe, each taking on a human avatar.
"What a disgusting, evil thing to say about a woman," a netizen said about Depp and Bettany's messages
