During episode four of VisionQuest, old-school Marvel Comics fans got the name drop to end all name drops.
A subplot in the show thus far has involved a series of murders by a killer known as the Butcher Bird. The victims all founded a company named AI Research and Development, which was sold to Stark years ago (before the events of Iron Man). Vision (Paul Bettany) and the AIs living in his head determine that the next victim will be the last surviving founder of the company. So Vision and Tommy (Ruaridh Mollica) attend a benefit where she is speaking.
While on stage, the co-founder mentions Dr. Phineas Horton, who she calls “the great-grandfather of robotics.” She goes on to explain that he built “the first automaton AI,” known as “JIM” or “the synthetic man.” Vision then explains to Tommy that JIM was the first AI, and that he was “miraculous and flawed. His mind was obsolete from conception.” Vision explained that JIM’s “inability to process complex emotions spun his clockwork too quickly, [and this] flooded his solar cells with oxygen until his entire being was consumed in fire.”
In addition to all this, Marvel dropped a VisionQuest promo on Oct. 17 that reveals JIM’s appearance in the show: a copper-colored robot played by Paul Bettany that is covered in flames. But who are Dr. Phineas Horton and JIM? To find out you’ll have to venture back into truly ancient Marvel history.
Marvel’s original Human Torch
Before Marvel Comics was named Marvel Comics, it was Timely Comics, a company founded in 1939 by publisher Martin Goodman. The first thing published at Timely was Marvel Comics #1 which featured a story with Namor the Submariner and the origin story of a hero known as the Human Torch. This is not the Human Torch from the Fantastic Four. This Human Torch came decades before that Human Torch.
The original Human Torch was the invention of a scientist named Dr. Phineas Horton. On the first page of Marvel Comics #1, Horton has gathered members of the press to unveil his exact replica of a human being, or what he calls a “synthetic man.” He admits, however, that the being has one major design flaw. When it’s exposed to oxygen, it bursts into flames. Naturally, the members of the press think this is a pretty dangerous defect and while Horton resists their calls to destroy the being, he eventually agrees to entomb it in a cement block until he can perfect the science.
The cement block is buried, but, unbeknownst to Horton, there was a small leak of air into the tomb. Once enough oxygen accumulated inside, the synthetic man reactivated by catching fire and bursting out of the block. At first, the synthetic man doesn’t know who he is or why everything he touches turns to flames, but, over a few issues of Marvel Comics, he becomes the hero known as The Human Torch. Once he gains the ability to control his powers, allowing for the appearance of a normal man, he adopts the human identity of Jim Hammond. (Eventually, he also gets a cornball kid sidekick named Toro, but no need to get into that.)
Along with Submariner and Captain America, the Human Torch was one of Timely’s signature superheroes in the 1940s. In fact, there was even a Human Torch Easter egg in Captain America: The First Avenger. When Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) and Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan) go the 1943 World Expo in the beginning of the film, you can see an exhibit labeled “Dr. Phineas Horton Presents: The Synthetic Man,” which features what looks like a man dressed in a red suit in a glass tube. This is the same kind of glass tube he appears in in that 1939 comic book.
But, along with many other superheroes — Cap included — the Human Torch fell into obscurity in the 1950s, and he stopped appearing in comics for more than a decade. As for Horton, that character also faded away, but this would not be the end for either of them.
Marvel Comics, as we understand it today, was born in 1961 with the debut of the Fantastic Four. Eventually, it would be explained that Johnny Storm not only knew about the previous Human Torch, but named himself in honor of the original hero. In a 1966 issue, Horton confronted Johnny for stealing the name of his creation. At this time, the original Human Torch lay buried in the Nevada desert after burning himself out in 1954. This changed when a Fantastic Four villain named the Thinker revived the original Human Torch (minus some of his memories) and pitted him against Johnny Storm. The original Human Torch would lose this fight and be buried in the wreckage of the lab. Horton would also return to obscurity and fall into alcoholism, ever frustrated by his failures. Eventually, it would be revealed that Horton was working for the Kang variant Victor Timely back when he made the Human Torch, but that reveal didn’t come until decades later.
In 1968, the Human Torch’s body was recovered by Ultron. Ultron also kidnapped the disgraced Dr. Horton to help him repair the Torch and create his perfect body. If this is beginning to sound like what Ultron was up to in Avengers: Age of Ultron, it should, as comic-book Ultron ends up creating Vision from the body of the original Human Torch. Ultron also kills Horton after Horton fails to fully comply with his evil plans.
That’s why it’s so perfect for Horton and the original Human Torch to be referenced specifically in a show about Vision and the history of synthetic life in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
In the comics, eventually, the Human Torch comes back in his own right, coming and going in various forms, but he remains integral to the history of the Vision, and it’s really interesting to see the MCU do the same thing.
It seems as though the MCU is calling the hero simply “JIM” instead of The Human Torch, which makes sense as it can be confusing to distinguish the two. But since the Human Torch’s human identity was named Jim Hammond, and with Paul Bettany playing JIM, it’s clear the character is somehow related to the Vision. All these years later, the MCU is making a sincere effort to honor a character that, while incredibly important to Marvel’s history, many may not even know exists.