Hi guys, jumping right into it, here are my Season 3 Marvel's Agents of SHIELD predictions, Part One:
Agent Phil Coulson
Coulson provided one of the biggest thrills, and sacrifices, of the night by snatching the Terrigen crystal out of mid-air, saving every human left on the boat, but at the cost of his arm which was swiftly chopped off by Mack before the Kree artefact could turn him completely to gravel. This season has dealt Coulson a series of challenges every bit as epic as last season's finale promised, with Fury handing over his Toolbox, and with it the reigns of SHIELD, and making something what was left with it. Coulson showed he was the Godfather of secret agents by recruiting some ace talent in Morse and Hunter, and even reuniting with Ward and Deathlok, assassinating all the inner circle members of HYDRA. He then double-bluffed Agent Gonzales' offshoot organisation, regaining total control of every remnant of SHIELD in the process (we think).
Prediction: Coulson's stump was in a brace at the end of the finale, but you would expect him to get a Deathlok or Bucky-esque prosthetic very soon. Coulson and Skye have now discussed the next phase of their mission, which is to form a team of Powered Agents to make first contact with, recruit, or possibly capture or destroy Inhumans and other altered freaks. This could portend a return of some of Cal's collaborators like Graviton, or maybe Absorbing Man, of whom I'm sure the audience would welcome many more appearances. One big bad that Marvel is yet to introduce, and I would very much like to see enter the MCU, is the High Evolutionary. I think Coulson, with a team of Inhuman agents, would be a great rival to Herbert Wyndham and his genetically altered New Men.
Melinda May
May still has not achieved her objective of killing Ward for his betrayal. She did seem to deal with some of the guilt from Bahrain however, and has reconnected with her ex-husband Andrew Garner, played with great charm by Blair Underwood. She can pat herself on the back, having excelled in her Obi-wan role, training Skye into possibly SHIELD's best combatant. They faced off in the finale, and this viewer would have to rule the match a draw before Skye used her Quake powers to get the knockout.
Prediction: The closing moments showed May with her bag, looking like she was done with SHIELD. Of course, in the immortal words of Al Pacino; just when you think you're out, they pull you back in! May and Ward have a score to settle, and I believe it may come to a head in season 3.
Skye aka Daisy Johnson aka Quake
I already alluded to the Star Wars analogues in Skye's journey so far on the show. In season one, she was a padawan, and Ward and May trained her to be an excellent secret agent. In season two, Skye learns that she has inherent powers, derived from her parentage. At first it seems that Cal is the dark side of the force, and that Jiaying is her Yoda. But it tuns out that Jiaying is more like Palpatine, and in an epic "nooooooo!" moment, it is Cal that ends up saving Skye, Darth Vader style!
Prediction: With the knowledge that she is Inhuman, and the maturation of her Quake powers, Skye has graduated from padawan, to Jedi knight, and now it is time to become a Master and train others. That is the significance of the new team that she and Coulson are planning to put together.
There is precedent in the comics for a Quake-led SHIELD Super-squad. It's these guys, known as Caterpillars:
JT James is a compelling option. He is a descendant of Carter Slade, the original Phantom Rider. Marvel now controls the rights to Ghost Rider, and with JT's pyrotechnic ability, a useful seed can be planted for the inevitable supernatural dimension of Marvel, including a possible Doctor Strange cameo appearance. SPOILER: Nick Fury kills James in the comics, making a possible interesting twist.
Jerry Sledge is the son of Carl Creel, the Absorbing Man. This is intriguing because it could provide motivation for a return of Creel on AOS. Also, it could necessitate a recruiting mission to Hell's Kitchen to find young Sledge, and a potential crossover with Daredevil. Wouldn't that be cool!
Yo Yo Rodriguez is a speedster, and also the daughter of the Griffin, continuing the children-of-powered-villains motif. Are we seeing a possible Runaways analogue occurring here? Another female agent to help Skye with the gender balance would be welcome, especially with Simmons' whereabouts unknown and a possible story maguffin for next season.
Eden Fesi is known in the comics as Manifold. He has come to prominence as one of Jonathan Hickman's Avengers. He has the power to mold reality, most often expressed as the ability to create a portal to anywhere in the universe: imagine Gordon on steroids. This is a massive power, but if scaled down, he could be very useful to Quake's team. it would also create a bridge between the AOS universe and other realms, like Asgard or perhaps Xandar. Imagine Coulson and the team collaborating with the Nova Corps! What if someone was to smuggle a Nova helmet back to our planet…?
Alex Aaron aka Phobos. This guy is the son of Ares. How awesome would it be for Marvel to finally introduce the Olympian pantheon of gods to the MCU, including possible appearances from Hercules and Zeus! With the added advantage of pipping DC, before they can get Diana of Themiscyra onto our screens.
This material should be enough to prompt some DISCUSSION in the FORUM BELOW. I'm going to immediately get to work on Part Two of this feature and post it for you promptly. Please be sure to THUMBS UP this article and help it get to the main page, and TWEET to your followers to get them involved in the speculation!
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