The last two episodes of
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. finally introduced fans to a classic Marvel supervillain: Graviton. First teased back in season 1, Graviton was seemingly forgotten until the future space arc at the beginning of the fifth season of
S.H.I.E.L.D. The agents discovered gravitonium all around them in the future and deduced that it was likely the cause of the planet cracking apart.
It later became clear that whoever went through the Whitehall's
Destroyer of Worlds project and bonded with the gravitonium would become Graviton. However, no one could have expected that Glen Talbot (Adrian Pasdar), a staple on the show since season 1, would be this person. Pasdar was recently interviewed by
Syfy Wire about his transformation into the gravitonium-based villain, revealing that he knew since the beginning of the show's fifth season about the path his character would take.
The hat tip was at the end of last year. I had a meeting with [executive producer] Jed Whedon and some of the writers and producers and was given the information that this was going to unfold just the way it did.
As fans may have noticed in this week's episode "The One Who Will Save Us All," Talbot received a major upgrade in the costume department, donning a look and suit that directly paid homage to the supervillain's comic book appearance. When asked about Talbot's new suit and clean-shaven goatee, Pasdar shared that they drew inspiration from the character's original appearance in the comics.
Well, every superhero has to have a super look, right? If you go back to the original Avengers comics from 1977, you'll see what he looked like, so we tried to get a little closer to that look.
The past two episodes of
S.H.I.E.L.D. tied in with
Avengers: Infinity War, first referencing the attack in New York by Ebony Maw and Cull Obsidian in "Option Two" and then directly naming Thanos and the threat he poses to Earth in this week's episode "The One Who Will Save Us All," which seemingly occurred at the same time as the beginning of the attack on Wakanda. Talking to Syfy Wire, Pasdar said the following about tying in with
Infinity War:
Yeah, we do tie in... Sometimes that stuff is done in post-production. We'll have a TV on in the background but it'll be green screen. In post, they'll put in whatever's happening in the Avengers world. With Infinity War out there, they're tying this episode in heavily. The season finale coming up is called "The End," and Thanos talks about it being the end. Or it could just be [referring to] the end of the series, or just the season. They always tie in with the Avengers, but we don't really know how it will manifest.
It is now clear that Thanos is indirectly responsible for the events of this season of
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., laying the foundation for Graviton, the Earth cracking apart, and the Agents traveling to the future. Talbot believes he, with his gravitonium-based powers, can become Earth's greatest hero and save the planet from Thanos; but, as the future showed us, he likely becomes the one responsible for causing Earth's destruction, perhaps a result of losing his son to Thanos' Infinity Gauntlet snap...
Are you excited that Graviton has finally been introduced into the MCU? Are you looking forward to seeing the supervillain's story play out through Talbot in the remaining two episodes of this season of
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.? Be sure to share your thoughts on Pasdar's remarks in the usual spot below!