SDCC 2015: ‘Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.’ Panel Recap

Opening with a humorous gag involving Agent Coulson’s severed hand, executive producer Jeph Loeb began the panel at San Diego Comic Con by introducing Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.‘s new additions to the cast from this past season. This included Luke Mitchell, Henry Simmons, Nick Blood, and Adrianne Palicki, who play Lincoln, Mack, Lance Hunter, and Bobbi Morse respectively.

With the new players out of the way, Loeb went ahead and introduced the original members of Coulson’s team of S.H.I.E.L.D. agents to an ecstatic audience. Iain De Caestecker, Elizabeth Henstridge, Ming-Na Wen, Brett Dalton, and Chloe Bennett, who play Fitz, Simmons, Agent May, Grant Ward, and Skye respectively, as well as Agent Coulson himself, Clark Gregg, were introduced.

While the panel didn’t give much in regards to new footage for season three, the cast was able to answer a lot of questions from the audience. First, however, the newbies shared their experiences working with an already established series. Adrianne Palicki admits to being a geek and “huge comic book fan,” which allows her to remain delighted to be playing a character with deep roots in Marvel’s history: Bobbi Morse, a.k.a. Mockingbird.

When each panelist was asked about their first impressions of the actor sitting to the right of them, Clark Gregg replied with how he “loved Chloe Bennett from the first moment” he met her. Then he concluded his answer with a more general statement about how the rest of the cast has been a joy to work with, always “ready to play and have fun together”. Ming-Na Wen and Brett Dalton joked around about their “romance” in season one.

Jeph Loeb eventually led the conversation to the cast’s thoughts on the inclusion of Hydra in season one, and finding out Ward was a Hydra agent. Iain De Caestecker relayed a whispered message to Elizabeth Henstridge, who jokingly stated, “it’s really difficult for him to talk about”. Chloe Bennett and Ming-Na Wen shared their shock upon hearing that the character with whom they both shared a brief romance in season one was a bad guy.

Iain De Caestacker was asked a unique question about how he prepared for his new role in season two, as someone who suffered from brain trauma. Caestacker chalked up most of the credit to the writers and producers of the show for gathering a lot of research for him to base his character’s situation on. Henstridge felt he was being modest, stating he did a lot for the role himself as well.

In what was the most adorable part of the panel, an 8-year old girl asked if there was any room for an 8-year old on the team. Of course, everyone came out with a very positive “yes”, but Clark Gregg had a very good answer for the young fan, stating:

One of the things we’re most proud of at S.H.I.E.L.D. is the fact that anyone can run S.H.I.E.L.D., and that we have a number of very strong women you might be running S.H.I.E.L.D. at some point. We have the amazing precedent that we’re honored to share a time slot with Peggy Carter, another strong, powerful woman who’s more than capable of running S.H.I.E.L.D., and just from the few moments we’ve spent with you today I feel that someday you can run S.H.I.E.L.D. . . . as long as you stay away from Ward.

While fans weren’t treated to much new footage, Jeph Loeb did reaffirm that the concept of Secret Warriors would be addressed in season three of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. The finale of season two concluded with Skye being given a special assignment to gather those with super powers, Inhumans included, in order to create a special team. In the comics Secret Warriors was a team of super-powered S.H.I.E.L.D. agents gathered together by Director Nick Fury, introduced as a team in 2008’s Secret Invasion #3. This concept should lend itself very well to Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.‘s upcoming season.

Season three of Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. premieres Tuesday, September 29 on ABC. Check out a few pics from the panel below.

Photo credit: Matt Wheeler

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