Domestically, “Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.” has its first week off after six all-new episodes spinning out of the cataclysmic fallout of the events of Captain America: The Winter Soldier and the end of the series’ first season. Elsewhere in the world, the second season is just about to premiere, so we’ve put together a relatively spoiler-free look at four of the key characters in Season Two: Henry Simmons’ Alphonso Mackenzie, Nick Blood’s Lance Hunter, Adrian Pasdar’s General Talbot and Reed Diamond’s Daniel Whitehall!
The “Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.” cast also includes Clark Gregg as Director Phil Coulson, Ming-Na Wen as Agent Melinda May, Brett Dalton as Grant Ward, Chloe Bennet as Skye, Iain De Caestecker as Agent Leo Fitz and Elizabeth Henstridge as Agent Jemma Simmons.
The series is executive produced by Joss Whedon, Jed Whedon, Maurissa Tancharoen, Jeffrey Bell and Jeph Loeb.
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Origins and Evolutions: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
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Alphonso Mackenzie
In 1988, writer Bob Harras' six-issue miniseries, "Nick Fury vs. S.H.I.E.L.D." saw Fury, disillusioned with the corruption he saw growing within his organization, take on S.H.I.E.L.D. itself. Along the way, readers were introduced to a few characters that have since made appearances in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, including Alexander Pierce, played by Robert Redford in this year's Captain America: The Winter Soldier.
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Alphonso Mackenzie
Al "Mac" MacKenzie, appearing in the third issue of "Nick Fury vs. S.H.I.E.L.D.," was created by Harras and artist Paul Neary. Hailing from Austin, Texas, MacKenzie initially worked for the CIA and then became a liaison between the CIA and SHIELD. When Fury turned on S.H.I.E.L.D. itself, MacKenzie aided Fury in bringing the organization down.
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Alphonso Mackenzie
MacKenzie soon returned in the pages of "Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.," which launched from Marvel in 1989, once again serving as a liaison between the CIA and S.H.I.E.L.D., serving on a team alongside Fury himself.
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Alphonso Mackenzie
Some years later, Mac returned in the pages of a 2005 issue of Brian Michael Bendis' Super Hero news media series, "The Pulse." There, it was revealed that he had quit S.H.I.E.L.D. some years earlier, authoring a tell-all memoir, "UnSHIELDed: An Unauthorized Insider's Look Behind the World's Most Powerful Global Spy Network." As a result, Mac became friends with Ben Urich and would slip the journalist confidential information about past S.H.I.E.L.D. missions.
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Alphonso Mackenzie
5. As was the case with Redford's casting in The Winter Soldier, we're seeing a very different Alphonso Mackenzie on ABC's "Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D." Henry Simmons takes on the role beginning in the second season's first episode, "Shadows." He joins Coulson's newly-formed S.H.I.E.L.D. team as their new mechanic and, appropriately enough given the actor's last name, becoming a fast friend to Iain De Caestecker's Fitz.
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Lance Hunter
Lance Hunter was introduced in the Marvel 616-continuity in a 1977 issue of Marvel UK's "Captain Britain." Created by Gary Freidrich and Herb Trimpe, the character was the head of S.T.R.I.K.E., the British equivalent of S.H.I.E.L.D.
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Lance Hunter
Through that "Captain Britain" run, Hunter appeared several times, often working alongside Captain Britain to stop some serious threats, including the kidnapping of the prime minister.
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Lance Hunter
Hunter didn't appear in the comics again for three decades, emerging during the events of Marvel's "Civil War" crossover in 2007. There, he was seen having been promoted to S.T.R.I.K.E. Commodore and working with a team on figuring out the British side of the Superhuman Registration Act.
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Lance Hunter
Also debuting in the first episode of "Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D." season two, Nick Blood plays the MCU version of Hunter. A mercenary hired by Isabelle Hartley in the first episode of season two, circumstances in that same episode lead to him becoming a new member of Coulson's team.
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Glenn Talbot
First appearing all the way back in 1964's "Tales to Astonish" #61, Glenn Talbot was brought to Desert Base, New Mexico to monitor General Ross' suspicions about Bruce Banner who, of course, was hiding his identity as the Incredible Hulk.
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Glenn Talbot
Talbot also found himself falling for Ross' daughter, Betty, which is exactly what Talbot had hoped. Years later, just after Banner's marriage to Betty was ruined by an attack from the Leader, Talbot swore revenge on the Hulk.
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Glenn Talbot
Believing Bruce had moved on, Betty later married Talbot in 1972's "Incredible Hulk" #158. They were divorced, however, soon thereafter.
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Glenn Talbot
Blaming Banner for everything wrong in his life, Talbot pursued the Hulk for years, eventually being driven mad and ultimately destroying himself in his quest for vengeance in 1981's "The Incredible Hulk" #325.
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Glenn Talbot
It has been hinted that, in the future of the Marvel 616 continuity, Talbot will one day became the Red Hulk.
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Glenn Talbot
Josh Lucas took on the role of Glenn Talbot in Ang Lee's 2003 Hulk. There, Talbot targeted Banner and Betty Ross for his research developing superhuman soldiers.
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Glenn Talbot
Talbot made his first appearance in the eighteenth episode of "Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D." season one, "Providence," played by Adrian Pasdar. We've already seen Talbot play a major role in season two as both an enemy and ally of Coulson and his team.
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Daniel Whitehall
Daniel Whitehall, a more recent addition to the 616 continuity, debuted in the pages of 2009's "Secret Warriors" #2 by Brian Michael Bendis and Jonathan Hickman. A superhuman called Kraken, Whitehall has served Hydra for centuries.
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Daniel Whitehall
In the current Marvel comics, the Kraken is actually a second individual who took on the identity of the original Kraken. The young man stole from the helmet that gave the Kraken his powers from the original Whitehall, murdering him in the process.
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Daniel Whitehall
We don't know what Reed Diamond's Whitehall's full motivations on "Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D." are quite yet, but we've seen that he's a seemingly eternally youthful servant of Hydra whose ties appear to stretch all the way back to the 1950s time period of Marvel's upcoming "Agent Carter"!
