There are no black characters in the series starring cast, as you can see in the series’ first official cast image above; although, last month, it was announced that Joss Whedon’s former Angel cast member, J. August Richards, was re-teaming with the director, to play what was then being referred to as “a super top-secret role” in the S.H.I.E.L.D. TV series.
As you’d expect, fanboys and fangirls immediately started speculating on what that secret role could be. Many believed he was brought in to play a younger Nick Fury, but, again, all conjecture on their part; no confirmation of this.
Why Whedon would want it to be kept under-wraps, especially when we know what roles the other actors are playing, I can’t say.
But maybe after taking a look at the below first trailer for the upcoming series, those of you who are intimately familiar with the S.H.I.E.L.D. universe, will be able to make more certain guesses… maybe.
Might he be Luke Cage?
Right around the 17-second mark, a character who looks like J. August Richards, slams another character onto the ground, from overhead, with what might be super-strength. It’s a quick second or two, so don’t blink.
The espionage and secret military law-enforcement agency in the Marvel Comics Universe, known as S.H.I.E.L.D, is heading to ABC as a serial, with Joss Whedon, who wrote and directed the big-screen version of The Avengers, shepherding, along with his brother Jed Whedon and Maurissa Tancharoen (Dollhouse).
Here’s ABC’s official synop:
Agent Phil Coulson (Clark Gregg) returns to the worldwide law enforcement organization S.H.I.E.L.D. He puts together a small, highly trained, team of Agents to tackle the cases that haven’t been classified yet—the new, the strange and the unknown. That team consists of straight arrow Agent Grant Ward (Brett Dalton), an expert in combat and espionage; pilot and martial artist Agent Melinda May (Ming-Na Wen); and brilliant if socially awkward scientists Agent Leo Fitz (Iain De Caestecker) and Agent Jemma Simmons (Elizabeth Henstridge). Their initial investigations lead them to civilian computer hacker Skye (Chloe Bennet). Prepare for an epic adventure that showcases the hope and wonder of the human spirit. This is a world of Super Heroes, aliens and the unusual—of action, spectacle and world spanning stories. The show will speak to the human condition through the lens of our very human, non-powered S.H.I.E.L.D agents—that together we are greater than we are apart, and that we can make a difference in the world.
It’ll likely be featured during this summer’s Comic-Con event.
No broadcast date and time have been specified by ABC yet, but I’ll take a guess and say that they probably have a hit on their hands, fresh from last summer’s box office smash, with the director of that film (Joss Whedon) behind the TV series as well.
Watch:
