Warning: This story contains major spoilers from Tuesday’s episode of Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Read at your own risk!
Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. really doesn’t want you to know who the new director is.
Jason O’Mara made his debut as the new man in charge during Tuesday’s episode, but the ABC super series only offered up a few tidbits about who he’s actually playing. Here’s what we know:
With S.H.I.E.L.D. stepping back into the public eye, the organization needed a new face, but Coulson declined to take the job — after all, everyone believes him to be dead. It was Coulson who suggested that the new director should be a powered person the public could trust, especially in the wake of Steve Rogers, a.k.a. Captain America, going AWOL. He wasn’t Coulson’s choice, but Jeffrey — we only learned his first name — was put in charge. All we currently know about his powers are that he’s an Inhuman with super strength.
So, who is he? When O’Mara’s casting was first announced, it was revealed that he would be playing a character whose Marvel roots go back to the 1940s. With all these clues in mind, our theory is that he’s playing Jeffrey Solomon Mace, otherwise known as the Patriot.
The Patriot was a former reporter who was inspired by Captain America to become a superhero, despite his own lack of powers. Created in the 1940s, when he first appeared in The Human Torch #4, Mace founded the Liberty Legion and eventually became the third Captain America — another strong indication that’s who O’Mara is playing since there currently is no Captain America following the events of Civil War. Like the show has done before with other characters, it’s possible that S.H.I.E.L.D. is putting a twist on the character by imbuing him with powers — if that’s who O’Mara is playing.
For now, we’ll just have to wait to find out, but hit the comments below with your theories.
Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. airs Tuesdays at 10 p.m. ET on ABC.