Adrianne Palicki has built herself a solid acting career over for many years, from starring in the Friday Night Lights TV series to battling Keanu Reeves in John Wick. More recently, though, she's gained popularity for playing Bobbi Morse, a.k.a. Mockingbird, on Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Seasons 2 and 3. While no longer a main cast member, it was believed she could conceivably return to the Marvel spy series at some point, but that could change now that she's been cast in Seth MacFarlane's newest TV show.
Palicki has been cast as the female lead in Seth MacFarlane's still-untitled, hour-long space comedic drama on Fox. According to Deadline, the actress will play Kelly Grayson, First Officer aboard the space ship Orville and ex-wife of the ship's captain Ed, played by MacFarlane. Voice actor Scott Grimes was also added as Gordon, the Orville's pilot and Ed's best friend. The 13-episodes series, which follows a group of interstellar explorers 300 years in the future, isn't airing until the 2017-2018 TV season. Still, this begs the question of whether the new show will affect Palicki being able to appear on Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
Frankly, right now we don't know what Adrianne Palicki's situation is with Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. in the upcoming TV season. Last week at San Diego Comic-Con, Marvel Studios TV head Jeph Loeb didn't say anything about whether viewers would see Bobbi or her ex-husband Lance Hunter, played by Nick Blood, appear in Season 4. Both characters were key members of Phil Coulson's elite team during the past two seasons, but they departed last season in "Parting Shot." The in-universe explanation for this was because they had been compromised on a mission, and in order to stay alive, they chose not to work for S.H.I.E.L.D. anymore. The real life reason for the actors exiting was so they could star in their own spinoff series, Marvel's Most Wanted, but after filming the pilot, ABC decided to pass on that project. It seems likelier than not that the S.H.I.E.L.D. will reunite with Bobbi and Hunter at some point, but it remains to be seen when that will happen.
Assuming that Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. will still be on during the 2017-2018 TV season, I could see Fox working out a deal with ABC for Adrianne Palicki to appear every now and then. Obviously the MacFarlane show is the priority, but actors have made arrangements in the past to guest star on shows they were previously involved in. Plus, unless Fox extends the episode order, this space series is only 13 episodes, so depending on which half of the season it airs in, Palicki could conceivably pop in for an episode of two of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. during the other half.
We'll keep you updated on what's happening with Seth McFarlane's show as more information comes in, but Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Season 4, with or without any Palicki appearances, will premiere on September 20 at 10 p.m. EST on ABC.
