The Season 3 finale of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. ended with most of the regular agents scattered to the wind. Fitzsimmons were doing their science thing outside of the agency, Daisy was rogue, May was nowhere to be seen, and Coulson was no longer in charge. Agent Coulson was the major constant of the series over the years as the top dog of the team of goods guys, and it's been hard to imagine who could possibly take his place for Season 4. Now, we know the actor who will be filling Clark Gregg's shoes as the head honcho of S.H.I.E.L.D. Jason O'Mara will play the new director for the fourth season of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
Marvel has announced that Jason O'Mara's character will have roots going back all the way to the comics from the 1940s. The character's sudden insertion into the show as leader after three years of Coulson means that we should expect a big shakeup, especially as Coulson should still be on board with the agency. The tag to the Season 3 finale featured a Phil Coulson who was a field agent. Coulson didn't seem too broken up that he was in the thick of the action and chasing after the rogue Daisy, but that could well change as he has to spend more and more time as an underling. Clark Gregg's pitch for Coulson's replacement had been for Agent May to step up and lead the team, and May would have made sense given her experience and abilities. S.H.I.E.L.D.'s outside hire for the new director position could rub a lot of the good guys the wrong way when May had been an ideal option.
Still, Jason O'Mara could be the perfect person to jump into the deep end of the agency dynamics. The Irish actor has actually had law enforcement roles in a couple TV shows to date, including the American adaptation of Life on Mars and the sci fi drama Terra Nova. He played a serial killer in an episode of Criminal Minds, so he definitely has experience playing characters on both sides of the law. His last big TV project was USA's medical drama Complications, which was cancelled after its first season. In a fun bit of trivia, O'Mara's casting for Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. will mean that he can boast roles for both Marvel and DC Comics. He leant his voice talents to several DC animated movies. The new director of S.H.I.E.L.D. will have the voice of Batman.
There's no saying at this point how a 1940s Marvel character will be brought to the small screen for S.H.I.E.LD. We can be sure there will need to be some significant updates to the character for 2016, so only time will tell how much the small screen character will have in common with the one who debuted in the 40s.
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. returns to the airwaves for Season 4 on Tuesday, September 20 in its new time slot at 10 p.m. ET. Check out our fall TV premiere schedule to see what else you'll be able to watch in the not-too-distant future.
