When Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. came to a close for its Season 3 finale earlier this year, fans had quite a lot to think about, thanks to that surprising leap forward in time. But the most interesting aspect that had nothing to do with human beings was the reveal of Aida (or A.I.D.A., depending on your fondness for acronyms), the A.I. program created by Radcliffe. While our "first look" at the femme-bot was fleeting and vague, the show has now brought a human being into the role, as Galavant actress Mallory Jansen was cast for Season 4.
At this point, it isn't quite clear just how big Mallory Jansen's role will be as the android-gynous Aida, but considering the season finale was her "birthday" in that a humanoid form was entering the picture, we assume that we'll get to see an ample amount of exciting storylines and clever dialogue from the artificial assistant. Here's hoping that new body has some fighting skills programming into it, too.
First introduced in the comics in 1985 in the Marvel series Squadron Supreme, the Life Model Decoy A.I.D.A. - which stands for Artificial Intelligence Data Analyzer - was the creation of Thomas Thompson, better known by his superhero alias Tom Thumb. Their relationship was pretty nuanced for a human-and-android combo, and it'll be interesting to see how it all plays out in an episodic TV format. Marvel fans will be used to seeing formerly disembodied voices attaining full bodies, since the film side of the MCU gave Iron Man's Jarvis a new host in the form of Vision. We probably shouldn't expect anything too similar, though. But if we get Tom Thumb showing up at some point...
I don't think I'd be the only one who laughed if the costume/outfit S.H.I.E.L.D. chose to give the binary-curious Aida was one that looked exactly like her blotted out form.
A fully realized Aida is far from the only big change hitting Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. in the coming year. The organization now has a new direction, with Agent Coulson taking a step down. And Coulson is now trying to track down an on-the-run Daisy/Quake, who has gone rogue after her powers apparently threaten the life of anyone she's close with. And there's also a little someone named Ghost Rider heading to live-action TV for the first time, which could be magnificent. There's the chance we'll get to meet up with Bobbi and Lance again in the future as well, since their planned spinoff didn't happen.
Joining this show will definitely be the biggest move in the young career of Mallory Jansen, who hails from Melbourne, Australia. Her first U.S. TV roles were recurring parts in the ABC Family series Baby Daddy and Young & Hungry. She then landed her then-biggest part in ABC's spot-on comedy musical Galavant, which managed to nab a second season on the strength of its already-in-cult-stage following, but failed to get a third.
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Season 4 will debut on ABC on Tuesday, September 20, at 10:00 p.m. ET. To see when everything else is making its artificially intelligent way to the small screen later this year, check out our fall premiere schedule.
