When Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. returns in the fall, Phil Coulson and his team will be facing a variety of obstacles on their mission to protect the world. On the bureaucracy side, Coulson will butt heads with the mysterious head of a new agency played by Constance Zimmer. Conversely, there will also be Inhuman threats on the loose, and now Marvel as revealed that former football player-turned-actor Matt Willig will play Lash, a dangerous Inhuman the team will run into on their adventure.
The official synopsis for Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Season 3 lists Willig as playing the recurring Lash. The press information simply describes the character as “a monstrous Inhuman whose loyalties remain ambiguous,” so it’s unclear whether he will be an adversary to the S.H.I.E.L.D. team or if his mission will fall in line with their goals. Marvel first announced Lash’s MCU introduction last month at San Diego Comic-Con. He is the fourth Inhuman to be announced for Season 3, including main character Skye (a.k.a. Daisy Johnson) Season 2 player Lincoln Campbell and Joey (played by Pablo Raba), who is also listed as someone “who is struggling to harness his newfound abilities.”
Introduced by writer Charles Soule and artist Joe Madureira last year in Inhumans #1, Lash is a brutish Inhuman who is able to absorb and convert energy. Lash hails Orollan, one of the few Inhuman communities that branched off from the main Inhuman city Attilan. He believes that only the worthy should undergo Terrigenesis, the process of when a person with Inhuman genes breathes in the Terrigen Mist and is subsequently transformed or given abilities. This has led to him challenging the authority of the Inhuman Royal Family, specifically Queen Medusa, as well as tracking down the new Inhumans popping up around the planet to judge if they’re worthy. If they’re not (at least in his eyes), he kills them. No doubt Lash on Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. is on a similar hunt to find the new Inhumans emerging as a result of the Terrigen crystal remnants that were spread across the planet in the Season 2 finale. If he is anything like his comic book counterpart, then Skye, Lincoln and the rest of the Inhumans in the Secret Warriors will need to be on guard in case he doesn’t think they should have their powers.
After playing for teams like the New York Jets and the St. Louis Rams, Willig retired from football in 2005 and soon after kicked off his acting career. His TV roles include guest spots on Brooklyn 99, Grimm and Cold Case, as well as recurring roles on Dexter, NCIS and Chuck. He also has previous superhero experience voicing Juggernaut in the video game Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions.
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Season 3 will premiere on Tuesday, September 29 in its normal timeslot on ABC.
