Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. is already set to have a number of new faces appear in the second season of the show, having announced appearances by Lucy Lawless (Isabelle Hartley), Reed Diamond (Daniel Whitehall), and Nick Blood (Lance Hunter) at San Diego Comic-Con last month. But there is a lot of episodes ahead, and the series isn't done adding to recurring cast members.
On their official site, Marvel has revealed that actor Henry Simmons, best known for his work on the long running procedural cop drama NYPD Blue, has joined the cast of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Season 2. Like some of the other newcomers to the show, he will be playing a character with origins in the comics - and he'll be playing for the good guys. Simmons has signed on to play Alphonso "Mack" Mackenzie, who first appeared in "Nick Fury vs. S.H.I.E.L.D." Issue #3 (how fitting, considering where things are currently in the Marvel Cinematic Universe). Mackenzie is described as being a mechanic who winds up "allying himself with Coulson’s team." That's very vague, and tells us absolutely nothing about what to expect!
Looking at the version of the character from the comics, which you can see below, you'll notice an interesting element to this casting:
Yes, a black actor is playing a while character. That being said, I can't believe for one second that anybody will even really care.
When we last left Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Director Nick Fury passed along his title to Agent Coulson - now Director Coulson - and now it is up to our hero and his team to help rebuild the titular international spy organization from the ground up. We don't know too many plot details or what to expect from individual episodes, but considering Brett Dalton was present at this year's San Diego Comic-Con, we can at least expect a few of them to be about drama dealing with Ward's evilness and, perhaps, his retribution.
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. is currently filming, and new episodes will start airing this fall at a new time. Unlike last year, when the show aired at 8:00pm on Tuesdays, the show will now be airing at 9:00pm on Tuesdays (not exactly an earth-shattering move). New episodes will start up on ABC on September 23rd, and at the midway point in the season, fans will be introduced to a whole new Marvel Studios television series: Agent Carter, starring Hayley Atwell. That show does not yet have a set air date, but we will surely tell you about it as soon as one is announced.
