After much speculation as to exactly who would be picking up the esteemed mantle of ‘Director’ – following Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D‘s end of season reveal that it would no longer be Phil Coulson – the recently cast Jason O’Mara has spoken briefly about what he knows, or more precisely, what he doesn’t know about his upcoming role.
The only information we’ve been privy to thus far is that he’d be “playing a character whose Marvel roots go back to the 1940s.” Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter, O’Mara offered some speculation of his own.
“He could become a villain. I honestly don’t know. I don’t know where it’s headed. I also don’t know how long it will last. Usually you go into something knowing how many episodes it will be for, but this is open-ended. It could be good, it could be bad, it could be hero, it could be villain. It could be anything. If the fans hate me and if the writers hate me, maybe I’ll be four episodes and done.”
He does go on to acknowledge the importance of the role as a power player within established Marvel Cinematic Universe lore – giving some insight into the character and how he’s been finding his place within the existing cast.
“It’s pretty high status. It’s a little daunting. He’s a high status character. Suddenly he comes in and he’s the boss, telling the other characters orders. Here I come in after been doing this for four years and I’m telling them what to do. It’s a little awkward, even for me on set!”
Finally, O’Mara goes onto to reiterate the new Director’s grounding in comic book source material. Unsurprisingly, though, while the character is from the comics, we can expect this character to be adjusted so that they work in a modern setting. Unfortunately, that’s about all the actor is able to reveal.
“He has roots in Marvel history. We know that he’s out there already. He pre-exists. But no doubt [the writers] will do their own modern spin on it, as they do. No doubt he’ll be riddled with flaws, as they do. But they don’t tell us much further than the script we just received. I like the secrecy. It’s frustrating as an actor sometimes because the more information you have, the more you have to work with. But I do like this idea that stories should be surprising. It’s also a good marketing tool to not even release the name of the director of SHIELD. It builds the mystery so I’ll go along with it.”
And so for now, it remains anyone’s guess as to who’ll be calling the shots come season four’s debut this fall, but do be sure to follow MCU Exchange for any further announcements.
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. will return to ABC on September 20th at 10 PM EST.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter.
