Agents of SHIELD returns tonight after an unreal hiatus (so much happened on and off camera) and it presented a number of cliffhangers as well as a number of new mysteries – a big one being – Just who is in the cocoon that Simmons discovers?
It’s such an unusual minor detail but the notion of someone marinating in their terragenesis cocoon for months – seven months – implies that this inhuman is going to be particularly important. Who are they? What do they want? We took a look at the top five theories for this new “box” of mysterious fun.
5. Taskmaster
The least likely option, but a fun one. With JT James getting rewritten to be an inhuman, it’s completely possible that the titular anti-villain might get a rewrite. Seemingly “Born” with the ability to copy anyone’s move and mimic everything right down to their voice patterns Taskmaster would present an intriguing villain for the team to tackle with Ghost Rider’s help. The fact that he was a former SHIELD agent who injected himself with a serum that damaged his memory but gave him these incredible abilities would be another layer – and perhaps harken back to some of Coulson/Fury’s decisions. If he has no memory of who he was prior to terragenesis it would represent an intriguing storyline as well as a possible chance for redemption for Jeffery Mace and Daisy – not to mention Robbie.
So far Agents of Shield has done well introducing fan favorites from the comics and then breaking them out into the larger Marvel world. With Ghost Rider hopefully getting his own spin off (#GhostriderForNetflix Marvel? Please?) Taskmaster would be an intriguing set up for the future of the show, a character who is incredibly powerful but easily manipulated and a real test of SHIELD’s heroism since by nature taskmaster is an Avengers level villain much like Lash whose history of tangling with the Avengers has taken multiple sides. Intriguing but unlikely.
4. A Member of the Inhuman Royal Family
Hear us out guys. There’s such a thing called second terragenesis which means that you can go through terragenesis twice. Yep it’s true. You’re literally able to go through terragenesis a second time. It doesn’t bode well and you end up looking more like Raina then you do a human being (everybody remember Raina? yep. Crazy) but Gorgon, a member of the inhuman royal family went through it twice and ended up like the picture above – a guy with minotaur-like legs. A second terragenesis would explain the longer gestation time and would result in a REALLY fun character for shield’s beloved VFX department.
Plus, bringing in Gorgon (or Karnak, or anyone) would not only draw in new audience members who are reading the comics much like what they did with Robbie Reyes but provide another much needed viewer base from fans of the growing inhuman series.
Of course we all know a member of the inhuman royal family who we would absolutely love to see…
3. Lockjaw.
No. No serious post, no defense. This reporter wants the guy to come out of his cocoon, turn into lockjaw, and for lockjaw to exist in the MCU. Not only would this herald an amazingly adorable much needed boost of happy to the characters but it’d just be plain fun.
Plus, the coming of Lockjaw much like the silver surfer would herald the coming of a much greater far more incredible individual – in this case Kamala Khan which given the upcoming Inhumans series would make sense. A tie in to the 8 episode event is a must and what better then a giant adorable doggy to not only drive home that terragenesis is awful and Daisy Johnson got lucky as all get out but to provide adorable doggy hugs for everyone?
Of course this leads into…
2. One of the other “nuhumans”.
Likely but not the final answer. With the Secret Warriors being re-introduced with Daisy at their helm, introducing Kamala, Inferno, Naja, and others becomes more and more important. The figure in the cocoon is clearly a male, so Kamala is out (and she wouldn’t require that much secrecy) so we’ll put the bet on it being Inferno. With Shield’s take on fire powered inhumans, a battle between JT James (still weaning himself away from Hive) and Robbie Reyes for a newly powered inhuman’s soul would be intriguing and exciting. Inferno’s a young kid, and adopting him into the Reyes family would be an interesting and incredibly adorable way of keeping Robbie grounded and provide more characters for that major cross over event.
Of course it’s not the final answer, and you guys might not like what we suspect…
1. Glenn Talbot
The level of secrecy surrounding this would indicate it’s a person we’ve seen, or possibly met. The first reaction this reporter had after seeing it was wondering about the last time we saw Glen Talbot. The seeds have been sown for Talbot to be inhuman since season 2 after Hydra’s strange dissolving bomb hit him and only wounded him instead of dissolving him. With rumors that Talbot would return and it’s been awhile since we’ve seen him, this reporter is hedging her beds on the identity of the being in the cocoon being Talbot.
The overwhelming scuttlebutt has been that we’d see a hulk type creature in MCU – from reddit to other forums. If it were Glenn Talbot with some sort of superhuman ability – particularly one that makes him look inhuman it’d be a heck of a surprise and force the team to confront someone who was skeptical of them from the get go. Would he be a hero? A villain? Only time will tell but our peg for “who is cookin’ in the cocoon?” Our pick is Glenn Talbot. Could we see the Red Hulk arrive in the MCU? Will he make a jump to a potential thunderbolts series? Only time will tell.
So what do you think true believers? Agree with our predictions? Disagree? Want Lockjaw as much as we do? Sound off in the comments below and remember that Deals with our Devils hits tonight at 10pm/9pm central on ABC.