“Marvel’s Agents of SHIELD” Season 4: Will Bobbi And Hunter Return?

Two of “Agents of SHIELD’s” best spies left midseason for their own spinoff, which is already canceled. Might we see their return?

Going on this week’s theme for Marvel’s Agents of SHIELD’s articles, it would be remiss of me if I didn’t mention the two other characters who departed the show before their time.

Let’s talk about Bobbi Morse and Lance Hunter.

I have very strong feelings about these two and how their departure was handled. Don’t get me wrong, their final scene with the spy’s farewell had me bawling alone on my couch at 10pm at night. Nothing fit better for those two characters. It was perfect.

Until it wasn’t. Meaning until Marvel’s Most Wanted was canceled before it even really started. That spin-off showcase was created specifically for Bobbi and Hunter and it was the only reason Agents of SHIELD got rid of them. I’ve already preached about this being a huge mistake, so I won’t go down that road.

Phil Coulson said that they could never return because of what they did/how they went out. One would think that as Director, Coulson would have a way for them to come back to the team. But… Coulson tends to follow really obscure rules, and it feels like this is one he wouldn’t break.

But Coulson is no longer Director.

Here’s my foolproof theory on how to bring them both back into the Agents of SHIELD fold:

In that six-month flash forward, we see Coulson absolutely desperate to get a hold of Daisy, who’s living large on the run. That minute or so glimpse shows that SHIELD is having trouble getting even remotely close to her.

Coulson’s fatherly protection has to be kicking in hard with how frantic the SHIELD assault feels. He has to be at his wit’s end trying to get Daisy. As the J. Geils Band says, “Every now and then we do get desperate.”

No longer Director and willing to do anything, he decides to recruit some familiar faces that would also care deeply about Daisy, but would pose no threat to her. Coulson makes a covert mission with Mack (assuming he isn’t Director, but more on that in a later article) to track down their current whereabouts and recruit them for his mission.

Because Daisy wouldn’t know they were working with Coulson, as he’s not supposed to be in contact with them. Sure, she would be wary with them at first, but how can you turn away Bobbi and Hunter? She’s a fantastic badass you can’t help but listen to, and he’s a smartass ready with a sarcastic remark. At the very least, Daisy would probably hear them out.

Hey, tracking down an at-large Inhuman and stopping her “reign of terror” should be good enough to get them back in SHIELD’s good graces, right?

Obviously this can’t happen in the first few episodes or it just feels like a total cheat. Make it six or seven episodes into the season and do it like The Office did with that potential Dwight spinoff: make the pilot episode of Marvel’s Most Wanted its own episode. Just tweak the ending a bit and have Coulson show up on their doorstep. “I could use a little help from my friends,” he tells them, or some other ridiculous Coulson deadpan.

I wouldn’t be surprised if Bobbi and Hunter feel a lot like Hawkeye in Captain America: Civil War–bored by the home life and craving some action. Hunter would jump at the opportunity to be back in the field while Bobbi would take some persuasion (though not much).

Please, Agents of SHIELD, make it happen. Bring back our favorite bickering couple.