“Marvel’s Agents of SHIELD” Season 4 Possibilities

The synopsis for the fourth season of “Marvel’s Agents of SHIELD” leaves a lot to be imagined. Good thing we’re good at imagining.

Earlier this week, Marvel’s Agents of SHIELD released its synopsis for the upcoming fourth season; you can read it in its entirety over here. I’m here to break down just what some of these generalities might mean. You don’t want to give away much in the synopsis, just enough to keep people interested.

Ever since Captain America: Civil War, we’ve wondered what the reverberating effects would be for our SHIELD team—after all, there were only a few episodes after Civil War and they were so wrapped up in taking down Hive that it was barely more than a mention.

It should be more than that. Not just because Captain America, Phil Coulson’s idol, is now a wanted criminal, but because this is a show about superheroes and superheroes have been asked to either fall in line with the government or retire.

The synopsis says that SHIELD no longer needs to operate in the shadows. This makes sense, but at the same time, the majority of the world will still see it as a shell for Hydra (even with Hydra demolished). Is this really going to work out so well? Or might there be backlash from outsiders not trusting their moves when they show up on the scene. You can also argue the other side that you need a faction of the government to deal specifically with the superpowered, and SHIELD has been doing it since Iron Man (and well before, thanks to Agent Carter).

It’s also understandable that SHIELD needs a new face, but does the whole world know Coulson is dead or just the Avengers and some miscellaneous SHIELD agents that haven’t heard through the grapevine? Of course, Coulson hasn’t made the best decisions in the world lately as Director, so giving him a push back to field agent might be good for his character rebuild.

In fact, almost everyone has different—or at least upgraded—roles this season. May’s in charge of creating special task forces; Mack’s teamed up with Coulson so they’re on the same level again; and Simmons is now Special Advisor to the new Director, whom we have yet to see in action. Her role sounds a lot like the start of the second season when she was neck-deep in Hydra and it sounds like she’ll be treated more like an outsider by everyone in our crew but Fitz. Which means lots of heartfelt speeches from Fitz in every episode to bolster her spirits when she realizes everyone keeps her at a distance now.

But even Fitz will probably find himself at odds with everyone, too, when he discovers just what Dr. Radcliffe is working on. It’ll be like when he discovered Daisy had Inhuman DNA; he’ll barely be able to keep a lid on it. And if it’s LMDs like that post-credits scene teases, that’s a big thing to keep secret. That could mean the return of Brett Dalton in a much less evil Grant Ward. Or an LMD of Peggy Carter. Or a LMD of Thor like there was supposed to be in Captain America: Civil War… I’m getting away from myself…

And then there’s the big one, the big reveal: Ghost Rider’s arrival. Who knows how this character will pan out, if he starts as an enemy and becomes an unlikely ally or if he just remains on the fence. I think the bigger question is:

When will he arrive?

Season three teased the Secret Warriors almost from the beginning, and they didn’t show up until the latter half of the season, and even then only for a few episodes together. It wouldn’t surprise me if Agents of SHIELD waits to bring in Robbie Reyes’ character until the mid-season finale in December, give us something big to look forward to come February/March.

All that being said, the avenues Agents of SHIELD can take this season plot-wise will more than likely lead us down some darker, entertaining paths.