Brett Dalton may be best known for playing Grant Ward in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., but his panel at C2E2 this past weekend showcased his theatre background.
A graduate of the David Geffen School of Drama at Yale University, Dalton was especially receptive to applause and crowd reactions, really feeding off the energy. He actively engaged with the audience. He made quips and took chances to entertain and perform — not just inform and answer questions. He seemed at home and in his natural state, knowing how to work and converse with people.
It was a contrast to the Marvel character many fans know him for — and, in tandem, a testament to the talent he has as an actor.
Brett Dalton on Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and Grant Ward’s season 1 fate
Though some of the discussion during Dalton’s C2E2 panel focused on his work as a voice actor and as Detective Mark Trent in the NBC series Found, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. was the primary topic. Dalton recalled his audition, how big a deal the show was before it even began, and how the cast enjoyed each other’s company.
And, of course, he talked about Ward’s being a double agent.
Ultimately, Dalton said it was great to play Ward and had fun with the traitor storyline. But he also shared that before finding out about the Hydra plot, he was uncertain about his character’s direction, not knowing who Ward was anymore.
“I started the pilot as this Indiana Jones, swashbuckler kind of person,” Dalton said. “I was like, ‘This is fun! You know, ‘What does S.H.I.E.L.D. stand for? Strategic Homeland, Intervention Enforcement and Logistics Division. OK, what does it mean? It means someone really wanted our initials to spell SHIELD.’
“I got to say cool lines like that, and then those lines disappeared. I don’t know. Just as the series kept going on, season 1, I just got into a whole bunch of fights.”
When it was time to reveal Hydra, the actor recalled the range of emotions he had. The cast had watched a special cut of Captain America: The Winter Soldier, so he was curious how a show centered on S.H.I.E.L.D. would continue after S.H.I.E.L.D. ceased to exist.
Dalton still remembers how he found out about Ward’s ties to Hydra. During the panel at C2E2, he recalled various details about the experience: how it happened on a Friday, how he was called in after filming a fight scene with Ming-Na Wen, and how he thought this meeting meant his character was going to die and he’d be fired.
The news was a relief and an opportunity he called “incredible” — even if he didn’t get much time to prepare for the change.
“I didn’t have a lot of prep time,” Dalton said about the Hydra reveal. “I didn’t know any of that was going to happen, but I just ran with it. What an opportunity that was.”
Brett Dalton revisits Ward’s death (and Hive’s rebirth)
As Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. progresses, the show veers into a more serious tone that doesn’t have as much of the humor and lighthearted moments that were more frequent in season 1. They’re still present in later seasons but not as prominent as before. For Ward, especially, his storylines involve fewer moments for such moving forward.
Despite how things became more serious, Dalton mentioned he didn’t think he had a lot of moments of levity to help him, also emphasizing how Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. is “a fun show.”
“It’s not (Law and Order:) SVU,” Dalton said. “At the end of the day, we’re running around playing with made-up weapons in front of a green screen. There’s monsters, there’s aliens, and the good guys save the day — unless you’re really the bad guy.”
But what wasn’t fun for Dalton? Being dead.
“When I was alive,” he answered with an amusing bluntness in response to his favorite version of Ward to play. “Being dead was not fun.”
Ward dies in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. season 3 episode 10: “Maveth” at the hands of Phil Coulson. It then paves the way for Ward to become the next host for Hive. It meant Dalton still had a role to play, but it also meant that role was of an ancient parasitic Inhuman living in a dead body.
During the panel, Dalton mentioned he had recently rewatched the episode and got particularly animated when retelling the events of Ward’s death. He expressed lighthearted but legitimate disbelief at and disappointment in Coulson’s actions.
“I did want a line at that point, too,” Dalton said playfully, in regards to Coulson contemplating whether to kill Ward, “because it’s like, ‘Yes, my child. You’ve become just as evil as I have.’”
Dalton on Ward’s return in the Framework
Actual Ward’s story may have ended on Maveth, but the Framework arc in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. season 4 brought Dalton back to play yet another version of the character.
At C2E2, Dalton (somewhat) jokingly recalled how he wished he had more time to prepare for the Framework, recalling how he not only wasn’t in “Ward shape” but also learned about it right after Thanksgiving. Even so, he said it was “cool” for Ward to have that Framework storyline.
“He didn’t get a redemption arc, but I think, to me, if the spirit of Ward was still in that Framework, then that means he really did have a good side to him,” Dalton said.
Ward’s Framework storyline mirrors the legitimate Ward’s storyline, focusing on being a double agent and his romantic interest in Skye. The Framework offers a glimpse at what Ward and his life could have been like if he chose to be good and favored good influences instead of choosing Hydra. Framework Ward is actually a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent, part of the resistance, but is posing as a Hydra agent — the opposite of reality. Framework Ward is also in a committed relationship with Skye — another contrast from reality, where their romance died promptly with Ward’s heel turn.
Dalton went on to explain that he felt Ward’s feelings for Skye were genuine. So while they didn’t work out in reality, the Framework gave Ward a chance to “still love Skye.”
“This is a guy with love to give,” Dalton said of Ward. “It just always seems to be in the wrong way and to the wrong person. We all want to be loved. And so, he just goes about it in the wrong way.”