Is Grant Ward even still a regular on Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.? If it wasn’t for Brett Dalton’s enthusiasm for the character and the show, I honestly would have no idea.
Why? Because he’s never around.
And when he is around? He’s nothing more than a glorified plot device. A catalyst.
Regardless of whether or not you believe that Grant Ward is a redeemable character (which I personally do) you have to admit that there hasn’t been much done with his character since the big Hydra reveal back in season 1. His decisions and motivations, which were previously overlooked, suddenly mattered. A lot. He became central to the storytelling.
And then came season 2.
As soon as we hit season 2, it was like his character really wasn’t all that important anymore. Or, well, he was only important when the story needed to be moved along or when characters wanted to be angry at someone.
In fact, the few storylines Ward did get in season 2 were muddled and left unresolved. For instance, it’s never clear or even delved into whether or not his brother’s gunpoint confession was actually truthful. Also, Ward’s suicidal tendencies while in Coulson’s makeshift prison are never addressed and even Ward’s relationship with Agent 33 is never really fully explained.
Instead of giving him a significant plot of his own (beyond the short confrontation he had with his older brother), Ward was instead used to facilitate events. He brought Skye’s father into the plot. He brought Bakshi to S.H.I.E.L.D. so that they could use him to get a step ahead of Hydra. He has a really weird side plot with Agent 33 that has no purpose other than causing some added tension for Coulson’s team.
(Really though. Ward and Agent 33 team up, form an unexplained relationship around being brainwashed, help Coulson’s team sometimes, and then engage in a fight that’s just a small speed bump on the way to the larger season 2 finale Inhumans fight. Oh, and then the slightly useless fight is now a catalyst for Hunter and Bobbi in the third season.)
It hurts to say it, but if Ward had been removed from season 2 altogether, it wouldn’t have made that much of a difference, story-wise. Other characters would have been able to fill the gaps. Agent 33 probably would have just been able to go the revenge route on her own.
That’s a problem.
Seeing as Ward is one of the show’s main characters, he deserves more than that. He deserves to be more than just a convenient catalyst or plot device. The threads and details are there for the show to tug on to expand on his character, but they’ve just gone largely ignored.
For instance, one of the most interesting aspects of his character is his flawed morality. His skewed sense of right and wrong, and justification for it. However, instead of really focusing on that, the show paints him as full-on villain most of the time and only allows for shades of grey when it suits the main plot.
It also doesn’t help that Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.‘s Hydra isn’t nearly as nuanced as the one seen dismantled in The Winter Soldier. While that Hydra was working toward a specific and organized world order controlled by fear, the one that Ward interacts with just feels like an evil organization that just wants to do evil. The lack of a nuanced Hydra severely hinders Ward’s character because we can’t even get character development by association.
Just yesterday, Marvel uploaded this video to their YouTube channel of Brett Dalton discussing his character. In it, Brett talks about Ward’s twisted logic and the aspects that make him something other than just an evil villain.
Watching the video, it’s hard not to notice how much of a grasp Brett Dalton has on who he believes the character is: a complicated man with messed up morals who still believes in helping people. You’ll also notice that these details (as well as some of the other things Dalton talks about) are evident in the storytelling, but only when reading between the lines. These details deserve to be brought to the forefront and explored, just like other characters’ traits have been.
Dalton also says something that’s really interesting and thought-provoking. He states “I think Coulson wants world peace, I think Ward wants world peace as well. We’re just going at it in two very different ways.” His view of Ward in terms of the other characters is less antagonistic and more of the “two sides of the same coin” mindset. This view allows for complicated situations and a whole lot of character development. That’s the Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Grant Ward story I want to see, not the one where Ward is just filling in the gaps.
That being said, while the show’s track record when it comes to Ward hasn’t been great, there are quite a few details about season 3 that makes me hopeful for the future (aside from Dalton’s astute observations).
For one thing, Ward seems to be pretty central to the marketing for Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.. After all, there are three people featured on the show’s poster/whatever you want to call that logo they air on TV: Ward, Coulson, and Skye. Other fan-favorite characters are absent. It’s just those three.
Additionally, the preview for the second episode heavily features Ward. In fact, Marvel even released a sneak peek of a scene from tonight’s episode that is 100% Ward-centric before also releasing the sort of behind the scenes clip with Brett Dalton. Correct me if I’m wrong, but there was nothing of the sort being released last year.
If anything, Ward is now the leader of Hydra. That has to count for something. After all, it’s S.H.I.E.L.D.’s nemesis. The Loki to their Thor. I’d hope that the leader of such an important organization would receive quite a bit of important (and development-rich) screen time.
Plus, Ward has an infatuation with power and now is one of the most powerful people in the world. How is he going to deal with it now that he fully has it? Now that he’s fully in charge? Will that change anything for him? I just have so many questions that I hope this season of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. will tackle. With Ward in a position of power, these topics should come naturally.
With his skills, moral ambiguity, and infatuation with power, Grant Ward could be one of the most interesting characters on the show instead of one of the most underused and hated (depending on who you talk to, of course). The good news is that all of this can turn around in season 3. The threads are there. It’s just up to the writers to pull them.
Where do you stand on the Grant Ward debate?
Related (sort of): Grant Ward on S.H.I.E.L.D. cannot — and should not — be redeemed (opinion)
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