Showrunner Jed Whedon weighs in on the “complicated” path ahead for Ward and his former allies when Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. season 3 returns.
Since his reveal as a Hydra agent in season 1, Grant Ward has been one of the most controversial characters on Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. — and the recent midseason finale leveled-up Ward’s shock factor yet again.
When a revenge-bent Coulson murdered Ward on Maveth, Ward’s body was adopted by the still-mysterious Inhuman that had stalked the planet. Un-Ward returned through the portal, opening up — quite literally — a whole new world of deadly possibilities for both Ward and Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. season 3.
Though Ward became an increasingly unambiguous baddie as the show progressed, Jed Whedon told EW that he is enthused by the fan debate around the character and his potential return to the light.
“The thing that’s so fun to me is that people are still talking about it,” he says. “Some of [Ward’s] actions at the end of this first half of the season, I can’t imagine how people still think that he’s going to be redeemed, but the fact that they’re still talking about it, that makes me super happy.”
“We are such fans of his character and of Brett [Dalton]’s portrayal of it,” he adds. “We love the debate. We can’t believe it’s still going.”
But Whedon himself takes the view that Ward is missing a crucial ingredient needed for redemption.
“While he’s done terrible things, you have to want to be forgiven to be forgiven,” he says. “I don’t know if that’s something he wants. By the same token, our team, their hands are dirtier than they’ve ever been.”
Going forward, Whedon says, fans can look forward to seeing a certain degree of the Ward they remember when Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. season 3 returns in March. Just how much of the original personality stays in the host body, however, remains to be seen.
“He has changed,” Whedon affirms, noting that stranded astronaut Will Daniels retained some personality when taken over by the creature. “They’re both altered humans at this point… we know that Will’s memories lived on, so some of that could carry [on].”
As to whether those memories leave any potential for Ward and Daisy Johnson — formerly Skye — to hook up, Whedon doesn’t seem to think it likely.
“Now she’s not Skye and he’s not Ward,” he says, observing that “the chances are greater than ever” that the ship is doomed not to sail.
But that doesn’t mean things aren’t going to get interesting. Between Un-Ward’s earth shattering return and Coulson’s culpability therein, Lash being out on the loose, FitzSimmons dealing with unfinished business, and the looming threat of Captain America: Civil War, it’s clear that nothing is going to be simple in the back half of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. season 3.
Quite the contrary.
“As I’m sure you have guessed,” Whedon teases, “It’s going to get complicated. Spoiler alert, it’s going to get complicated.”
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. season 3 returns on Tuesday, March 8 at 9:00 p.m. on ABC.
Source: EW
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