WMG / Agents Of SHIELD Confirmed

Stan Lee will appear

C'mon, it's a Marvel production! He has to appear! ^note  Sidenote: Lee appeared in Kick-Ass which he had absolutely nothing to do with other than it being based on a Marvel comic.

• The show's premise is literally taking elements and characters from the comics and bringing them into the action. It's highly unlikely that heroes from the comics won't show up.
• Stan Lee didn't create Captain America, but he still cameoed in Captain America: The First Avenger.
• There is no rule set in stone as to where does Stan Lee can or can't make a cameo. If the production invites him, and he accepts, then that is all that is needed. As for creation, this is a TV series about SHIELD, and SHIELD has first appeared in Strange Tales #135 (1965) by... Stan Lee and Jack Kirby.
• Confirmed in the promo for Episode 1x13.

The cast of The Avengers will appear for special guest roles

Mostly season finale stuff.

• Possibly more if the show is either doing very well or very poorly. But almost assuredly so. At the very least, Natasha and/or Clint at least once or twice (since they are both still presumably part of SHIELD in some form or another, in addition to The Avengers and possibly other missions in deep black ops style).
• Confirmed as of Episode 2, though not one of the 6 "main liners". Nick Fury

More SHIELD agents from the comics will appear in minor or recurring roles

Agents like Clay Quartermain and Jimmy Woo may appear at several points. Same goes for the characters from Item 47 such as Sitwell.

• Confirmed. Bill Paxton plays John Garrett.

Other characters from Marvel One-Shots will appear as Special Guest Stars

Because Coulson is definitely cool, but Jasper Sitwell, Agent Blake, Benny and Claire have their fans too. And their actors are much more affordable than Chris Evans or Scarlett Johansson.

• Confirmed. Agent Blake appears in FZZT and Jasper Sitwell in "The Hub", the episode after it. They reappear later in the Season too.

Mike Peterson will become this universe's version of Deathlok

.In addition to his Extremis super strenth, his now-missing leg (which will no doubt be given some kind of replacement) and having a mechanical eye makes him a perfect candidate. Peterson's family man background and imminent future of being used as a cybernetic warrior against his will bears many similarities to Michael Collins, one of the many men to have taken up the Deathlok mantle.

• Word of God says yes, Mike Peterson will become Deathlok in an upcoming episode. That episode is 1x13.

Coulson's brainwashed for some reason to be revealed

Coulson has never gone to Tahiti: Tahiti is a Trigger Phrase. Every time someone mentions Tahiti, Coulson immediately replies with "It's a magical place." This is because he's been implanted with post-hypnotic suggestions and he says it unconsciously(think "La Li Lu Le Lo" in the Metal Gear series or "Would you kindly..." in the original BioShock). Tahiti is basically a "systems check"; when a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent mentions Tahiti to Coulson, they're verifying that his brainwashing is still in place.

• Confirmed. Coulson was dead for DAYS, and apparently crossed to the other side, but bringing him back sapped him of his will to live. He was implanted false memories of going to Tahiti as a way to alleviate the trauma, and "Tahiti" was used as a Trigger Phrase to make sure the implanted memories stuck.

Coulson will suffer from PTSD during the series

Dying then resurrecting can't be easy on the psyche. However, it won't always be obvious. Just stuff like avoiding knives and avoiding men with black hair dressed in green. SHIELD won't let him back if he's suffering anything that could affect his work.

• Some later trailers seem to suggest Coulson is constantly joking and trying to lighten the mood, instead of being The Stoic. Perhaps Tony Snark has rubbed off on him, or perhaps his Lighter and Softer personality might be the form of his PTSD. Perhaps Coulson Came Back Wrong — as a happy jokester or maybe a Sad Clown. It's possible that Coulson's wiseass behaviour is his way to cope with the stress and trauma of coming back from death, convincing himself and others that he's fine.
• Confirmed. Coulson was dead for DAYS and apparently crossed to the other side, but was brought back through a crapload of experimental medicine. When he came back, the trauma of the experience sapped him of his will to live, he was actually BEGGING to be left to die. To deal with the trauma, he was implanted with false memories to alleviate it, but he still subconsciously remembered it and it explains is change of personality. As of "The Magical Place", he now knows the truth. "Nothing Personal" revealed that the resurrection process was so traumatic that it necessitated the use of memory implants to be able to function afterwards, and that Coulson himself was the one assigned to supervise the project, but threatened resignation because of it. Season 2 reveals just how bad Project T.A.H.I.T.I. went and why Coulson feels this bad about it.

The mystery of how Coulson survived getting stabbed by Loki in The Avengers will be one of the major myth arcs of the show

• They've already dropped hints that Coulson himself doesn't know the truth of how he survived (though Hill does). Is it a myth arc? Dunno. But it's a thing, at the very least.
• It goes full-arc in "The Magical Place".

The way Coulson thinks he survived and the way he actually survived are two entirely different matters.

• In order to maintain the facade that Coulson died (there by giving The Avengers the push they needed to start acting like, well, The Avengers) Fury pulled some serious strings when Phil was in recovery and maybe even lied to his "One Good Eye" in order to keep him from accidentally blowing the secret. Only a select few higher-ups within the organization are privy to this information and it may or may not ultimately have an impact on future relations between The Avengers and S.H.I.E.L.D. if the truth is ever revealed. As Tony Stark said, after all: [even Fury's] secrets have secrets.
• Confirmed. Hill and the doctor (played by Ron Glass) confirm between them that Coulson's Tahiti story isn't true, and that Coulson believes it.

Coulson's recovery involved memory implants.

Patching up the stab wound was easy enough for one of the most technologically-advanced organizations on the planet; explaining to Coulson that his very existence is now a lie to his hero Captain America is far more complicated. Rather than try and coerce Coulson into keeping up the facade, Fury never gave him the option in the first place. He had the boys in the lab cook up a nice, sunny memory of Tahiti. Also of note is Coulson continually referring to his "time" on the island as a magical place. Insistent Terminology, or something more?

• Confirmed by Coulson's neurosurgeon in "A Magical Place". This was probably due to the extremely painful surgery they had to do on Coulson's fully-exposed brain while he was fully conscious.

Coulson died.

Similar to the LMD WMG Coulson really did die and what we see is a fake who thinks he's the real one and he isn't allowed to do physical work not because he's still injured but because the illusion would break. However, he isn't a Life Model Decoy but something entirely different, a brand new thing along the same lines as the cast being canon foreigners.

• We've now (as of Ep. 3) seen him fighting and shooting, even though he's "a little rusty".
• Seemingly Jossed as of "FZZT", when we see Coulson's stab wound.
• Confirmed, he had been dead for days until they brought him back to life.

The black guy in the trailer is a Race Lift of a preexisting white character.

Just to throw people off. He'll be Wonder Man.

• Jossed then confirmed! Word of God says that Mike Peterson becomes the MCU Deathlok!

The group that abducted Akela is the same one behind Centipede.

Whatever group that may be (see various WMGs above). Yes, I know the Marvel Universe has Nebulous Evil Organizations coming out the wazoo, but it seems a little early for the show runners to be bringing in multiple groups, when its easier to just make one be behind everything.

• Confirmed in "The Bridge."

The Agents will take on an Extremis Soldier

What better way to save on special effects than to have someone who doesn't look superhuman? Besides, we haven't seen the last of the enhancement program by Wordof God. It's a perfect fit.

• It's not exactly an Extremis soldier, but they do encounter someone connected to the formula in the pilot.
• And a guy immune to the Extremis's explosion effects in episode 5. After his immunity is taken away May kills him by injecting him with an overdose that causes him to explode. Judging by Raina's plans at the end of the episode, the group will encounter more Extemis soldiers in the future.
• Confirmed in "The Bridge" when Mike Peterson temporarily joins the team.

The first season's arc will be what happened to Coulson during The Avengers.

We would find out a simple version early on. A LMD, faked, etc. But, as time goes on, all these little details would stop adding up. If it's an LMD, why does he have scars? If he faked the death, why does he show signs of necrosis? etc. The finale will be either recreating or dealing with what happened on the Helicarrier and how he REALLY came back.

• Confirmed. The official story is he flatlined for few minutes, faked his death and went to Tahiti (it's a magical place). Once he's out of the room, this is specifically stated to be not true. "The Bridge" ended with Reyna and Project Centipede trading Mike Peterson's son for Coulson so they can figure out what's going on with his death.

Lola, Coulson's Cool Car, will be revealed to be a flying car.

• The comics version of S.H.I.E.L.D. have flying cars in their arsenal, and it'd probably make sense for a high-ranking S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent like Coulson to have a flying car as a personal ride. It would also explain why Coulson doesn't want anyone touching his car. He doesn't want anyone messing with the car's flying capabilities.
  • Item 47 also revealed a reverse-engineered Chitauri gun being mounted on a vehicle. Maybe Lola includes a hidden one.
  • Confirmed. And it's the same kind of flying car Howard Stark was trying to show off in Captain America: The First Avenger.
  • It is basically a Bond Car if you listen to the tech specs as described by Fitz-Simmons.Anyway, it is very much SHIELDtech.

Skye was never as distrustful of S.H.I.E.L.D. as she let on.

When she hacked into them, sent them messages, and exposed their secrets, it wasn't entirely to show the public what they were up to, though that was part of it. She also wanted Coulson's attention. That was also the reason she sought out Michael, apart from obviously wanting to help him out. She knew S.H.I.E.L.D. would take an interest in him and saw it as a chance to arrange a meeting with the higher-ups. All of the "Rising Tide" stuff she did wasn't an attack against S.H.I.E.L.D., it was a job application.

• Confirmed - sort of. As of the second episode she seems to have been trying to get into SHIELD for Rising Tide. We will see why as the season progresses. Then we learn the real reason she joined S.H.I.E.L.D. She is looking for information about her parents, and the only clue she has now is a S.H.I.E.L.D.-redacted document from an orphanage.

There is a level 8, and maybe a level 9

All Level 6 agents appear to believe they have the highest security clearance, based on Sitwell and Ward at the least, and all agents from Level 1 to 6 are likely lead to believe 6 is the highest. However, details of how Coulson is alive are not privy to him, but are to Deputy Director Hill and at least one Doctor, which would make them Level 8. If there is a Level 9, only 1 member of S.H.I.E.L.D will be on that level; Director Fury. Level 10 is SWORD and Level 11 is ARMOR.

• Confirmed in "The Hub". Coulson, Hand, Sitwell, Barton, and Romanov are all confirmed level 8. As for the second part, when Coulson requests to see a certain file, (his recovery report), his access denied despite being a Level 8 and he is told to make a formal request to Director Fury himself.
• In "T.A.H.I.T.I.", Director Fury is stated to be Level 10. He is also seemingly the only Level 10, since it was said that Level 10 access could only have been Fury.

There will be a 7th Episode Twist

Well, with all these one shot stories floating around the first couple episodes after the pilot, and given that a comic inspired show is bound to start a real story arc sooner or later, I wouldn't put it past them to throw some sort of loop at us over the nature of the show.

• It just so happens that Episode 7 ("The Hub") did feature a few twists: Skye learning a bit more about her past, and Coulson delving into what really happened to him. Plus, the first indications that SHIELD isn't as altruistic as it seems.

Coulson knows that Ward and May are sleeping with each other

He just doesn't feel any need to do anything about it so long as it doesn't impact their work.

• Confirmed. He didn't know before, but May tells him in "Seeds". He essentially states the above

Skye has a superpower. Coulson knows but she doesn't.

Coulson figured out Skye had powers (probably a technopath) when he found out who her parents were and then told "Big SHIELD" who she was. This would explain why SHIELD hasn't had her fired and jailed after hacking into their computers. They know she has powers and want to use her.

• Kinda confirmed. In Seeds, Coulson found out the truth about Sky, she was an 0-8-4 and is implied to have unknown powers. He later tells her what he knows.

Skye will finally become a full-fledged agent.

The promo for episode 1x11 seems to strongly imply this, especially since Coulson has been abducted by Centipede, and so the team is one agent short.

• Confirmed It doesn't happen in episode 1x11. In that one Skye is kicked off of the Bus thanks to Hand and May, the latter supporting it specifically because Skye's not an agent and can act outside protocol. It ultimately happens in episode 1x16. Then SHIELD goes defunct two episodes later and the badge is worthless.

The Clairvoyant is someone high up in the SHIELD organization

Raina tells Coulson that The Clairvoyant can "see into any agency". A high-ranking SHIELD agent with top-level security clearance would fit this description, since a well-funded organization like SHIELD probably has access to agency files beyond just their own. It would also explain how The Clairvoyant has such deep personal knowledge about Coulson.

• Confirmed.

Those "others" Coulson mentioned would be interested in Peterson

The ones who would want to exploit him are HYDRA, and the ones who would want to dissect him are AIM.

• Partly confirmed. HYDRA, via Centipede, is after Peterson as Deathlok.

HYDRA are the group behind the Centipede project in the pilot.

They had access to the super soldier serum (or something similar), gamma radiation, alien tech, and Extremis. What other groups do we know of in the Marvel Cinematic Universe that has such access to and knowledge of such technology? Plus, they are SHIELD's canonical archenemies, so it makes sense. Maybe we'll even see Von Strucker showing up as the Big Bad.

• The Winter Soldier has given this theory a lot of credibility and it's confirmed in episode 17

SHIELD didn't *really* shoot the 084 into the sun.

Why bother? SHIELD has had numerous examples of Hydra tech in its possession for decades, not to mention having the Tesseract itself, and we know they were working to duplicate that stuff. What makes this particular item so much more dangerous? Answer: nothing. Presumably that performance was just for Skye's benefit.

• Confirmed. The Slingshot doesn't exist. Anything shipped there is actually boxed up and placed in a secure vault in the Fridge.

Project Centipede is a HYDRA operation.

That HYDRA is alive and well has been confirmed by Word of God with the announcement that Baron von Strucker will be a villain in the second Avengers movie. More importantly, in Captain America: The Winter Soldier, it turns out that HYDRA has infiltrated SHIELD and numerous SHIELD agents- including even Jasper Stilwell as well as Alexander Pierce, Fury's superior- are deep-cover for HYDRA. The movie also introduces Zola's algorithm, a computer program designed by Arnim Zola that basically allows you to predict the future, providing an explanation for the Clairvoyants' abilities.

• Confirmed as of Turn Turn Turn. The Centipede Group is indeed HYDRA.

Skye will be revived the same way Coulson was

The next episode is titled "T.A.H.I.T.I.".

• Semi-confirmed. She was given one of the drugs that Coulson was injected with during his resurrection, but didn't go through the full process.

However it happened, Coulson knows more than Hill thinks he knows about the facts of his situation.

Towards the end of the pilot, he muses that SHIELD knows a bit about bringing people back from the dead. Thinking of his own situation, perhaps?

• There's certainly a subconscious awareness of what happened; every time someone mentions his downtime in Tahiti, he says the same thing: "It's a magical place." (emphasis mine)
  Coulson: You should go there some time.
  Hill: Where's that?
  Coulson: Tahiti. It's a magical place.
• As of "FZZT" Confirmed, when Coulson comforts the dying firefighter he mentions he was dead and "gone" for more then 8 seconds, and assures him there is an afterlife.
• During "The Hub" he stumbles when making "It's a magical place" line, clearly catching himself saying it and recognizing there's something wrong about it.

Coulson's medical reports are all fabricated.

Obviously, Fury doesn't want to risk Coulson figuring out something is different about him, so any medical reports Coulson receives are faked.

• Confirmed. In T.A.H.I.T.I. it's revealed that the name of the facility where the procedures were done on Coulson doesn't exist.

Coulson was resurrected in a way that required killing someone else.

This would explain why he supposedly lost the will to live after being brought back.

• Confirmed. In episode 14, "T.A.H.I.T.I.," he discovers that the serum used to repair his heart was harvested from an alien's body kept in stasis.

Raina will not be in S.H.I.E.L.D. custody for long

In many contemporary blockbusters (e.g. The Dark Knight, Quantum of Solace, Skyfall, The Avengers) it has been a common trope for the villain to be captured early or mid-way through the film, only to either break free or be busted out by cronies. Sometimes the villain even wants to get captured. Raina may follow this trend as well, potentially in a Call-Back to Edison Po being freed from jail.

• Confirmed. Ward frees her in “Providence”.

Agent Ward genuinely is a HYDRA agent

He's a masterful actor. In the first episode, he tricked Skye into thinking he was under truth serum and in a later episode he talks about his "level 1 overshare".

• Confirmed.

Raina will betray The Clairvoyant.

She was disappointed that he wasn't truly clairvoyant and said that Coulson is "a good man". Considering what SHIELD truly does with captive Gifted, she'll find her true calling working under Fury instead of The Clairvoyant.

• Semi-confirmed. She didn’t betray him so much as abandon him in the middle of the final battle. He didn’t really care by that point.

It will be revealed Coulson Came Back Wrong

Stabbed with a mindstone scepter, by a frost giant, and brought back by yet unknown means? Even if his psyche wasn't ripped to shreds, his body has to be affected in some way. A good guess would be him being a Sleeper Agent for Thanos (though not intended to be but, well, stabbed through the heart + resurrection...) or he gets some of Loki's powers.

• Confirmed, but it wasn't Loki or Thanos.

There's still more to Coulson's Resurrection

A ridiculous amount of surgeries and mental re-organization is certainly horrific and traumatizing, but this troper can't see why it would cause him to disappear from the Clairvoyant's sights. It's possible that one of the first surgeries Coulson went through was some kind of magical ritual or alien science experiment that Fury organized that did actually change Coulson so much that he went cold.

• It's been said over and over by different characters that Fury "moved heaven and earth" to bring Coulson back. That could be taken literally as well as metaphorically. Then there's that blue/green liquid that was injected into Coulson in his flashbacks. This might feed into the theory that The Clairvoyant is just someone with high level access to SHIELD records. If Fury kept the truth about Coulson's resurrection off the books, then the Clairvoyant's "powers" wouldn't be able to uncover it.
• Mostly confirmed. The serum that revived Coulson was harvested from a decomposing alien, most likely a Kree.

Grant and Skye will hook up, thereby becoming the official couple

He's an uptight MIB, she's a funny civilian hacker. They saved the world. A lot.

• In "Turn Turn Turn: following an intense Ship Tease they share a Now or Never Kiss. Then Grant's revealed to be working with HYDRA! So, confirmed?

One or more of Skye's parents is superhuman.

That's why she's a 0-8-4. She's got the metagene.

• Depending on Raina's definition of "monsters", that might be Confirmed.
• Confirmed to a degree. It's revealed that Skye's mother was able to touch the Obelisk without ill effect, and that she did not age since Whitehall first encountered her decades before, so she's definitely either a metahuman or was exposed to something that changed her into one. It hasn't been confirmed whether her dad is similarly superhuman, but it's certainly possible, given his investigation of the Obelisk. Also, Skye was injected with GH.325, which has had ill effect on all humans(including Coulson) injected with it, with no ill effect.

Ward will have a redemption and atonement arc

With Garrett dead, and Ward having only been loyal to Garrett, he can finally get away from the abuse and manipulation, and choose to atone for his past. He's also been compared to Natasha a number of times in-universe, and we met her after her atonement and redemption arc began. Perhaps the team will be forced to recruit Ward to help find and destroy HYDRA cells. Coulson will likely force him to wear a bracelet similar to Skye's.

• Confirmed. The first episode of season 2 "Shadows" shows that he's locked up in the Playground and Coulson uses him to uncover HYDRA secrets. As for "redemption" he insists that everything he tells Skye will be 100 percent true from now on, but no one buys that, especially Sky herself.

Tripplet will take Ward's position on the team for season 2

It seems to be setting up towards this unless, knowing Joss, he dies in the first episode. So if he makes it through season 1 he most likely will be part of the main cast.

• Confirmed of the season 1 finale.

Bobbi Morse/Mockingbird will appear

Mockingbird began as Agent 19 AKA Bobbi Morse, a scientist who joined SHIELD after working on a project to recreate super soldier serum. Given that we already have two scientists in show, she would be an easy character to slip in.

• A television series starring the character was also announced but has apparently been shelved since then, and it was mentioned that elements of it have been put into this TV show.
  • Confirmed at SD Comic Con.

Agent Garrett is the Clairvoyant.

Even though the end of the episode "The End of the Beginning" seemed to indicate that Hand is the Clairvoyant, Garrett still looks suspicious. While he may not have said or done anything overly suspicious so far, it's likely that Hand is just another red herring, like Nash was.

• Confirmed.

Hand believes that Coulson's team are HYDRA agents

• Her actions at the end of TEOTB could be down to her thinking the team are the bad guys. Given her by-the-book ways, it wouldn't be much of a stretch if she immediately suspected rulebreakers if she came across evidence SHIELD had been infiltrated. Given she was confused at why so much effort was being expended to rescue Coulson, she might even consider that "evidence" against him ( The HYDRA controlled element want to protect one of their pawns, rather than having to risk recruiting a new one). Indeed, for all we know the entire Clairvoyant conspiracy was unrelated to HYDRA.
  • The notion that Hand believes Coulson and team to be the traitors is supported by a brief argument seen between her and Simmons in the "Turn, Turn, Turn" promo:
    Simmons: He's a good man!
    Hand: He's a liar!
  • Hand either thinks Coulson was a HYDRA sleeper agent the whole time or is making an excuse to turn on him similar to the ones made in regards to S.H.I.E.L.D.'s manhunt on Captain America and Black Widow.
• Confirmed.

The show will continue being called "Agents of SHIELD" even though the crew will no longer be official SHIELD agents

• After the events of Captain America: The Winter Soldier, SHIELD has been dissolved. Since Coulson and crew are already officially rogues, they'll continue under the SHIELD moniker as an A-Team like band, re-recruiting old SHIELD agents to their ranks.
• Confirmed. Coulson is making a new SHILED as the new Director but SHIELD's reputation is still ruined so the rest of the world will see them as such.

The post-Captain America: The Winter Soldier episodes will be about Coulson's team trying to rebuild a purified and reformed SHIELD

Considering the title of the show is probably not going to change, movie-that-changes-everything or no, it's likely that post Uprising arcs will focus on this plothread.

• Confirmed in the first season finale; Fury even promotes Coulson to director.

Fitzsimmons will get a Now or Never Kiss

Considering their current position in the season 1 finale, they must admit their feelings pretty quickly.

• Confirmed, though Simmons does all the kissing. Oddly enough, no kiss on the lips.

Joss wanted to kill someone at the end of the season, but didn't want to live down to his reputation.

• Give Fitz brain damage. As good as dead, but not truly dead.
• Confirmed: Word of God has stated that it was Ward who was slated to die in the Season 1 finale, but the writers felt there was more story to tell there, so he got let off with a maiming and incarceration that allows for his potential return.

Coulson and/or Skye will eventually suffer a bad medical reaction to the T.A.H.I.T.I. drugs

The reason that Coulson wanted to shut down the T.A.H.I.T.I. project - to the point of attempting to resign in protest to its continuation - was because injecting drugs derived from alien DNA caused a horrific variety of side effects in the test subjects. Since two members of the team have since been given those drugs, the potential for those side effects occurring in them is now there.

Something similar could happen with Simmons and the anti-serum derived from Chitauri antibodies.

• Partially confirmed. Coulson has started showing side effects from using the drugs similar to those shown by Garret. Skye hasn't, but she also was given the drug much more recently, so that could just mean that it will take more time before she suffers them.
• Skye is later revealed to be immune because she's Inhuman, who were created by a genetic engineering program developed by the same alien race as GH 325 was made from.

Simmons didn't join HYDRA

• Despite what the trailer for the next episode implies, Simmons is not a HYDRA agent. That's just another case of Superdickery. Actually, she's Nick Fury's mole. The two of them had plenty of time to talk after he rescued her and Fitz (Fitz was unconcious, so they were basically alone). It wouldn't have been hard for him to ask her to take on an undercover assignment. She'd be an ideal choice: Who'd ever suspect Simmons of pulling the wool over their eyes? With a little training from Fury, she could probably infiltrate without much trouble.
  • It's equally possible is that Coulson himself sent her (without telling anyone else on the team, of course). This would really play into the whole 'willing to deceive the team and basically grow into Fury's shoes' arc that his character seems to heading down. Furthermore, it's entirely possible that her apparently joining HYDRA is to gain access to their medical intelligence to see if they have anything that can help fix Fitz.
    • Confirmed in Episode 3. Everything but Fury being behind this ploy is true, including the superdickery. The "did you think I wouldn't find out?" line from the preview was Coulson scolding her for not stocking healthy food in her new place, and that was even his fault in the first place.

The Doctor is Mister Hyde, and Skye's real name is...

As of S02E05 we know that Sky has a secret name (besides her legal one). It will be Daisy Johnson, a Shield Agent from the comics with earthquake powers (the hints to her potentially causing destruction). Her father is called The Doctor (Calvin Zabo was a surgeon), who has a Hair-Trigger Temper and possibly Split Personality leading him to murder his patients, for example. How would he know so much about an artifact that has been hidden away since the 1940s? He lived since then because of his modifications; possibly being a case of All Myths Are True as Adaptation Distillation or Zabo just mimicked the novel earlier in the timeline.

• Supported as of Ye Who Enter Here, with a music box in Sky's nightmare playing 'Daisy Bell (A Bicycle Built For Two)'.
• Confirmed in "What They Become"!

Skye is at least part Inhuman

The alien from which the GH drug came is suspected to be a Kree (even Chloe Bennet herself appears to subscribe to this theory). In the comics, the Kree are responsible for creating the Inhumans. On top of that, she did not get the compulsions like the other subjects, and knew that the diagram was a map instantly. Either she's a colossal Mary Sue or this is connected to Inhuman DNA.

Furthermore, Kevin Feige has said that Inhumans will be set up in the MCU before their actual film. While it could be referring to the Maximoff twins in Avengers: Age of Ultron, what if it's also referring to Skye? It would make sense, and give Agents of SHIELD an opportunity to blaze a trail instead of having to play catch-up with the rest of the MCU.

Finally, Kyle MacLachlan looks a bit like Maximus the Mad.

• The Skye part is confirmed as of "What the Become", but her father is actually Mister Hyde, aka Calvin Zabo.

"Skye" is not a Canon Foreigner

• Possibly Jennifer Swann
• Could be Mockingbird, a smart scientist who trains to be an Action Girl.
  • Jossed. Mockingbird is a completely separate character who will be appearing in season two.
• A chance she is Mantis. "Celestial" and "Skye" are kind of similar words.
• Or she's Carmilla Black.
• She's Carina Walters, daughter of the Collector who is confirmed to exist in the Marvel Cinematic Universe due to The Stinger after Thor: The Dark World. She became a hacker to collect information much in the same way her father collects people and objects.
• Justine Hammer, daughter of Justin Hammer.
• Sasha Hammer, who is also half-white, half-Asian. Though Sasha is Justin Hammer's granddaughter in the comic universe, the Justin Hammer of the MCU is too young to be a grandfather. Sasha might be the daughter of Justin or the daughter of Justine, who might be turned into Justin's sister.
• Ms. Marvel: The comics version of Ms. Marvel (the first one, Carol Danvers), gets her powers through having her DNA mixed with the DNA of a Kree. Skye now has what might be Kree blood running through her veins. ** Probably jossed. Carol's getting her own movie in Phase 3.
• Daisy Johnson
  • CONFIRMED.

After we learn how Coulson was resurrected, the next big mystery will be why he was resurrected.

Being a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent is dangerous work and it's unlikely that resurrection is standard procedure for every dead agent. It's likely that there's something unique about Coulson himself that warrants him being brought back to life.

• This lends credence to the theories which involve Asgard; Thor might have considered it a personal favor because of Coulson's actions in the first Thor movie and Coulson protecting Foster in The Avengers, as well as feeling responsible for the fact that it was his own brother who killed Coulson.
• He's not just a random agent of the lot, he's Nick Fury's most trusted liutenant. A culture like Thor's would understand this and grant them this favor.
  • As of "The Beginning of the End" - Fury acknowledges Coulson an Avenger, and the purpose of Project Tahiti is revive a fallen Avenger.

The group that killed Skye's parents will eventually find her

Given how many people they killed to get Skye in '89, they must have wanted her for something big. They aren't going to stop looking. Also, these are the only people left who know anything about Skye's ultimate origins, so that mystery can't be fully resolved unless they turn up.

• According to Raina, her parents were the ones trying to find her and they were the ones who killed everyone back then.
• And one of them did eventually find her.

Skye is related to the GH-325 source

Based on Coulson's words regarding the T.A.H.I.T.I project, anyone who takes the GH-325 will exhibits symptoms along the lines of psychosis - Garrett went full-blown psychotic from a diluted source, and Coulson is starting to write those same alien symbols on the walls that Garrett did. Skye, who was given an undiluted dosage of the GH-325? Fine and dandy with no signs of unusual behaviour or the need to have her memory re-written.

• Confirmed.

Contact with the Diviner is what gave Skye's mother her longevity and gave Skye her immunity to the side effects of GH 325

The Diviner kills those it deems unworthy. Who's to say that it doesn't also do something to those who meet its unspecified definition of worthiness?

• Confirmed sort of. It was actually the Terrigen crystals inside the Diviner.

Talbott's manhunt priorities will be forcibly changed in Season 2

The SHIELD team he had as his number one priority just saved the lives of half a dozen flag officers, plus numerous civilian hostages. There's going to be a lot of public pressure on him to focus on other targets, possibly starting with Quinn, whose associate six flag officers witnessed murder a seventh.

• Confirmed, though moreso because he has several meetings with Coulson that convince him of the latter's trustworthiness.

The mystery of what that blue alien was in T.A.H.I.T.I. won't be revealed until season two

Season one will finish off whatever it has left by dealing with the aftermath of Captain America: The Winter Soldier. The season will end with the team finding Nick Fury, with the last scene being him about to tell everyone what happened. Because Guardians of the Galaxy (2014) won't be coming out until August, this would give people the chance to see different aliens in the MCU (including the Kree) so that whatever it ends up being will make more sense to the audience.

• Confirmed. Raina explains the Kree to Skye, and later an actual Kree visits to explain the history of the Kree and the Inhumans.

We'll learn the real incident that got May known as The Cavalry

With all the varying stories told, the only one who really knows what happens is May herself.

• Confirmed in "Melinda": She had to take out a little girl who had mind-controlled an entire criminal group and the SHIELD agents sent in to rescue her. The little girl also knocked out all of her puppets while trying to control May, which made the agents think that she had taken out thirty or so men while they were out.

Daniel Whitehall a.k.a. The Kraken will not be the Big Bad of season 2.

He will initially start out as a major antagonistic presence, before being disposed of partway through to make way for the real Big Bad, in a possible parallel with Baron Von Strucker's role in Avengers: Age of Ultron. Alternatively, he will simply be The Heavy for the real Big Bad.

• Confirmed, Coulson kills him in the winter finale. The question of who will take his place within HYDRA (And as Big Bad, which might not be the same thing) has yet to be answered.

Bobbi and Mack are working for a splinter faction of S.H.I.E.L.D.

They want Fury's toolbox for something, so Fury's not their boss. Maybe it's Maria Hill, veering towards her less-nice comics counterpart, not fully trusting Fury's choice of Coulson as Director, or maybe it's something that will lead to a big payoff in Age of Ultron.

• Tentatively confirmed, pending further evidence, or at least Morse and Mack believe it's the "real S.H.I.E.L.D.". Who exactly is behind it — whether it's Hill (who may not even know Coulson is the Director) or Stark Industries or some other group — still remains to be seen.
  • Totally confirmed in the ensuing episodes.

Skye is an Inhuman.

The Inhumans are going to be a major plot element in the MCU (and a substitute for mutants.) We have this evidence - Skye's DNA is said to be irregular and possibly alien(-ish). She was safely injected with the probably-Kree sample, while (the definitely-human) Coulson and Garrett had numerous side effects. Raina implied that she and Skye are the same species, and Raina has an interest in "transformation". Skye's father is inhumanly strong and knows about the Obelisk. Finally (and this is a stretch), some have noticed that the background design on the typography in the current Inhumans comic logo bears an uncanny resemblance to Coulson's alien writing. It's possible that Skye and Raina are both Inhumans (to the same degree as Kamala Khan, and exposure to the Terrigen Mists would awaken their dormant Inhuman DNA.

• Corollary to this: with the reveal in "The Writing On The Wall" that the alien writing is a 3D map of a city, it's a good chance this special city is Attilan, home of the Inhumans (and yes, several thousand years old).
• Further supported by "The Things We Bury". According to legend, blue aliens came to Earth in ancient times, and they brought an artifact called the Diviner. The writings on the Diviner are the same that Garrett, Coulson and the other T.A.H.I.T.I. subjects have been making, which have been all but confirmed as Kree language. Much later, a dead Kree was harvested by SHIELD to create the T.A.H.I.T.I. drug. Everyone who touched the Diviner was killed immediately, except for one young woman who was granted immortality instead. And that woman's daughter remains the only person to be exposed to the T.A.H.I.T.I. drug with no side effects. It's getting easier and easier to conclude that the Kree brought an artifact to Earth that created the first Inhumans.
• Confirmed

If/when we meet Ward's older brother, he won't be the monster he was as a child

He could be catatonic either from serving in the war on terror or an accident. He could be catatonic because Grant made him one.

• He's a Senator when we meet him, and refuses to confirm the things Ward accuses him of. Eventually he admits it to him, but he regrets what he did.

Skye and Coulson will remember that he hasn't called that cellist he was dating there since he died.

• The cellist was mentioned by Coulson to Ward in "The Bridge". She thinks he's dead.
• The Cellist (aka Audrey, played by Amy Acker) plays a central role in "The Only Light in the Darkness".

Grant Ward will rejoin HYDRA after breaking free, vowing revenge on Coulson's team.

Much like with Skye's Father, he will team up with HYDRA to take down Coulson, providing useful information that he has gathered as a prisoner in season 2, including the location of The Playground.

• Alternatively, he may attempt to rejoin HYDRA but they will not allow it, given that he's spilled too many HYDRA secrets to S.H.I.E.L.D. while being their prisoner. In this case, HYDRA will at best shoo him away and at worst try to kill him.
• Finally, he may rejoin HYDRA, but as The Mole—he will ultimately reveal himself in a truly heroic action, thus indeed proving his sincerity to Coulson's team that he wants to atone.
  • He does join HYDRA near the midseason finale, but it does turn out he has ulterior motives - namely, finding Skye. Later in the series he does teams up with Coulson to help take down HYDRA, so parts of all these are confirmed.

Grant Ward will search for Skye's Father

His final words to Coulson were not anger over being turned over to his brother but that he will "keep my promise". He promised Skye he would find her father. Once he does, he will attempt to capture him with the intent of dragging him back to the Playground as a peace offering. Instead, Skye's Father will kill him once he discovers what Ward did to his daughter (break her heart, kidnap her, threaten her with a gun etc.). When Skye finds out about this, she will be conflicted about whether or not it's a monstrous action to kill another monster.

• Confirmed, though it's not a hard search - he simply joins HYDRA again, who are already working with Cal.

Raina is a clairvoyant, but she's only just beginning to use her powers

She can't see things to the extent that Garret was assumed to be able to, but she can see small details and know exactly what to say to make a person trust her. That was why she was so disappointed when the Clairvoyant turned out to be a fraud - she was hoping that they'd be able to train her in how to use her abilities better.

• Confirmed in "Melinda", where Lincoln realizes that she's Dreaming of Things to Come.

Ward's feelings for Skye will be his undoing.

Ward may be a traitor, but he really does love Skye. Therefore, if he ever has to choose between his loyalty to HYDRA and Skye's safety (either as part of a mission or an If You're So Evil, Eat This Kitten! situation set up by Garrett), he'll protect Skye, possibly redeeming himself by Taking the Bullet for her in a Heroic Sacrifice.

• "Nothing Personal" builds on this with lots of talk about her being a "weakness".
• Confirmed in "What They Become". He's so eager to help Skye reunite with her father that he's completely surprised when she shoots him in the gut. He lives, but is mostly screwed over and is totally over their relationship.

Ward will break ties with HYDRA

But not because of morality or a Love Redeems inspired by Skye. It's because he isn't so much an Agent of HYDRA as he is an Agent of Garrett, and Garrett's loyalty to HYDRA is motivated by self-interest, not ideology. If it looks like HYDRA is going down, Garrett will jump ship and either join some other organization or simply go independent, and Ward will follow.

• Confirmed. But since Garrett is now dead, Ward is on his own. Likely HYDRA learns of this, and will force Ward to work for them against his will as a consolation for Garrett's betrayal.
• In season 2 "Shadows" he's willing to tell Coulson any kind of HYDRA secret he wants, but only if Skye is the one asking.

Simmons left SHIELD because she couldn't deal with her massive guilt.

Simmons still loves Fitz, but she couldn't bear seeing him in such a state. To top it off, she figures it was probably her fault for causing Fitz' current condition, so she left.

• Confirmed.

Ward's psychotic older brother is Talbot's backer.

In the episode "Heavy is the Head", Talbot tells Hunter that he has a senator that will give the mercenary what ever dollar amount he wants to flip on Coulson and S.H.I.E.L.D. Seeing as how Ward's brother, Senator Christian Ward is going to be making an appearance soon, it makes far too much sense to be a coincidence.

• Confirmed, though Christian isn't as psychotic when we meet him.

Mack

's not dead.He was able to shrug off a lot of beatdown from Bobbi and four IC Er rounds. A hundred foot drop should be nothing to him in his current condition. They'll find him in the next episode.

• Confirmed

The second incarnation of S.H.I.E.L.D. will manage to reclaim the original Helicarrier, and this objective will serve as a big plot going in the Season 2 finale.

We do know that the three 'next-gen' Helicarriers for Project Insight (and in the long term, HYDRA) in Captain America: The Winter Soldier were destroyed. But we, the audience are never shown what happened to the original Helicarrier in The Avengers. It's possible that the U.S. government confiscated it along with the other S.H.I.E.L.D./HYDRA assets, and currently hidden somewhere. And as the Helicarrier is an iconic vehicle of S.H.I.E.L.D., it would make sense that it'll be recovered at one point.

• Confirmed, but it's taken by "real" S.H.I.E.L.D. rather than Team Coulson.
  • Wait, what? The Iliad is a conventional carrier, not an airship. The original Helicarrier has still not been seen or mentioned in any capacity.

Mack wasn't checking the ventilation because he is concerned about quarantine.

He used it as an excuse to see the layout so he could fix up some kind of gas attack (probably sleeping) for whatever he and Bobbi are up to.

• Confirmed.

Lance Hunter will be the first to know what Bobbi and Mack up to

In the "Aftershocks", he is the only one who suspect Bobbi has a secret with Mack. He also has made it clear that he still has trust issues with Bobbi. So it's less likely he can trust her regarding her claims that she and Mack are in "support crew".

• Confirmed. As of the following episode he definitely knows that they're up to something, though it appears he doesn't know what. He ultimately becomes the first one to find out the truth, because Mack kidnaps him when he presses too hard.

The Inhumans have their own Terrigenesis facility independent of the Kree city

The Kree were able to tell when the shrine in Puerto Rico was activated from light-years away and send someone to investigate within days, and the Asgardians were able to tell that the Kree were investigating and send someone of their own to investigate that. But we've been shown that the Inhumans have been transforming people themselves, and there's no evidence of any previous battles between Inhumans, Asgardians and Kree on Earth in the recent past. That means that however the Inhumans are initiating Terrigenesis, their method doesn't alert the Kree, which means it probably doesn't involve the city.

• Confirmed. It's mentioned that Skye and Raina are the first Inhumans to undergo Terrigenesis via the temple in a very long time.

Jiaying will be back

She has a Healing Factor and it is the reason for her slow-rate of aging, similar to Wolverine. She has been regenerating for years because it's not a simple matter to regrow all one's internal organs. Once she pulled herself together, she started looking for her family like Cal was doing. She'll meet up with Team Coulson first as a liaison for the Inhumans and through her Skye will learn that her father has not always been a monster.

• Confirmed

Gordon is taking orders from a very much alive Jiaying

At the end of "One of Us", Gordon said that Cal's fate is not his to decide so he's taking orders from someone. One of the entries above mentioned a possible healing factor for Jiaying. As such, she's still alive and has charged Gordon with bringing in potential Inhumans and such. You can bet she's not gonna be impressed with Cal's escapades and his grandstanding. She'll take him down a peg before meeting up with Daisy/Skye and helping her find her footing as an Inhuman.

• Confirmed

One of the main characters will join Real Shield

Either May or Simmons. The 'Calvary' incident didn't seem to be a factor. After all, whose backstory did we hear at the end of last season......but the traitorous Ward's?

• So far, Simmons has pretended to join them.
• And May as well, though she is still clearly in support of Coulson.

Raina will gradually undergo a Heel–Face Turn in some sense of the word

She's already pretty disgusted about how far Hydra is willing to go to achieve their goals, so there's no doubt that she'll likely end up join Team Coulson in some way. Perhaps as a Token Evil Teammate?

• Confirmed!

Ward and Agent 33 will become a couple.

They're both double agents that are fiercely loyal to their masters rather than HYDRA. Like Ward, she lost her master and now she doesn't know what to do, so Ward will help her. Plus, Ward will lose any feelings for Skye because she shot him in the back despite his insistence that they have a common enemy.

• Confirmed!

How S.H.I.E.L.D. ties into Age of Ultron

So we have Dr. List showing up and if previews for the episode that airs before AoU premieres on American soil are true, retreats into a Hydra snow base. We'll have Coulson's SHIELD and Real SHIELD settling differences for now to track List down to said base, get intel on Strucker, and then we'll have Coulson call Maria Hill to inform her about Strucker. This'll lead to a bit of the Avengers' attack on Strucker's Hydra base from the film being shown during the episode.

• Confirmed! And there's more to that as well!

Ward will finally be Killed Off for Real in 3x09: Closure

The title of the episode combined with some of the pre-release promotional materails seems to suggest this.

• Jossed. He dies in 3x10:Maveth, though his body is still moving around under It's control.
  • Actually confirmed, Ward is dead. The entity even spoke of taking dead bodies. Ward is dead, what is walking around is the entity wearing Ward's corpse.
  • It's part-Jossed, part-confirmed. Ward was Killed Off for Real and taken over by Hive, but it wasn't in 3x09.

Coulson and Blake are going to clash again as the series progresses.

He touched Lola. Coulson isn't going to take that sitting down.

• Jossed.
  • Un-Jossed as of "Watchdogs".

This series will be used to show different heroes and villains in the extended Marvel Universe

Heroes:

• The Howling Commandos (either the descendants of the original team or the modern "monster" team version)
  • Confirmed, at least partially: Agent Triplett is the grandson of a Howling Commando.
  • Jim Morita and Dum Dum Dugan appear in a flashback in the season 2 premiere, alongside Peggy Carter.
• Ghost Rider is summoned whenever innocent blood is shed. Both HYDRA and S.H.I.E.L.D. have shed innocent blood. Imagine Grant Ward's reaction to the Pennace Stare!
  • Confirmed for season four! We'll be getting the Robbie Reyes incarnation.
  • In "Lockup", the paraphernalia in the basement of the one who hid the Darkhold hints that Johnny Blaze exists.
    • It was also shown in "The Good Samaritan" that another Ghost Rider gave Robbie the powers of a Ghost Rider. It is implied that he was Johnny Blaze.

Villains:'

• It's been confirmed that Franklin Hall, better known as Graviton, will be a recurring character. However, we don't know if he'll be a villain or if he'll get his powers, which would likely be murder on the SFX budget.
  • He does appear as a villain, but his name is General Talbot instead of Franklin Hall.
• Madame Hydra
  • Confirmed, as a Composite Character with Aida.

At least one of Skye's parents wants to Kill All Humans.

Skye was stolen from them at birth and put in an orphanage so that she'd grow up as a human. This would prevent Skye's parents from harming humanity because there would always be a chance that they would hurt their own daughter.

• According to Raina, Skye's parents wiped out the village in China where she was found by SHIELD. It's possible.
• Sort of. Skye's mother was a leader among the Inhumans and her father sees nothing wrong with activating all the Inhumans in the world at the cost of everyone else's lives.
• Confirmed by "Scars" and "S.O.S.", in which Jiaying engineers a war with SHIELD, with the intention to mkill everyone who stands in the way of her revolution. Inhumans' easy access to Diviners means they do have that capability.

Skye will assume a surname.

She has no clue what the names of her biological parents are, so she'll take on the name of someone from the family she's found. Most likely candidates are Avery or Coulson.

• She has found her parents now. However, it won't be their last name. Because of Disney's acquisition in a galaxy far far away, she'll be Agent Walker.
• Confirmed. The name "Daisy Johnson" is evidently growing on her.

Team Coulson will assimilate "Real" S.H.I.E.L.D

After the conflict is over, they'll take every asset they have like the Iliad carrier and other valuable resources. Their central command will be "dealt with" somehow, with possible exceptions for Bobbi and and Mack.

• Confirmed. In "Scars", the two organizations merge; Coulson will be the director of both with the "Real" S.H.I.E.L.D's council becoming an advisory board similar to the World Security Council that Fury reported to.

Andrew became Lash specifically to combat Hive

The intelligent design factor inherent in Terrigenesis that Lincoln talks about, the one that gives powers in order to balance things out, felt that Hive's return to Earth was imminent. Hive has demonstrated the ability to control the wills of Inhumans, and HYDRA wants to build him an army made of them. To counteract this, Lash was created with the instinctual drive to kill off any potential weapons in Hive's arsenal. The energy powers may be enough to vaporize the particles Hive generates, and his severe physical transformations may also come with a built in resilience to the mind-control power. Of course, if Lash is successful in destroying Hive then he would be seen as the greatest threat to the inhumans; therefore the ultimate goal of this design may be mutually assured destruction rather than one defeating the other.

• Confirmed. Lash's powers are indeed the only ones capable of destroying HIVE's assimilation ability, and can even reverse the effect in an Inhuman under thrall.

Coulson will get a mechanical replacement arm.

Extra points if it has the Destroyer gun built into it.Fury built some secrets into his bad eye, so there is precedent for it. Also, he knows what the Destroyer does now.

• Limb confirmed. As for special features, we'll find out. Though it is detachable from what we can tell.

Henry Simmons will be promoted to a regular cast member.

Because it feels long overdue! One can only be a guest star for so long you know; eventually it becomes non-indicative.

Confirmed

Simmons will have undergone an Adrenaline Makeover when she exits the stone

It'll contain some kind of terrifying hellscape that she's had to survive all this time, especially if it works under Year Inside, Hour Outside. She'll return all beat up and worn down but also having taken a level in badass.

• Confirmed.

There will be an Inhumans Spinoff

That will be based on the contemporary Inhuman comic, which focuses on the wide scale emergence of Nuhumans. Characters from Agents of Shield will make guest appearances and SHIELD or possibly SWORD will serve as an initial antagonistic presence.

• It's focused on the Royal family, but still confirmed.