Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. on ABC spent most of its first season treading water in less-than-fascinating standalone episodes, holding back a major overall story arc until Captain America: The Winter Soldier changed everything in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. S.H.I.E.L.D.'s Hydra infestation gave the show's second season fresh energy and powerful forward momentum, leading to a mid-season cliffhanger episode which introduced no less than the super-powered Inhumans into the MCU.

Many of the recent promos for the upcoming Agents of SHIELD midseason premiere tease both a traitor in the ranks, and Skye/Daisy/Quake's understandable difficulties dealing with her new powers. AoS also has several interesting new faces joining the cast for the second half of season 2, including Edward James OlmosDrea de MatteoLuke Mitchell and Blair UnderwoodThe Avengers 2 and Ant-Man may also provide some explosive closure to Marvel's Phase 2, making it clear that the foundation for Phase 3 and beyond will be at least partially laid down on TV.

There is a lot going on in the midseason premiere - as the episode's official synopsis suggests - and now we have a look at Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s return, via some official promo images, which you can see below. (Click on images for full resolution)

ADRIANNE PALICKI, HENRY SIMMONS, IAIN DE CAESTECKER, NICK BLOOD

CLARK GREGG, MING-NA WEN

DONZALEIGH ABERNATHY, CLARK GREGG

ADRIANNE PALICKI

DONZALEIGH ABERNATHY, CLARK GREGG

HENRY SIMMONS

ELIZABETH HENSTRIDGE

SIMON KASSIANIDES

CHLOE BENNET

MING-NA WEN

Agents of SHIELD S2 Midseason Premiere 12 - Fitz Coulson and May

DONZALEIGH ABERNATHY

NICK BLOOD

IAIN DE CAESTECKER, NICK BLOOD

The main takeaway from these images is that everyone is concerned. With the coming of the Inhumans and the crew still reeling from Agent "Trip" Triplett's (B.J. Britt) death, Coulson's team has plenty to contend with. The end run of Season 2 promises to ramp things up even further.

Meanwhile, in a different corner of the MCU, a recently released image from Netflix's Daredevil teases a possible connection to Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D....

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NEXT PAGE: New Daredevil Image

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Daredevil Netflix Logo

One of the deadlier new foes Coulson and company faced early on in Season 2 of Agents of SHIELD was Carl "Crusher" Creel (played by Brian Patrick Wade) also known as Absorbing Man. A dangerous metahuman with the ability to absorb any substance, Creel was eventually brought down by Coulson's team.

What does this have to do with Daredevil? A new image shared by the Netflix series' Twitter account namedrops Creel alongside a certain blind superhero's father on a boxing fight card:

Be careful of the Murdock boys. They got the devil in them. #Daredevil pic.twitter.com/ycGOg5sQnz— Daredevil (@Daredevil) February 20, 2015

Are we bound to see some flashbacks featuring a young Matt Murdock (Charlie Cox) and his relationship with his late father Jack? Probably, but is this mention of Creel - whose comic book counterpart indeed was a boxer who fought Murdock - part of any kind of flashback storyline or just an Easter egg?

If it's the latter, then this is likely a way to remind audiences that despite its street-level - and bracingly violent - approach to crime fighting, Daredevil is still officially part of the MCU. Daredevil promises to get down and dirty, standing apart from cosmic fare like Guardians of the Galaxy or the globe-trotting heroics of The Avengers: Age of Ultron.

Just how closely Daredevil and its followup Netflix series -  A.K.A. Jessica JonesLuke Cage, Iron Fist and The Defenders - will tie into the overall MCU remains to be seen, but fans should expect little touches like the Creel vs. Murdock fight card to pop up here and there.

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. resumes with ‘Aftershocks’ on Tuesday, March 3rd at 9/8c on ABC. Daredevil premieres April 10th, 2015 on Netflix.