[SPOILERS ahead for those not caught up on Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. season 2.]
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Captain America: Civil War doesn't arrive until over a year from now, but civil war has already broken out in certain parts of the Marvel Cinematic Universe - specifically, between the remaining factions of S.H.I.E.L.D. on Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. TV series.
Coulson (Clark Gregg) and his agents took down the Hydra head Daniel Whitehall in the first half of S.H.I.E.L.D. season two, but now face a greater threat from "The Real S.H.I.E.L.D.": an organization, led by Robert Gonzales (Edward James Olmos), that isn't so crazy about how Coulson has handled the discovery of Kree settlements - and the "biological weapons" (read: Inhumans) the aliens created - on Earth. Meanwhile, Skye's (Chloe Bennet) now on her way to meeting more of her fellow Inhumans, after catching a ride with the eyeless Gordon (Jamie Harris) at the end of the last episode, "One Door Closes".
S.H.I.E.L.D. executive producer Jeff Bell offer the following insight to EW, regarding Skye's fellow Inhumans - including, Luke Mitchell (The Tomorrow People) as Lincoln, an Inhuman who will be introduced on next week's episode, "Afterlife".
Meeting Luke’s character in the Inhuman world is just setting up a new dynamic. We’re taking [Skye] into a group with a whole bunch of different people. So far, we’ve seen that there’s a guy with no eyes, and there’s a woman [Raina] who now is covered in thorns. And as in the X-Men world, there are a handful of people who look more like them, but a lot of them turn out to be just attractive people with powers. And we thought, “Hey, let’s have some of those as well!” [laughs] We were looking for a new character to come on, and Luke just really impressed us. He was a good actor, had a nice quality, and we felt he might be a good person to sort of usher Skye into this other world.
Bell name-dropping X-Men is worth noting, since by most accounts the Inhumans' place in the MCU will resemble that which mutants have long maintained in the Marvel comic book universe (but cannot on the big screen since 20th Century Fox own the X-Men film rights). We have already seen evidence of that, as the various members of S.H.I.E.L.D. - be they Jemma Simmons (Elizabeth Henstridge) or Melinda May (Ming-Na Wen) - have already been somewhat conflicted about whether to regard Inhumans as people first, weapons second... or vice versa (much like how non-mutants tend to view X-Men in Marvel comics).
This difference in opinion has partly contributed to the schism within the remnants of S.H.I.E.L.D. - symbolized in the poster below, which represents the latest installments in the S.H.I.E.L.D. season two artwork series. This particular one-sheet was designed by Dave Johnson, the Eisner award-winning illustrator who's contributed to such comic series as 100 Bullets, Deadpool, and The Punisher in the past.
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Adrianne Palicki , who plays Bobbi Morse/Mockingbird on the S.H.I.E.L.D. TV series, also spoke with EW - in her case, regarding what lies had for her character, as well as other agents on the show (like on-again/off-again beau, Lance Hunter (Nick Blood)). Palacki emphasized that Bobbi is very much "a true soldier [who's] always going to do what she thinks the right thing is" - though, she agreed that her connection to Skye in particular leaves her in a tough spot.
Oh, absolutely. [Bobbi] cares about these people. That’s where the struggle comes from. She’s really struggling with the balance of, “What is the right thing?” She started off knowing what the right thing was, but now she’s going to start having the struggle of, “OK, you guys have to understand. I know Skye. You guys don’t know Skye like I know Skye. She’s not a bad person. She’s a SHIELD agent first.” It’s going to be a lot of those moments where she’s trying to convince people who just don’t want to hear it.
On that note - it looks like the next episode, "Afterlife", will include more flashbacks, as Dichen Lachman (Skye's mother) is listed as a guest star. That makes sense, seeing as we'll be getting more details on the history behind the Inhumans population, even as the S.H.I.E.L.D. civil war continues - though, we'll have to wait a little longer before the series picks back up with the antics of Grant Ward (Brett Dalton), Agent 33 (Maya Stojan), and the newly-brainwashed Bakshi (Simon Kassianides) from last month's "Love in the Time of Hydra" (given everything else that's going on).
Here is the official synopsis and cast breakdown for "Afterlife":
As Robert Gonzalez makes his move, Coulson must do whatever it takes to protect the future of S.H.I.E.L.D. Meanwhile Skye’s journey to control her powers takes a surprising turn when she meets the enigmatic Inhuman named Lincoln.
“Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.” stars Clark Gregg as Agent Phil Coulson, Ming-Na Wen as Agent Melinda May, Brett Dalton as Grant Ward, Chloe Bennet as Skye, Iain De Caestecker as Agent Leo Fitz, Elizabeth Henstridge as Agent Jemma Simmons, Nick Blood as Lance Hunter, and Adrianne Palicki.
Guest starring are Henry Simmons as Alphonso “Mack” Mackenzie, Ruth Negga as Raina, Kyle MacLachlan as Cal, Edward James Olmos as Robert Gonzales, Jamie Harris as Gordon, DichenLachman as Jiaying, Luke Mitchell as Lincoln Campbell, Craig Johnson as S.H.I.E.L.D. Leader, Stoney Westmoreland as Honest Eddie, and John Forest as Robbie.
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Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. continues with "Afterlife" next Tuesday, April 7th on ABC.