Actor Brett Dalton says he was not contacted to reprise the role of Grant Ward in the final season of Agents of SHIELD. The popular Marvel series, Agents of SHIELD, concluded this year after with the seventh season. The season was well-received, but it had many fans wondering why the notorious character of Grant Ward did not make a final appearance to bid the show goodbye.
The character of Grant Ward was introduced in the first season of Agents of SHIELD as an agent who transferred to Phil Coulson's new team. The reveal mid-way through season 1 that Ward was a double agent working for Hydra was one of the most incredible twists of the show's history and helped to cement its legacy as an elite spy show. Ward remained on the series for a further three seasons in various iterations. He was last seen in season 4 as a recreation of the real-life counterpart in the Framework created by AIDA. The final season has cameos from many characters such as Jiaying and the Koenigs (as played by Patton Oswalt), but many hoped that Ward would make a return as well.
Comic Book Movie spoke to Dalton, who revealed he was also hoping for one final appearance, but he never got the call from Marvel. He joked that he thought maybe they had filmed something in secret or they would use some old footage of him from when he was on the show, but he was disappointed to discover that wasn't the case.
"I was watching too, thinking, 'I dunno, maybe they filmed something in secret and will pull up some old footage of me from when I was there!' [Laughs] No, sadly, I was never asked and I'm trying not to be sad about it, though I am a little bit."
But Dalton holds no grudges against the show; he even mentions how thankful he is for the time he spent as part of the series. He also notes the producers were so fond of him they kept him around for longer than any other show would have. 'I think that they liked me so much that they kept me along for the ride, and just after a while they were like, 'Okay, this is - sort of - stretching the imagination here, and I don't know what other iterations we could have for your character, and we've reached the end of the road,'" Dalton said.
Grant Ward was such an essential part of the characters' and team's journey on Agents of SHIELD that many fans were disappointed he didn't make one last appearance in the series finale. What made Ward such a nefarious villain was that he was trained and groomed by Hydra, and because he was a member of the SHIELD team, he also knew their weaknesses like no one else. The original plotline of him and Hydra versus Coulson and SHIELD was also one of the strongest storylines of the show and was filled with nail-biting suspense.
Source: Comic Book Movie