The Agents of SHIELD panel has just wrapped up showing the pilot episode of the anticipated Marvel series, and the response to it already has people here at Comic-Con buzzing. Along with the enthusiastic response, there came a couple of surprising tidbits of info, including the very first cameo.
We've all expected that there would be cameos from other Marvel characters and some crossover between them, and the first will be none other than SHIELD agent Maria Hill, played by Cobie Smulders. In fact, she appears in the very first episode alongside the resurrected Agent Coulson, played by Clark Gregg.
The other big secret has revolved around the mystery character played by J. August Richards. He was seen in the promos with some form of obvious imperviousness and super-strength, which had many suspecting he was Luke Cage. Turns out that's not the case, as he will actually play Mike Peterson, a character in the Marvel Universe comics who has no powers at all. He's the best friend of a mostly unknown hero known as Slapstick, a member of the New Warriors. Other than being smart enough to figure out his best friend was a superhero, Mike has no abilities, which means the character is going to be significantly different on the show. It wouldn't be a total surprise if this were a way to introduce the New Warriors into the Marvel cinemative/TV universe. Richards was also rumored to be playing the character Rage, who was one of Slapstick's best friends in the New Warriors. [EW]
