The Marvel TV panel at San Diego Comic-Con on Friday featured several cast revelations that offer some hints about the shape of the second season of Agents of SHIELD. The panel also featured a couple of videos -- a blooper reel, which you can see above, courtesy of Entertainment Weekly, and a comedy bit with Patton Oswalt as Agent(s) Koenig.

The Oswalt video is mainly notable for hinting at another possible cast addition -- none other than comic book Avenger Bobbi Morse, aka Mockingbird. If she's really joining the cast, it could be a good omen for Agents of SHIELD's second season, which begins September 22nd on ABC at the new time of 9pm.

In its first season Agents of SHIELD made such scant use of the characters it had access to that it almost felt disconnected from the Marvel Universe -- both the cinematic version it's part of and the comics version it's inspired by. Its devotion to original characters and its failure to make those characters memorable hampered the show from the start.

The addition of Mockingbird, a sometime SHIELD agent and sometime superhero, would go a long way to suggesting the show finally intends to make the most of its comic book connections. Mockingbird is near the top of a wishlist of characters I'd like to see on the show, just behind Jimmy Woo and Contessa Valentina Allegra di Fontaine.

No actual casting has been announced for Mockingbird, but a couple of other actors have been named for season two. British actor Nick Blood joins the show as mercenary Lance Hunter. Both the actor -- in his early 30s -- and that character description are a departure from the comics version of Lance Hunter, who was a senior agent for STRIKE, Britain's answer to SHIELD, and a man with a very unsexy hairline.

 

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Also new to the cast is Reed Diamond, a Joss Whedon alumnus from Dollhouse, who will play HYDRA agent Daniel Whitehall. In the comics the character wears preposterous armor like he's going to go fight the Silverhawks. The comics version may be a little tamer. Hopefully this means we'll see more serious and sustainable opponents for the agents in season two.

The panel also confirmed that Lucy Lawless will appear as a tough veteran SHIELD agent named Isabel Hartly. As described, the character is similar to one in casting notices called Mary Maloney, so the part may have been renamed. I'm holding out hope that Lawless turns out to be someone from the comics, preferably Madame Masque, and that's why they ditched the too-revealing "M.M." initials, but it's very likely that I'm just getting giddy and there won't be any more villainous moles this season.

The second season sees Phil Coulson (Clark Gregg) rebuilding SHIELD as its new director after the revelation that the organization was compromised by HYDRA from the roots up. The treacherous Agent Ward (Brett Dalton) is now a prisoner of the good guys, which sadly means he's sticking around, but hopefully his more charismatic replacement Agent Triplett (B.J. Britt) will stick around for the long-term as well.

Hayley Atwell, star of Marvel's second live action TV show Agent Carter was in attendance for the Marvel TV panel, but there were no announcements about the show's cast. However, it has been revealed that in director Louis D'Esposito's pilot episode will be followed by two episodes directed by the Russo brothers, who directed Captain America: The Winter Soldier, and another episode may be directed by Joe Johnston, who directed Captain America: The First Avenger. That's an impressive line-up for the eight-episode show.

You can watch the Patton Oswalt video below. If you don't want to watch it, the short version is that "Bobbi Morse, codename Mockingbird" called to say she's "in" if Director Coulson needs her. Anyone who sat through the first season of Agents of SHIELD can testify that Director Coulson needs her.

 

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