Friday 22 August 2014

Agents of SHIELD Gets Absorbing Man, Mockingbird

Yesterday Marvel Studios announced that the classic comic-book villain, the Absorbing Man would be making his Marvel cinematic universe debut in the premiere of Agents of Shield Season Two. The character has the ability to adopt - or "absorb" - the properties of any material he touches. For example, if he touches a metal pole, his skin can turn into metal thus making him quite a difficult target to beat up. The character will be played by Brian Patrick Wade (Teen Wolf).
A version of the character has appeared in live-action once before in Ang Lee's ill-fated 2003 movie Hulk. Here's hoping that this version of the character is a better portrayal, although one has to wonder if the ABC show will have the effects budget to portray the Absorbing Man's powers convincingly.


The news comes after the reveal earlier this week that one-time Wonder Woman, Adrianne Palicki, would be appearing as the classic Marvel character Mockingbird in the show's second season. This announcement is more worrying to me. While I'm willing to see Palicki in the role and interested to see what she can do with the character, I fear that this may prevent Mockingbird from joining The Avengers in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. In the comic books Mockingbird had a serious relationship with Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) and was a long-time member of The Avengers. However, her appearance in Agents of SHIELD may prevent this plot thread from being adapted onto the big screen.


This is because the TV show is still very much on dodgy ground. Cast your mind back to mid-way through the show's first season and you may remember some people raising questions about whether the show would be renewed for a second run at all. While it's true that in the wake of the game-changing Captain America: The Winter Soldier things did begin looking up for the show - in terms of ratings and reviews - it is still far from a sure bet that the second season will be a success. Therefore, if the show does fall short in the new TV season, it seems unlikely that Marvel Studios would let Palicki reprise her role in any future Marvel films.

So I suppose what I'm saying is if you're a Mockingbird fan, make sure you and all your friends and family are tuned in to the season premiere of Agents of SHIELD. If not, Mockingbird may well end up doomed to obscurity in the general public's eyes, with Scarlett Johansson's Black Widow pulling double-time to fill the Mockingbird-shaped hole in the Marvel Universe.

Mockingbird and the Absorbing Man join the Marvel characters introduced in Season One of the show: Deathlok and Graviton.

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