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It doesn't make Arcade any less dumb. And again, you've highlighted the exact problem I mentioned - you can't kill anyone. Your suggestion has nobody’s being killed off, and then main characters getting dragged in; main characters who will inevitably survive as their names are in the credits. There’s no tension. No suspense. No stakes.

A story like that needs to be about how they survive, not if they survive. That’s what worked with the last episode of SHIELD – all the different ways they made it off the train (or didn’t) and how they ended up at the mansion in the end. With Arcade… he’s a 1-note villain who puts the characters into slow moving death traps which they all escape anyway. That doesn’t sound at all interesting.

I'd be glad to be rid of Arcade permanently. If I had ever liked the character, I sure as hell wouldn't now, after Marvel chose to sacrifice characters we actually like on his altar, to try to prop up this loser's credibility.

Circus of Crime would fit; strange tech, and mysterious memory loss and crime of course.

Have to agree with the rest.... arcade is way to silly to make it in here. Honoustly one of the least interesting villains I can name off the top of my head.

Gah Arcade is just one of those villians thats annoys me, like Mad Hatter in DC, bleagh.

I was just thinking he sounds like The RIddler crossed with a hint of Joker (and not the awesome parts of The Joker).

I vaguely remember him from the gameboy game.

Ok, so I think we all can say that Arcade is most likely NOT the Clairvoyant. Personally I think it's Kang.

Being a historian from the future would explain a whole lot, particularly in the light of Shield not having anyone with actual powers like that on file.

Why not Zemo?

Someone in/from Hydra would make more sense in my mind. They've been under cover for a while, and are about to come back onto the scene in a big way thanks to Avengers 2.

The problem with Zemo is that the clairvoyant is apparently telling people in advance that certain things will happen, including things he does not directly control. This indicates he has some actual foreknowledge of events. Skye more or less shows up randomly following the raid (remember the guard in the train car tries to disable everyone with a grenade) but Quinn says that the Clairvoyant told him in advance that she would show up. Not Shield, but her in particular. Further, Deathlok states that he had his orders in advance, suggesting that the Clairvoyant briefed him about the security guards failure before putting him in a cryotube.

I don't think it's Kang. To big an enemy to use in this show. It'll be someone small scale, like the Mad Thinker or someone.

Mastermind? or is he tied up in the X-Men licence.

 H.B.M.C. wrote:
I don't think it's Kang. To big an enemy to use in this show. It'll be someone small scale, like the Mad Thinker or someone.

Well, while we've had Deathlok and Blizzard, we also had Graviton, who has gone toe to toe with Thor, and on occasion defeated the combined Avengers and Fantastic Four. He's able to teleport, fly, and generate 20kt range energy blasts.

In upcoming eps we're seeing more 'big time' names like Sif and Lorelei as well, so there's definitely some ramping up going on.

Based on the way they're talking about the reveal, it sounds more like the villain is a big time guy rather than someone small scale like Thinker or Tinkerer.

 Morathi's Darkest Sin wrote:
Mastermind? or is he tied up in the X-Men licence.

Mastermind is a mutant and therefore tied to X men.

Same problem with Mister Sinister.

 H.B.M.C. wrote:
I don't think it's Kang. To big an enemy to use in this show. It'll be someone small scale, like the Mad Thinker or someone.

I agree, someone on the scale of Deathlok. I think the clairvoyant is MODOK and Centipede is actually AIM (who already showed up in Iron Man 3, hello crossover).

Think about it. MODOK ties in with the cosmic cube thing in the avengers, he can't see the future but has insanely advanced powers to predict probabilities and has a loooong history of conflict with SHIELD in the comics...

The problem with MODOK is that it doesn't explain how the Clairvoyant seems to know things that have not happened yet.

Also, we run into the issue that the marvel cinematic universe owes more to Ultimate Marvel than 616 Marvel. This means that MODOK is tied to Galactus, not AIM.

From a more practical issue, the cost of the special effect for MODOK would probably kill the series budget.

We also have the issue that while Hawk is in Winter Soldier, Aldrich Killian's actor Guy Peirce (who would be MODOK if they follow the Ultimate origin for MODOK as he was transformed by extremis like nanomachines brought to earth by Galactus) has denied he will be in Agents of Shield. You also run into the issue wherein his 616 origin he's technically a mutant, due to being forcibly mutated by AIM using the Cube.

I think you're relying too much on the comics when forming your opinions. You're shackling yourself needlessly.

Honoustly, I think we need a bigger clue on the clairvoyant to make any guesses. All we really know is: evil and possible precog(and we don't even in know what kind of way).

But AIM vs. SHIELD would make for an awesome 2nd season and ties in with how centipede keeps coming up with the same or higher tech...

 agnosto wrote:
But AIM vs. SHIELD would make for an awesome 2nd season and ties in with how centipede keeps coming up with the same or higher tech...

So would Kang, plus you have the whole 'he knows what some of us will do before we do it.' Think about it, it's not just precog, he knows weird little details of Coulson's past, so it's not just precog. Further this could be fairly early in Kang's origin. Remember that Kang starts out as Nathaniel Richards, time traveler and megalomaniac.

I was under the impression that the MCU is no longer 616 centric or Ultimate centric but a mix of the two/its own setting based off murmurings from Marvel.
Makes sense really, why would Marvel want to continue to promote the same setting as the one Fox birthed with X-Men all those moons ago.

Thoughts on Skye. Possibilities:

Finesse.

Why it might work: Finesse barely knew her mother, and never met her father. She believes Taskmaster to have been her biological father. All involved have ties to Shield. Having one o hte deadliest mercs in the world after her might explain the high body count.

Why it might not work: one would hope that Skye would have noticed her powerset by now if she was Finesse.

Diamondback


Why it might work: Several women have used the name Diamondback, and at least one of them became a member of Shield. Diamondback has no superhuman powers, but instead uses Batman style gimmicks shaped like diamonds designed by the Trapster and the Tinkerer.

Why it might not work:
No reason for Skye to be an 084.




Galacta



Why it might work: Galacta has a knack for high(er) tech and a love of Facebook and Twitter. How she arrived on Earth is never explained. She has connections to the Power Cosmic. Her mission in life is to keep Earth safe from nasty alien invaders.

Why it might not work: She's the daughter of frigging Galactus. While she walks around normal human sized, she's the daughter of frigging Galactus. (The fantastic four's response to this was hilarious). If she ever 'discovers' her powers, Shield would probably not be able to handle it.


Most of hte rest either have very balatent and not easily unnoticed powers or have well known histories that don't really match Skye. Interesting enough, Skye was also the name of a character in Warmachine, though she was not really filled in as a character and had no obvious powers.

 Morathi's Darkest Sin wrote:
I was under the impression that the MCU is no longer 616 centric or Ultimate centric but a mix of the two/its own setting based off murmurings from Marvel.

It's a mix of 616 and Ultimates, but it's not beholden to either.

Galacta doesn't work as Galactus is in Fox's sandbox, thanks to the Fantastic Four.

Another one of the many reasons why not having the FF is such a hindrance.

The problem is the Marvel Universe itself... Nearly any villain can be associated with one of the "restricted" properties.
Single baddies would either be too strong for the show or on the "No" list, if not both.
That leaves groups like AIM, Hydra, The Circus, Zodiac, and Doctor Demonicus.

As a random aside, I really liked the scene with the holo table in this last episode.

That's the joke I laughed the most to of any episode, especially when Coulson managed to screw up the 3D projection of the grenade.

 H.B.M.C. wrote:
That's the joke I laughed the most to of any episode, especially when Coulson managed to screw up the 3D projection of the grenade.

Yeah, though.

Prostitutes. Plural.

That was fun too.

 helgrenze wrote:
The problem is the Marvel Universe itself... Nearly any villain can be associated with one of the "restricted" properties.
Single baddies would either be too strong for the show or on the "No" list, if not both.
That leaves groups like AIM, Hydra, The Circus, Zodiac, and Doctor Demonicus.

Unfortunately Zodiac is in the past of the marvel film Universe. Peggy Carter is investigating it in one of the shorts.

Hydra 'heads'

The Gorgon: Out because he's also a mutant.

Madam Hydra: Probably out as she appeared in The Wolverine

VonStrucker: We know he will be appearing in Avengers 2.

Helmut Zemo: Possible. Von Strucker was Zemo's lackey on occasion.

The Hive: Unlikely. No one seems to have found any parasites yet.

The Kraken: Unlikely. No one has seen any sign of giant sea monsters.



AIM

Mentallo: A mutant and therefore out of hte runnning.

Graviton: Already captured

Superia: Possibility. Superia has dabbled in creating superhumans, a connection to Victoria Hand, and a history of time travel. The problem is her powerset. There's no screaming way that our happy go lucky misfits on the Bus have a chance against her, she's able to match current Captain Marvel, Carol Danvers.

MODOK: I grant his a possibility, but I think it's unlikely. It really does not explain how The Clairvoyant knows so much.



Others in the running:

Arnim Zola: Possibility. He survived Captain America and had connections with Shield's weapon program. The problem is that he likely knows as much about Shield's backroom science as anyone and thus would not be confused about Agent Coulson's return to life.

The Fixer: Strong possibility: the Fixer has connections to AIM and Hydra and Graviton, as well as being an expert in robotics and cybernetics. Again though, no explanation of the Clairvoyants ability to apparently see the future.

Kang: I can't get past how perfectly Kang fits, particularly in his earliest incarnation. I think the line about the eyes being 'years ahead of anything' was a hint, and the fact that the Clairvoyant knows a lot about the secret pasts and futures of the team. Because for Kang it's all the past.

Scorpio: the problems with Scorpio are many, particularly since the movie universe puts the Zodiac in the time right after WW2, so he's unlikely.

Ultron: We do not know if Ultron's creation comes before or after the events at the beginning of the show.

It could also be that the Clairvoyant is simply someone who is from the future, made detailed notes, and traveled into the past to make changes. Not like Whedon is above beating a dead horse. To death. Again.

Then again, they have the Hulk so it could be someone like The Leader.