Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D. occupies an niche in the Marvel universe, in that alien elements are constantly in play, but the action is primarily earthbound. But Season 3 has taken certain S.H.I.E.L.D. agents to places they've never been before, starting with Simmons' accidental journey through the monolith portal. While Fitz and her other teammates worked on a way to rescue Simmons from wherever she ended up, she was forced to put her survival skills to the test on the mysterious, rocky terrain in the captivating bottle episode "4,722 Hours." As the season continues to play out, other parties including former Agent Grant Ward show an interest in the planet behind the portal. That planet is finally given a name in the Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D winter finale episode "Maveth," airing Tuesday night. Are there clues in Marvel comics about Maveth that can shed some light on what makes is so special?
Even without a very detailed backstory, Maveth is invaluable to Malick, Ward, and Hydra because of one of its few inhabitants. Beyond the portal lies the oldest and most powerful Inhuman known to the organization; it's Hydra's intent to retrieve that Inhuman so that it can lead the army that Rosalind (R.I.P.) and the ATCU were inadvertently helping Hydra to build. Hydra has two aces in the hole: First, access to a portal, and, second, Fitz and Simmons' devotion to one another, which they can use against them to find out what they know. The only piece missing from their plan is a viable exit strategy. In last Tuesday's episode "Closure," Fitz traveled through the portal with Ward and some Hydra thugs to save Simmons' life by providing some clues as to how the extraction team will be able to come back out again on the other side. Fitz is also determined to bring back Will, Simmons's astronaut love and a pawn in a shady NASA/Hydra scheme from years previous.
S.H.I.E.L.D. threw Marvel fans for a loop with the Hydra backstory that Malick imparted to Ward. The cinematic universe has Hydra being formed by the Red Skull during around the time of World War II, but apparently the organization had been dealing in evil since long before Captain America's time. S.H.I.E.L.D. is creating new history and Maveth is an important piece of this new plot, so it's no surprise that there's no planet with its exact name in the history of Marvel comics. That name, by the way, translates to "death" in Hebrew, and that's not ominous at all.
In this scene from the Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D. winter finale, Ward and Fitz bicker over Fitz's scientific process before a soldier minion finds something in the distance that's got Ward hailing Hydra all over again. Is it the Inhuman they're looking for? Or is it portal stowaway Coulson, who Ward can't wait to leave to rot on Maveth?
If Hydra succeeds in bringing their Inhuman pet back to Earth, that sets up the conflict for the second half of the season. And with no comic canon to go on, S.H.I.E.L.D. can retain the element of surprise.
Image: Tyler Golden/ABC
