'S.H.I.E.L.D.' May Change Dr. Zabo's Comic History

It feels like it's been eons since Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. left our television screens, but that long wait is finally over — S.H.I.E.L.D. is back Tuesday night. Returning to the show will once again be Kyle MacLachlan who plays Skye's dad, aka the Doctor, aka that creepy ass guy who is actually a monster, I guess? He's been a lot of things, and after half a season, all our speculation and theories finally had an answer. Skye's dad is Marvel Comics character Calvin Zabo, aka Mister Hyde. And, he's just as terrifying on the page as he is on our television screens.

If the name, "Mister Hyde" already sounds familiar, that's because it's supposed to. Zabo takes his name directly from one of his favorite stories, The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, written by Robert Louis Stevenson. If you tuned out during English class when that story was discussed, the gist of it is that Jekyll/Hyde are one and the same; just two sides of the same twisted coin. Basically, split personalities. One is good, and the other one is a terror. Zabo is the same. One side of him is a nice, caring father who's looking out for Skye, the other is that "monster" who destroyed an entire village in China that we keep hearing about. Makes sense as to why he's known as Mister Hyde when he's out wrecking havoc. Way back when in the comics, Zabo was convinced that he could become the same kind of person/monsters that Jekyll/Hyde was, and began his life of crime. He started small by robbing places and people to acquire the funds he needed for his experiment. He's brilliant, so he never got caught, but everyone kind of suspected that it was him. By this time in his life, he was a pretty prominent doctor, but his direct superviser, Donald Blake, really really disliked him and always had a sinking feeling that Zabo was up to no good. Also, Donald Blake was simply an alias of Thor. So, Zabo and Thor seriously do not get along.

Blake/Thor couldn't stop Zabo, though, and he performed the necessary genetic mutations on himself to turn him half-good, half-evil. Ever since then, he's been bad news for the Marvel universe.

Also, Zabo also does not get along with Spiderman in the least bit, and at one point in time, Spiderman actually temporarily blinded him. Zabo has basically been a foe to every single Avenger at this point.

And in the comics, Zabo has a daughter named, GUESS WHAT? Daisy. Zorbo fathered Daisy after his genetic mutations, so some of his traits were in fact passed along to her. (Aside: but in the comics, Daisy is not an Inhuman, she's more of a mutant than anything else.) In the comics, Daisy's mother was a sex worker who Zabo regularly met with, but it's clear that on S.H.I.E.L.D., they had a more significant relationship — not to mention her power of immortality.

It's likely that Zabo's story will change a little bit from the page to our television screen, whether it simply be the different story regarding Skye's mother, or even what Zabo did all those years he was away. But hopefully he still has a huge beef with Thor, because I really want to see Kyle MacLachlan fight Chris Hemsworth.

Images: Kelsey McNeal/ABC (2)