Agents Of SHIELD: Brett Dalton Talks Ward's Return, SkyeWard Hopes, And The Framework
The final story arc of the fourth season of Marvel's Agents of SHIELD kicked off with a huge [...]
The final story arc of the fourth season of Marvel's Agents of SHIELD kicked off with a huge surprise. Brett Dalton would return as Grant Ward, the Hydra double-agent turned the head of Hydra turned Inhuman demigod who died in the show's third season.
But this isn't exactly the Grant Ward has grown to know and love or love to hate as the case may be. In the Framework, Ward is still in love with and together with "Skye."
But some things never change. Just like in the real world, Grant Ward is till playing the double agent, only this time he's spying on Hydra for the SHIELD resistance.
ComicBook.com spoke to Dalton about his return to Agents of SHIELD, if there's hope for a happier ending for SkyeWard, and more.
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Given Ward's relationship with Skye in the Framework, what can we expect to be Ward's response in tonight's episode after Daisy was captured last week?
Brett Dalton: I can't tell you his specific plan, but he'll stop at nothing for the ones he loves. I think in the real world and in the Framework, Ward is not a hunter you want to get on the bad side of. I think what we're going to see is a man on a mission.
The Ward you're playing this season isn't quite the same being that you played on Agents of SHIELD previously. Did you approach your return like you were playing a new character or was it more like slipping into the old role?
BD: There's kind of bits of all the different seasons' versions of Ward. Thankfully, I've got a lot of material to choose from, but if I had to pinpoint it I would say it's kind of similar in the season two Ward. I would say maybe season two Ward or end of season one. He's dangerous, he's capable, he is not someone to cross. He's an incredible field agent, but he's also fiercely loyal to the people that he loves and he loves Skye. He knows something about Skye and her potential Inhuman status. It just so happens to be that the bad guys rule the world.
He's choosing his love over the party line and that's a big deal, but it also, I think is in keeping with Ward. He was always a man of principles, a man with a code. You might not agree with that code, but he definitely didn't just kill indiscriminately or something. He was somebody who always got the job done and would do whatever he had to do. I think that we see a combination of some good parts about Ward and some parts of Ward that make us a little scared sometimes because we know that he can be dangerous when he wants to be.
Given that Ward and Skye were happily together in the Framework, is there any chance that SkyeWard shippers could get a more satisfying, or happier ending this season than they did before?
BD: I will say that I think the fans are going to be incredibly happy. We're in the Framework now so a lot of the storylines that we weren't able to do in the real world, we've turned a corner on in the "real world," we're able to do. It's this giant "What If" episode and it's very cool because anything could happen.
Did you have any trepidation about returning to Ward? Or any worry about spoiling his epic ending from last season?
BD: I think that Hive had a more epic ending than Ward did. I wanted that storyline to continue 'cause for me I felt like I understood Ward about the episode before they killed him. I was like, "I finally get it now. This makes so much more sense." Then Coulson stuck his robot hand through my chest on Maveth there.
I always wanted to see that storyline continue and people have asked me what my favorite version was as Ward, or which character I enjoyed playing the most. I enjoyed season three Ward so much. I felt like things were really clicking for me. It was a little sad to see him go so when I got the call, I was really happy that I had another chance to explore his character 'cause I think he deserves it. That's why I mentioned earlier about fans will be happy about the Framework, I think, because we know what they want, and this might be a chance for some of those dreams and fantasy things to actually play out.
Did you have any hope that you'd get to return to Ward again, or did the call catch you completely off guard?
BD: No, there's always hope. Every time we had a fallen agent, every time, even a bad guy got killed we always said, "You never know. We're in a comic world here. We could bring you back. You never know." It does happen every once in a while, but there are so many things to tell and only so much time to tell them. I was cautiously optimistic. If I got a phone call, it was great but I didn't want to sit there by the phone and just wait for it to ring.
When I did get the call, finally, I was very happy and was like, "You had me at hello." One of those situations. It was great. Anything that they ask me to do pretty much I would have said yes to. Yes, I was very happy that I got the call. Hopefully, as we've seen, there are a lot of very cool reveals and a lot of very cool returns of people. I think that fans will be very happy with a lot of the things we have in store. I think that there are some wonderful Easter eggs.
With all of your co-stars playing such different versions of the characters you played against previously, has that changed how you work with them? Do you have a favorite Framework version of a character?
BD: I think Fitz is my favorite currently. It's just pretty incredible to see what he's doing with this character. That's the thing, I've been given some good pat on the backs about my turns in the first three seasons, but any one of those actors who are just as capable, if not, more so than me could have done the same thing. As we're seeing with Fitz, he's just killing it. Fitz's very big turn from who he was and he's just inhabiting it in such a terrifying, interesting, watchable way. It's just, it's awesome. He's my favorite currently.
We're all still family and we know each other so much by now that the dynamic is kind of changing, but I think that we all know how to play with each other still well. We've been a team for so long. I don't mean team, team, I mean like a family. It's cool. We're just in different positions now. I think that it's cool. I think that for me personally, it's allowed me to have storylines with people that I don't normally. Like Elizabeth [Henstridge], for instance, her and I aren't normally even in the same room together, and yet we've had, as you've seen, some stuff together. It's great to see these things unfold and it just makes things more interesting and puts everybody a little bit more on their toes.
Marvel's Agents of SHIELD airs Tuesdays at 10 p.m. ET on ABC.
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