Agents Of SHIELD: LMD Episode Titles Hint At Captain America Connection

01/02/2017 01:11 pm EST

Marvel's Agents of SHIELD is set to return to ABC next week for the second half of its fourth season, and some new hints about what's to come have appeared online.

The midseason premiere episode of Marvel's Agents of SHIELD: LMD will be titled "Broken Promises." That episode will be followed by one titled "The Patriot," hinting at big things in store for Director Jeffrey Mace.

Mark Kolpack, a visual effects supervisor for Agents of SHIELD, tweeted out a photo of himself in the Agents of SHIELD offices with Gabriel Luna, the actor who plays Ghost Rider Robbie Reyes on Agents of SHIELD. Beside further hinting that fans haven't seen the last of Ghost Rider in Agents of SHIELD Season 4, the photo also has a noticeboard in the background that reveals the episode titles for Agents of SHIELD Season 4 episodes 11 through 14.

The episode titles are "Wake Up," "Hot Potato Soup," "BOOM," and "The Man Behind the Shield."

That final title, "The Man Behind the Shield," again hints as big things for Director Jeffrey Mace. Mace is inspired by the Marvel Comics character called the Patriot, who eventually took over the persona of Captain America after Steve Rogers was presumed dead and the second Captain America was killed in action.

"The Man Behind the Shield" could be hinting at Captain America, or a revelation that ties Mace to Captain America somehow, while also serving as some interesting wordplay for the man leading an organization actually called SHIELD.

Previous episodes of Agents of SHIELD Season 4 revealed that Sen. Nadeer knows a secret that Mace has been hiding, one involving his supposed heroism during the bombing of the United Nations building that took place during the events of Captain America: Civil War. We also know that Coulson chose Mace to take over as the director because he is an Inhuman (and because Captain America and Quake were unavailable).

Could the secret be that Mace isn't actually an Inhuman? Perhaps Mace's powers come from an experiment meant to replicate the creation of Captain America, tying into Mace's comic book history and creating a connection between him and "the man behind the shield" himself, Steve Rogers. Seems like we won't have to wait too much longer to find out.

MORE: What Are Life Model Decoys? / New Marvel's Iron Fist Photos Released / Marvel's Inhumans TV Series Announced / Marvel's The Inhumans Finds Its Showrunner / Why We Love The Inhumans / How Will Marvel's Inhumans Effect Marvel's Agents of SHIELD? / Gabriel Luna Says Has Possibly Plans For Ghost Rider On Netflix / Gabriel Luna Talks Ghost Rider Joining The Defenders Or Midnight Sons / How Ghost Rider Can Move To Netflix / How Will The Inhumans TV Series Effect the Marvel Cinematic Universe?

Marvel's Agents of SHIELD returns to ABC on Jan. 10, 2017 at 10 p.m. ET.

[H/T] ScreenRant