Ward’s New Identity Confirmed By Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Showrunners

We’re only one week out to the much-anticipated return of Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., and the series’ showrunners (Jed Whedon and Maurissa Tancharoen) have confirmed the identity of Ward’s new villain heading into the second half of season three. Last week, Elizabeth Henstridge (Gemma Simmons) let the info slip, but this is the first confirmation of the news by the show’s team.

Obviously, major spoilers to follow…

Following Ward’s unfortunate meet-up with that mysterious figure on the desolate alien planet back in the midseason finale, we discovered that the on again, off again villain had indeed returned to Earth with a vengeance before the show cut-to-black for its 2015 run.  Now, it’s confirmed that Agent Ward is indeed Secret Warriors villain “Hive,” thanks to his interaction with the Hydra god on the remote planet Maveth.

Whedon and Tancharoen promise that fans can expect a Hive that is going to be different to his comic counterpart and have his “own unique twist” in the show.

Check out their full statement on the topic below:

“As we saw in the midseason finale episode, Ward is back on Earth, but he’s definitely not the same Ward who went through the portal to the alien world,” revealed showrunners Jed Whedon and Maurissa Tancharoen in a statement. In the episode “Maveth,” Coulson shot Ward dead on an alien planet, but Ward’s corpse was possessed by the malicious entity that haunted the remote location. They added that their take on Hive “is going to have its own unique twist and be very different from what fans have seen so far. We will see similarities that pay homage to the original character, but fans will see that Hive is taking an exciting new direction in the world of ‘Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.’”

For those unfamiliar, Hive is described as a “mass of genetically engineered parasites created by Hyrdra” that infect a human host. Obviously, that mythology has already been tweaked slightly, when it was revealed last season that Hydra has been sending individuals to Maveth to allow Hive (an Inhuman in the MCU’s lexicon) to return and conquer Earth. Well, strike one win for Hydra.

Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and Ward/Hive will be returning to ABC on Tuesday, March 8th, following this week’s big finale for the other-MCU series Marvel’s Agent Carter.