We are rapidly careening toward a future in which, to paraphrase Andy Warhol, every actor will be in a Marvel film or television show for 15 minutes. Some actors, however, seem to be a little greedier than others with their Marvel screen time. Coming Soon reports actor and general badass Powers Boothe is joining Marvel’s Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D. in a recurring role. Thing is, Boothe already played a role in the Marvel Cinematic Universe—in The Avengers, no less—and everybody knows it, so we’re not sure what kind of dummies he takes us for. Sure, he may have only been a shadowy figure on a video screen who was never more visible than this:
But still—don’t think we didn’t notice.
Regardless of the awkward continuity issues, Boothe is set to play a character name Gideon Malick, known only as “a notorious man whose loyalties remain a mystery.” Executive producer Jeph Loeb also describes him as “incredibly menacing,” and “a character that even the stone-cold Grant Ward would fear.” So, someone like Powers Boothe in real life, then? Also, that reference pretty clearly implies Malick will be sharing some screen time with Agent Ward, probably as another powerful Hydra member, though it’s possible he’s someone sent to take down our good-guy-gone-bad.
More suggestively, the article also directs attention to Gideon’s last name, Malick. In the comics, Albert Malik (slightly different spelling, but just wait) was the name of the second guy who took up the identity of the Red Skull. It’s far from a given, but it would make sense given the ongoing Hydra storyline. At the very least, it might go a little way toward getting us to overlook the fact that Powers Boothe was already on the World Security Council, so this is some serious double-dipping, if even his original time onscreen added up to notably less than 15 minutes.