When promos began airing for Marvel’s Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D., many of us began to wonder what character J. August Richards would be playing. Fans immediately began hoping that he would be Luke Cage, but during the pilot episode we learned that his name was actually Mike Peterson, who is in fact not a Marvel comics character.
Over the course of the season Peterson joined S.H.I.E.L.D., only to get blown up and discovered by Centipede agents, badly burned and missing his right leg. Then, Marvel officially announced that the character would be the show’s version of the fan-favorite cyborg known as Deathlok.
Deathlok’s inclusion in the show helped boost some of the popularity and buzz that’s been waning over the course of the season. Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. has been heavily criticized for how little it incorporates characters from the comics, and Deathlok seemed to be an exciting step in the right direction. Unfortunately, Marvel has now spoiled all of the fun by giving him a pretty ridiculous, and downright awful looking costume.
Listen, I know that it’s difficult to adapt comic book characters to the screen, especially on a TV budget… but this is pretty bad. In fact, I was happier with Cyborg’s costume on Smallville than I am with this. And that’s really saying something. Deathlok not only looks nothing like his comic book counterpart, but he just comes off as downright silly in what appears to be a plastic laser tag vest. I hope that this isn’t the final design, and that he’ll be getting some much needed upgrades in future episodes.
We’ve already faced enough disappointment when it comes Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D, and the show could really use a win right about now. Let’s hope that the producers can somehow turn this latest misstep around.