The Marvel Cinematic Universe has been rapidly expanding over recent years thanks to the big screen installments – the most recent of which introduced Doctor Strange – and the continually growing television universe. Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. season 4 welcomed Robbie Reyes aka Ghost Rider (Gabriel Luna) into the fold, and introduced The Darkhold in the process, marking the show’s first foray into the supernatural. However, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. also began developing the Marvel Comics concept of Life Model Decoys, with Dr. Holden Radcliffe’s (John Hannah) first LMD, Aida (Mallory Jansen), making her debut in the season 4 premiere.
Over the first part of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. season 4, Aida was largely relegated to a supporting player as Radcliffe and Leo Fitz (Iain de Caestecker) continued to improve the android’s ability to blend in with humans. But, eventually the LMD project was revealed to both former S.H.I.E.L.D. director Phil Coulson (Clark Gregg) and current director Jeffrey Mace (Jason O’Mara). Now, as LMDs move into the forefront of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.’s fourth season, a new promo teases a coming revolution.
ABC debuted the new promo for the back half of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. season 4, which is subtitled LMD. The video features plenty of action sequences, with a menacing message spliced in between: “Life Model Decoys are preparing a revolution and S.H.I.E.L.D. will pay the price.” Watch the new promo above.
In the Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. midseason finale, the show wrapped up its storyline concerning Ghost Rider, with both Robbie and his uncle Eli Morrow (Jose Zuniga) seemingly disappearing into another realm – though the series hasn’t completely closed the door on the Rider just yet. The episode additionally worked to set up the second half of the season when it was revealed Aida had replaced Melinda May (Ming-Na Wen) with an LMD duplicate, teasing ulterior motives for the previously benign android.
Since the midseason finale, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. has seen a major shift in regards to the show’s marketing. Now with a new title card (in the first half of the season, the subtitle was Ghost Rider), Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. LMD also recently received a new poster featuring May. Meanwhile, a clip from the premiere episode, ‘Broken Promises’, revealed Aida will demonstrate certain new (and dangerous) upgrades she has made to herself – with the help of The Darkhold, of course.
While fans will undoubtedly miss Ghost Rider when Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. returns, the show seems to be promising an exciting new arc as they dive deeper into Radcliffe’s Life Model Decoy technology. Whether this new story arc will be as well received as Ghost Rider was in the first part of season 4 remains to be seen. But, the new promo for Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. LMD certainly promises all the action and drama fans expect from the Marvel series.
Next: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Will Reveal How Mace Got His Powers
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. returns with ‘Broken Promises’ January 10 at 10pm on ABC.
