‘Agents of SHIELD’ Season 4 Episode 2: Who Is The New Director? [SPOILER]

A lot went down in Agents of SHIELD Season 4 episode 2, “Meet the Boss.” After another heated battle, Ghost Rider and Quake rode off into the sunset together. May has been contaminated by a ghosts linked to Ghost Rider who seek The Darkhold to restore themselves. We also officially meet the suspicious new director, Jeffrey [Mace], who is worried more about SHIELD’s budget and public image than anything else.

We learn more about Jeffrey throughout the episode, firstly, that he certainly knows a lot about SHIELD and Coulson. During a tour of headquarters to influential politicians, Jeffrey asks Agent Coulson to reminisce about SHIELD’s history. Coulson starts talking about the SSR and how Peggy Carter herself oversaw the construction of the building in 1949.

Then during May’s ghost terror rampage, we learn a surprising fact about Jeffrey. It wasn’t Coulson or the dozen trainee Agents that were able to take May down. It was the new director, an inhuman, who effortlessly overpowered her with abilities reminiscent of Luke Cage. So, who is this guy really and how does he know so much about SHIELD and Agent Carter?

To make things even more interesting, Jeffrey also brought up another suspicious MCU tie when he spoke of Captain America and the aftermath of Captain America: Civil War . We learn Coulson resigned as director of SHIELD hoping Captain America would take his spot. Of course, that didn’t happen because Steve Rogers went AWOL after Civil War.

“You wanted a hero,” Jeffrey said after Coulson accuses him of mishandling May’s illness. “I said the new director should be a powered person the people could trust,” Coulson responded.

Jeffrey is actually Jeffrey Mace, known to take the name Captain America and The Patriot in the comics. Jason O’Mara previously revealed his character has origins dating back to the 1940’s, which happens to be the same time The Patriot was created. If Jeffrey is a publicly known superhero on the show, it would make sense why the politicians wanted a picture with him after the tour-- quite out of the ordinary for a SHIELD director.

If Coulson really wanted Steve Rogers, maybe he just got the next best thing: another version of Captain America...an inhuman version? Like Steve Rogers, Jeffrey Mace has no superhuman powers in the comics, however, the supersoldier serum does have lasting effects. Captain America is at the peak of all natural human abilities with traits like enhanced vision and stamina.

Jeffrey Mace certainly doesn’t have the long history Steve Rogers does, so there’s some wiggle room there. As we’ve seen with Ghost Rider, Agents of SHIELD isn’t shy to switch things up.

What do you think of the new director? Let us know in the comments below!