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[Warning: Spoilers ahead for Tuesday’s season premiere of Marvel’s Agents of SHIELD, “Shadows.”]
Lucy Lawless fans who were excited about her having a long tenure on ABC’s Agents of SHIELD may have felt let down that her character bit the bullet in the season premiere.
But Lawless, whose fierce Isabelle Hartley took the show by storm Tuesday, says she may pop up in future episodes or other Marvel properties.
“It’s whatever the writers want to write. All things are possible in SHIELD,” Lawless tells The Hollywood Reporter. “That’s what I love in this sci-fi comic world. There are no absolutes. There are no bottom lines. Every boundary is bendable.”
Here, Lawless talks Marvel secrecy, working with Clark Gregg and her Parks and Recreation future.
Were you a big Marvel fan before coming on board Agents of SHIELD?
When I found myself being confronted by the Absorbing Man, I was transported back to being 8 years old, when you’d have hundreds of comics lying around the house and none them in sequence. Coming across the Absorbing Man — that is an incredible concept. To realize the awesome power of this guy to morph into any substance makes him a formidable foe. It took me back to the days when Marvel was on everybody’s coffee table.
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How much catching up on Marvel lore did you have to do for this project?
There was no time. I was on the way to New Zealand, and they called up and asked if I wanted to do it. I said absolutely. I drove to the studio the next day, and then you’re on. There is no catching up. Everybody was on the fly. It was one of those serendipitous, wonderful occasions.
Marvel is shrouded in secrecy. What is that aspect of it like to jump into?
I had to burn this tarot card on my hand and could not cry. I could not speak about it. (Laughs.) I knew I was in the fold after that. You sign nondisclosure things; you can’t say boo. And who’d want to? It spoils the surprise for everybody.
What’s that process compared to Spartacus or Xena?
I’m very good at keeping secrets generally. It’s like if you work at a bank, you don’t want to talk about your banking. It’s your day job, so it’s not particularly interesting to tell secrets. But this was unparalleled for me. I have never worked on something that was so stringent about what you can and can’t say. I was collected once by the Collector on The Simpsons, so I know how rabid those comic fans are.
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Could you come back in flashbacks or pop up in other properties?
Absolutely. It’s whatever the writers want to write. All things are possible in SHIELD. That’s what I love in this sci-fi comic world. There are no absolutes. There are no bottom lines. Every boundary is bendable.
Will Diane return on Parks and Rec?
I couldn’t make it back for a couple of episodes they are shooting at the moment. But we’ll see. I’ll be done here very soon. They always want to put me in, but whether I’m available or not is a tricky thing. I hope so.
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