EXCLUSIVE: Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. won’t debut its fifth season until later this year but the ABC super spy series is already setting the stage with Natalia Cordova-Buckley being promoted to a series regular.

“Natalia is a powerhouse in her work and in her daily life, and she has imbued one of our favorite characters with her natural strength and humor,” said S.H.I.E.L.D. executive producers Jed Whedon, Maurissa Tancharoen, and Jeffrey Bell today of Cordova-Buckley and her role as Elena “Yo-Yo” Rodriguez. “Natalia was instantly a part of the S.H.I.E.L.D. family the first day she walked onto set, and we’re happy she’s now an official member of the S.H.I.E.L.D. team,” the trio added of the Mexican actor.

An Inhuman with the ability to move at incredible speeds during the time of a single heartbeat, Cordova-Buckley’s Yo-Yo was first introduced in the Clark Gregg and Ming-Na We led series’ Season 3’s “Bouncing Back” episode last year. Not long afterwards, the Colombian-born character moved to the U.S. to work more with the S.H.I.E.L.D. team in Season 4. As an indication perhaps of the greater role Cordova-Buckley will play in Season 5, Yo-Yo was the lead in the six-episode Emmy nominated Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: Slingshot digital miniseries that was released online in December 2016.

Today’s announcement comes just two days before Cordova-Buckley will join Gregg and the rest of the core S.H.I.E.L.D. cast plus Marvel TV boss Jeph Loeb onstage for a Season 5 panel at New York Comic-Con. The October 7 shindig at the Theater at Madison Square Garden is expected to unveil previously unseen footage from the new season for attendees.

Produced by ABC Studios and Marvel Television, Marvel’s Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D. was co-created by Joss Whedon, Jed Whedon and Tancharoen, who are EPs along with Bell and Loeb.

Also appearing on the final season of Bates Motel earlier this year, Cordova-Buckley is repped by Aida Bernal at Spellbound Entertainment and attorney Joseph R. Weiner.