TVLine’s First Look at 2019 series kicks off with not just a peek into the new year, but a look all the way ahead to the summer.

Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. will have a new director when the ABC series returns for Season 6 — and TVLine has your first look at the familiar face now calling the shots.

As established toward the end of Season 5, as an ailing Phil Coulson (played by Clark Gregg) prepared to meet his maker (following a most fitting stop in Tahiti), Alphonso “Mack” Mackenzie (played by Henry Simmons) will now serve as the director of S.H.I.E.L.D. And to look at the background of the photo above, the organization is back to being a bit more robust, following a season of working with a skeleton crew.

But is even-keeled Mack, who first joined Coulson’s team as a “mechanic” in Season 2, ready for the ultimate level of responsibility?

“Personally, I love the challenge of being the director of S.H.I.E.L.D.,” Simmons tells TVLine. “Mack has worked side-by-side with the people he now leads, and that works to his advantage — he’s one of them.”

But…. (And yes, there is a but.)

“But the one thing that can hinder Mack’s ability to lead is his reluctance to put the people he loves in the line of danger,” Simmons allows. “As a result, this may lead to Mack’s toughest decision as director. What sacrifices will be made?”

Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. returns with a 13-episode Season 6 in the summer of 2019 — and it has already been renewed for a 13-episode Season 7.

Want more scoop on S.H.I.E.L.D., or for any other show? Email InsideLine@tvline.com and your question may be answered via Matt’s Inside Line.