Bill Paxton

Former Big Love polygamist Bill Paxton — who showed off his action chops in movies like Twister — will begin an arc of at least four episodes on ABC's Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. starting in late February or early March. "We wanted to bring in a rough-and-tumble former cohort of Agent Coulson [Clark Gregg] with a little bit of attitude and cigar-smoking swagger," says executive producer Jed Whedon.

Paxton plays Agent John Garrett, who will work alongside agents Ward (Brett Dalton) and May (Ming-Na Wen) and "comes into the fold in a very surprising way," says executive producer Maurissa Tancharoen. "He is the type who wants to stay out in the field no matter how high-level he gets."

In the comic Elektra: Assassin, S.H.I.E.L.D. turned Garrett into a cyborg to save his life after he was injured in the line of duty — but all Whedon will say is that "when Garrett got his promotion to Level 7, he refused to sit behind a desk and doesn't like the formalities of S.H.I.E.L.D. He's going to help Coulson solve some mysteries and is not afraid to rig an explosive or two."

Subscribe to TV Guide Magazine now!