Spoiler warning: If you're not all caught up on Marvel's Agents of SHIELD, you're about to be!

Having first appeared on Marvel’s Agents of SHIELD in the pilot episode, J. August Richards' recurring appearances as Mike Peterson eventually led to Mike nearly being killed in an explosion – and a big reveal, as Mike was turned into a cyborg and we discovered he was in fact the Marvel Cinematic Universe version of Deathlok, a character first introduced in the comics 40 years ago.

This week will see Richards return to the series for the first time since Captain America: The Winter Soldier and the plot twists that reverberated into Agents of SHIELD, involving HYDRA.I spoke to Richards about what it was like playing Deathlok, discovering the HYDRA storyline for himself, Mike’s quest for redemption and more.

J. August Richards as Mike Peterson / Deathlok in Marvel's Agents of SHIELD.

Agents of HYDRA: Ward (Brett Dalton) and Deathlok (J. August Richards) up to no good on the next Agents of SHIELD.

I always knew that at a certain point I was working for the Clairvoyant, but you're right: I did not know that the Clairvoyant had anything to do with HYDRA. So yes, that was a huge shock, and it was a huge shock to find out that HYDRA had infiltrated SHIELD like some roaches. I mean, they're all over the place! That was a huge shock for me.Right, and I don't get the scripts to the episodes I'm not in. That's top secret. So when I went to the table read for the episode that you're about to see on Tuesday night, after we read the script, I just raised my hand and said, "Okay... So now what is going on!? Wait, wait, wait -- Ward is evil!? HYDRA's in charge? What do I mean by this and that?" So yeah, it was a huge shock. I feel like I really do find out with the audience half the time.Just a few days before we shot the episode, where it was revealed that I played Deathlok. I found out maybe two or three days before that. I found out right after a costume fitting for some Deathlok gear. It was a real big surprise to me. I didn't know that it was going in that direction. You know, just when you thought things couldn’t get any worse for Mike, it's like, "Wow, now this is literally his worst nightmare." Yeah, it was exciting, but it was also sad for me to watch Mike go down this path.Yeah, you know, it's one thing to play a superhero, but it's another thing to play “the world's most offbeat superhero,” and that's what it says on the cover of his first appearance in Astonishing Tales. He's not just any old superhero. This character is super complex; he's got so much going on. His powers are pretty offbeat and all over the place. It's such a rich character, so I feel honored to be able to play this character. And he's 40 years old; I'm 40 years old. It seems like it's all meant to be.You know, I did, because I really wanted to know as much as I could about who he was in the comic books. So I went through my old comic book collection, and I read about him in a very general sense there. Then Marvel provided me access to the Michael Collins version -- the four-episode miniseries -- and I stopped about halfway through there. I went to about the third issue, and then I realized, "Okay, I should probably stop reading about this now, because I really need to stay true to Mike Peterson and Mike Peterson's circumstances." But it was cool to research the other Deathloks and realize the theme that runs through all of them; it's the same. So I feel like I really needed to know that in order to bring the character to life.

Continue to Page 2 as Richards discusses this week’s episode, the Deathlok/Garrett dynamic and more.