'Agents of SHIELD' Art of Evolution: The original six are back -- exclusive

Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. type TV Show network ABC genre Superhero Where to watch Close Streaming Options

At the end of this week’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., we were teased with something that felt almost like a dream: the original recruits of Coulson’s team (yes, even Grant Ward), suiting up for one more mission. As conflicts build and their search for Skye intensifies, the teammates will have to face their demons—and deal with their past issues—to come together.

To tease “The Dirty Half Dozen,” this week’s piece comes courtesy of Jake Wyatt, who has most notably contributed his beautiful art to Marvel’s groundbreaking series Ms. Marvel (which was recently honored with the distinction of a 2015 Eisner Award nomination.) In addition to illustrating comics at Marvel, DC and Boom Studios, Wyatt also is working on developing his first solo series, Necropolis, which will debut in the fall of 2015.

Check out the poster in full above, as well as some teases for next week’s episode with executive producer Jeff Bell below.

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: My first thought when I saw this poster was that it reminded me of the last year’s Level 7 art: the original team back together again, everyone in their defensive positions.

JEFF BELL: It’s very old school. But having everybody together…I love the way Simmons is glaring at Ward, just right behind him. I will say there’s an Easter Egg in the poster—that’s all I’ll say. But the fact that we’re all together is awesome. And getting all those people on a quinjet is tight quarters for a lot of people who no longer share the love. This is also the first one where we’ve had the title of the episode on the poster; that’s a little different.

The team needs to save Lincoln and Deathlok, which means everyone’s going to have to come together despite their differences. But not everyone likes Lincoln. Not everyone likes Ward. And not everyone likes Deathlok…

Right. And why is Ward agreeing to this? And does he have an agenda? Because clearly…look, he wants to be forgiven and loved. That’s all he wants. He’s like, “I’m sorry, I miss it, I miss you guys…come on, I’m a good guy!” We’re trying to bring everything together for the finale, and this is a big part of that.

Will we see a bit of internal conflict with Skye, based on the fact that she’s now struggling with a lot of things—namely, seeing Ward again, and her family issues?

There’s a scene between the six of them—our six original people—and it’s maybe…I don’t know if it’s my favorite scene of this season, but it’s certainly a top three or four scene of the season, of all six of them together. And part of the reason is that it does everything. You’re reminded of how good they used to be, how good they were together, and what went wrong. The guys did a lovely job on it.

Behind Skye, there’s a pattern that looks a little like DNA strands. My first thought, given where we left off after the last episode, was that it could be the DNA of powered people.

I cannot confirm or deny, but I find that very interesting. [laughs] Looking around, there’s a couple of things that are very specific to the plot that you wouldn’t necessarily know. But after you see the episode, you’ll be able to pick it out.

And we haven’t seen the last of “best dad ever” Cal, right?

Oh lord, no. You can’t put him on every poster! [laughs] We’ve got some story left for him.

“The Dirty Half Dozen” airs Tuesday, April 28 at 9 p.m. ET on ABC. Be sure to check in at EW to see the exclusive reveal of next week’s art for episode 20, “Scars.” The art for “The Dirty Half Dozen” will go on sale on Friday, April 24 at www.marvelshop.com/agentsofshield as a $49.99 print (limited to 100 copies) at 12:30 a.m. PT.

More coverage from EW on Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: The Art of Evolution: