When it comes to Season Trailers, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. didn’t really give us much to work with. Whereas shows like Arrow gave us almost 2 minutes of perfectly balanced reveals and hints, AOS‘s trailer was a mere 45 seconds. Actually, it was only 30 seconds considering the first 15 was introduction from Clark Gregg & Chloe Bennett. With its standard ABC voice-over and focus on only ONE plot line, this trailer wasn’t too different from a standard commercial.

But I refused to believe this trailer was that simple, so I went into full on research mode! Watched the trailer 20+ times, took note of what we saw and DIDN’T see, and even checked out some Inhuman and Secret Warriors comics. And I surprisingly found a lot more to this trailer than you’d expect. From oddly missing characters to brilliant story parallels, this trailer is the perfect appetizer for a season full of surprises and hardships. So let’s dive right in!

The Team – Changing S.H.I.E.L.D. Roster Or Season Premier Commercial?

As you’ll remember from the end of Season 2, after a season of fighting amongst themselves, the Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. finally came together and saved the day. This atmosphere will continue on to this new season, but there will of course be some new ‘uneasiness’ concerning the latest S.H.I.E.L.D. recruits – and one of the new heads of alien operations.

Skye might be the head of the New Warriors, but if you remember correctly Mack is also one of the new key members of all things alien research in order to lend a level head. Though with Inhuman member Lincoln added, it looks like he and Mack might have some disagreements. Though despite seeing these quick shots, there are some major plot points and characters that are surprisingly left out. We see Fitz but there is no mention of the ‘taken Simmons – last seen being absorbed into that giant Kree Monolith. Further more, where is Agent May? What are Bobbie and Hunter up to?

At first glance this could signify the start of a very different S.H.I.E.L.D. team – especially with Bobbie and Hunter’s Spin-Off series back on the table. Though considering how short this trailer is, it’s quite possible that this teaser wasn’t as much a Season 3 Trailer but rather a Season 3 Premier trailer. The difference being that rather than tease the entire first half of the Season – like Arrow’s did – this is only dealing with the initial Season Premier episode. This would explain why we don’t see Agent May – who was last seen heading off on vacation with her ex-husband. It seems like this season will pick up almost immediately from where Season 2 left off – give or take a month or two.

New Emerging Threats – Experimentation & Extinction:

With this season leading into Captain America: Civil War, a big piece of the subplot will be further exploring how the world deals with the ever-growing ‘powered-people’ population. The Avengers literally dropped a city out of the sky – at least that’s how the media sees it – so anyone possessing powers is going to get a bad name right off the bat.

With the Terrigen crystals decaying underwater, polluting the fish and thus poisoning the fish oils supplement, many new Inhumans are about to be born. One might even call them ‘Nuhunans’ – spoiler alert: you should. Coulson and Skye’s Secret Warriors will try to find and recruit these Nuhunans and help them learn about and control their powers; but they won’t be the only ones as we see a band of scientists dissecting what appears to be a bunch of Nuhumans. Could this be the new government organization Executive Producer Jeff Bell hinted at? Either way, these people aren’t the biggest threat the Secret Warriors will face as the Inhuman zealot known as Lash arrives.

Lash’s Mission – “You Have Been Judged … Wanting”:

Look! In the hallway! That hair! That physique! Did Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. just add Caius Ballard (Final Fantasy 13-2) to the cast? Nope, that is actually this season’s big bad, an Inhuman known as Lash. And judging by this quick profile shot, his look might just be spot on to the comics! Though when we look at what just happened in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. as well as what’s coming this season, it looks like more than just his looks are an homage to the comics.

You see in the comics, the a Terrigen bomb went off over New York City turning countless people into Inhumans. Soon afterwards, a monster known as Lash appeared and sought to restore Inhuman purity. Remember how crazy Jaiying – Skye’s mom – was last season? Well combine her and Ronan from Guardians of the Galaxy and you start to get an idea of Lash’s character. You see Lash was one of the last of his tribe of Inhumans to undergo terrigenesis and like those of Afterlife, he sees it as an exclusive honor and not a birthright.

Does any of this sound familiar? It should because rather than a Terrigen bomb over NYC, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. had its own mass Terrigenesis outbreak. So much like in the comics, Lash will come out of hiding in response to this and judge for himself whether each Nuhuman is worthy of having their powers of not. The parallels from comic to show might continue as there’s a storyline of Lash coming face to face with the Secret Warriors and creating a team of his own. This leads to a battle after he kidnaps one of the members.

It’ll be interesting to see how they play this out. Skye might be the obvious choice for ‘kidnap’ but considering Lash’s powers are very similar to Lincoln’s energy manipulation, that might be his new target. This could also work since Lincoln was a ‘chosen’ Inhuman. Either way, it looks like the writing and special effects teams really outdid themselves this season in adapting the comics to the TV screen.