WARNING: The following contains spoilers for "The New Deal," the Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Season 7 premiere which aired Wednesday on ABC.
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. premiered in 2012 on the heels of the release of Joss Whedon's The Avengers, with the ABC drama firmly established as part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Some events of the series tied directly to those unfolding on the big screen, and characters like Phil Coulson, Nick Fury, Maria Hill and Lady Sif crossed over from film to television.
However, as the MCU grew, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. mostly stopped featuring tangible ties to the films, with the connections becoming more thematic in nature. But that changed yet again with the Season 7 premiere, which makes a startling revelation that links a plot thread directly to 2012's The Avengers.
In "The New Deal," Coulson, Mack, Daisy and the rest of the S.H.I.E.L.D. team find themselves in 1931 New York, where they must stop the alien synthetics known as the Chronicoms from erasing the agency from history. At first, it appears as if the villains are looking to take out Franklin D. Roosevelt, whose actions would lead directly to the creation of the Strategic Science Reserve, the spy organization's predecessor.
However, after securing Roosevelt, the team learns the Chronicoms are actually after a kid named Freddie, aka Wilfred Malick, whose family is involved with Hydra. If that surname sounds familiar, it's because we've heard it before on the series. Gideon Malick played a central role in the series' third season as the leader of Hydra's American branch. And, more importantly, he first appeared in 2012's The Avengers as a member of the World Security Council.
In the Marvel film, the character didn't have a name yet, but he returned on Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. There, it was revealed that, although he served in the organization that oversaw S.H.I.E.L.D. and, by extension, the Avengers, he was secretly working for Hydra.
Now, the Season 7 premiere has introduced Wilfred Malick, the future father of Gideon Malick. The Chronicoms are attempting to unravel a thread that comprises the tight web connecting Hydra and S.H.I.E.L.D. If they are successful, the spy organization will be erased from reality.
Although Coulson and his team may be stuck in the 1930s, they've just stumbled into a situation that ties back directly to one of the MCU's most important films. And chances are, before all is said and done, they'll run into a few more.
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s final season airs Wednesdays at 10 pm ET/PT on ABC. The series stars Ming-Na Wen, Chloe Bennet, Henry Simmons, Iain De Caestecker, Natalia Cordova-Buckley, Elizabeth Henstridge and Clark Gregg.