Agents of SHIELD Casts a Link to Daredevil

Agents of SHIELD continues to expand its cast, picking up The Sopranos‘ Drea de Matteo in a role that may connect the show with Netflix’s upcoming Daredevil series.

Who’s this then?

Drea de Matteo is an Emmy Award winning actress. If you’re a fan of HBO, you’ll probably recognize her as Adriana on The Sopranos (the role that won her that award), or more recently, as Wendy Case on Sons of Anarchy. Or, if you’re a masochist, as Joey’s sister on the Friends spin-off Joey.

Sounds like good casting, who’s she playing?

Unlike the previous two bits of casting, Matteo will actually be playing a character from the comics (albeit a significantly altered version of that character). She’s been cast as Karla Faye Gideon, “a Gifted woman with a grudge to bear against S.H.I.E.L.D. who joins forces with Skye’s father, Cal.”

That sounds like a much different backstory than Karla Gideon had in the comics, where she had a small role in Daredevil: Redemption. She plays the mother of a young boy who is murdered, with Matt Murdock (in lawyer mode) defending the accused murderer. Years later, she came into Daredevil’s life again, briefly, with Murdock saving her from her abusive husband.

That sounds nothing like her role on SHIELD.

Agreed. The only reason I think of for the comic book connection (and it’s definitely intentional), is that the writers are looking to eventually tie SHIELD into Netflix’s upcoming Daredevil series.

Why they decided to go with such a minor character like Kayla Gideon though is anyone’s guess.

Weird. So when is Agents of SHIELD coming back?

Tuesday, March 3 at 9 PM ET/PT.

And Daredevil?

The full season of Daredevil meanwhile will premiere on Netflix on April 10, 2015.