Perhaps even more exciting than its actual debut last night, the Marvel's 'Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.' trailer has officially made its way online, setting fanboy tongues wagging for the new Joss Whedon-directed pilot to air this fall. The brief footage seen in the teaser naturally raises a number of questions as well, particularly the super-strong appearance of J. August Richards' mysterious character, but will he turn out to be Marvel strongman Luke Cage? The 'Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.' are revealed inside!

Just about the moment 'Angel' alum J. August Richards was announced to appear in Joss Whedon's 'Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.' pilot for ABC in a mysterious role, fans have rushed in to speculate on the long-awaited Marvel Cinematic Universe appearance of Power Man, AKA Luke Cage. The official 'Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.' trailer most definitely featured Richards' character to have apparent super-strength, both in stopping an evildoer and rescuing a woman by leaping from a burning building, but cast and crew remain mum about Richards' true identity.

Naturally, fans have pointed to Richards' mustard-colored pants within the trailer, similar to Cage's many appearances garbed in yellow, while others have pointed out the appearance of New Warriors character "Rage" in the Marvel comic bumper as a clue to Richard's character identity. Now that Joss Whedon has officially joined Twitter and ABC has begun to sure up its fall schedule, we might expect a bit more clarity to J. August Richards and Luke Cage rumors in the coming weeks.

Before you check out the teaser again, here’s the official plot description for ‘Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.’:

Clark Gregg reprises his role of Agent Phil Coulson from Marvel’s feature films as he assembles a small, highly select group of Agents from the worldwide law-enforcement organization known as S.H.I.E.L.D. Together they investigate the new, the strange, and the unknown across the globe, protecting the ordinary from the extraordinary. Coulson’s team consists of Agent Grant Ward (Brett Dalton), highly trained in combat and espionage, Agent Melinda May (Ming-Na Wen) expert pilot and martial artist, Agent Leo Fitz (Iain De Caestecker); brilliant engineer and Agent Jemma Simmons (Elizabeth Henstridge) genius bio-chemist. Joining them on their journey into mystery is new recruit and computer hacker Skye (Chloe Bennet).

Aside from the just-mentioned cast of Marvel’s ‘Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.’ TV series, Nick Fury himself, Samuel L. Jackson, previously stated that he expected to be involved in some small capacity, while ‘How I Met Your Mother‘ and ‘The Avengers‘ star Cobie Smulders remains open to the possibility as well.

Well, what say you? Has Luke Cage officially joined the ranks of Marvel's 'Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.'? What characters (perhaps returned to the fold) would you like to see appear in the new series?

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