Marvel’s ‘Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.': J. August Richards Not Luke Cage, But…

Now that the hype surrounding Marvel's 'Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.' trailer has died down (who are we kidding, we're still watching it), the question remains for fans just who 'Angel' vet J. August Richards will be playing. The running rumor has Richards as Marvel hero-for-hire Luke Cage, with New Warrior "Rage" a close second, but has 'Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.' executive producer Jeffrey Bell let Richards' true identity slip? Find out the mystery strongman inside!

ABC will likely keep Marvel's Joss Whedon-directed 'Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.' pilot under a tight lid before the fall premiere, but that didn't stop executive producer Jeffrey Bell from responding to intense fan speculation about the identity of J. August Richards' mystery character, whose super-strength was broadly put on display in the recent three-minute trailer.

Speaking to IGN, Bell seemingly confirmed that Richards would not play Luke Cage after all, though Bell may have slipped up in implying the character's name began with an "M." "I’m going to say that [Luke Cage is] an interesting Marvel character, but no. But [Richards] came in and killed it," said Bell. "Honestly, we were looking for this part, and we just said, look, all our parts are open to all diversity. So the fact that we have a black dude who is awesome and it's J, was just because he was the best actor."

Bell also clarified that Richards remains a guest star on the series rather than a regular, and that 'Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.' would create its own canon as much as the other Marvel movies, while still bringing in comic characters:

We talk about it like this: If you take all the Marvel movies, really only Captain America and the Hulk are the only real “superheroes” in all those movies. You’ve got an alien god, but in all those movies, there’s been, like, three [superheroes].

So if we trot out a superhero every week, it would be weird. But we’re saying the world is different and things are changing, so we will be finding other people -- so whether it’s science or whether it’s a result of [what happened in] New York or whether they're from somewhere else, we’re open to everything. Whatever makes cool stories.

We're still anxious to get a look at the 'Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.' pilot in the near future, regardless of who Richards end up playing, but what say you? Are you disappointed Luke Cage doesn't seem to be in the mix? Watch the trailer again, and tell us what you want to see from the 'Agents of SHIELD' series in the comments!