Actress Adrianne Palicki has confirmed that there were early conversations about her Agents of SHIELD character Bobbi Morse (who is known as the hero Mockingbird in the comics) appearing in Marvel Studios' films. Palicki was featured in Seasons 2 and 3 of the Marvel Television-produced show before her character was written out in preparation for a potential spin-off series.
Speaking to The Direct in an interview for her new project, The Salamander King, Palicki revealed that when she signed on to play Bobbi Morse in 2014, there were conversations about her "[participating] in the films or hav[ing] a spin-off."
"The conversation I had when I signed on actually to 'Agents of SHIELD' was either I was going to be participating in the films or have a spin-off."
Unfortunately, neither of these ended up happening. ABC did commission a pilot episode for a spin-off series titled Marvel's Most Wanted, which featured Palicki and Nick Blood reprising their roles from Agents of SHIELD as Morse and her ex-spouse/fellow agent Lance Hunter, respectively. The series was intended to continue storylines for the two characters set up in the flagship show, and a pilot was filmed in 2016. The series was never picked up, which Palicki attributed to a time at ABC when they "were getting rid of all their Marvel shows."
"And we did a spin-off that we shot, which is actually great, but I think it was at the time where ABC was literally getting rid of all of their Marvel shows. Like, 'Agent Carter' got taken off the air, our show didn't get picked up, 'Agents of SHIELD' was on the verge of syndication, so it stayed on."
Throughout the 2010s, Marvel Studios, which has produced every MCU movie, was a completely separate entity from Marvel Television, which produced ABC's Agents of SHIELD and Agent Carter and every Netflix-released DefendersVerse series. However, Paliccki's new comments indicate that, at some point in the mid-2010s, there was some attempted collaboration between the two production companies to cross-over at least one television character into the Marvel films.
Palicki added that the cancellation of Marvel's Most Wanted "sucks" as the actress vouched for the series being "really good:"
"Yeah, that was a big, big bummer because I love playing Bobbi Morse. I love Mockingbird, so… And the thing that sucks is the show is really good."
Despite this, the pilot exists, although Palicki is doubtful it would be released to the public, saying, "I don't think they'll ever, ever show [it]." The actress revealed the strict security protocols she had to go through to see her work:
"It's funny the difference between DC and Marvel, right? Like you can see the 'Wonder Woman' pilot I did, but I don't think they'll ever, ever show the Mockingbird spin-off... You know, I had to go into the producer’s office and sign something to actually watch it."
Agents of SHIELD ended in its seventh season, concluding the Marvel Television era of projects that included Agent Carter, Helstrom, and Inhumans. The MCU has continued on television in the years since via Marvel Studios' series on Disney+.
Is There a Future for Mockingbird in the MCU?
For the majority of Agents of SHIELD's run, the cast members and characters were kept separate from the universe of film projects (with a few exceptions, like Clark Gregg's Phil Coulson). This hasn't stopped fans from hoping that the MCU may resurrect some of these Marvel Television characters back into the mainstream, like it has for Daredevil in Daredevil: Born Again.
Palicki has been vocal about her interest in reprising her role as Bobbi Morse, saying she "would love so much to play Mockingbird again." However, the MCU has taken her character in a different direction.
A subtle Easter egg in Marvel Studios' Hawkeye revealed that Clint Barton's wife, Laura (played by Linda Cardellini), is supposedly Agent 19, aka Mockingbird. This role goes to Bobbi Morse, Hawkeye's ex-wife in Marvel Comics. Marvel Studios perhaps wants to redevelop Mockingbird's origins to fit the current MCU, giving this role to Laura and keeping Palicki's Bobbi Morse as a separate character.
This means Palicki's return as Mockingbird is unlikely (although anything is possible in the Multiverse). However, Laura Barton's Mockingbird might still have a future in the MCU, particularly if Hawkeye is renewed for another season.
