Agent Trip Has a Bright Marvel Future Ahead of Him

The Marvel universe is getting more complex by the day. It's hard to keep track of how the comics relate to the movies and the TV series, especially when it comes to what's new versus what's being adapted from previous storylines. Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. is particularly hard to figure out, since it has a mix of characters invented for the series, characters invented for the recent Marvel movies, and characters that are staples in the Marvel canon. Take Antoine Triplett, for example: Is Agent Triplett from Marvel comics, or was Trip created just for Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D ?

If you go poring through Marvel back issues looking for Agent Triplett, you're going to come up empty. Trip isn't from the comics; he made his first appearance in "T.A.H.I.T.I.," Episode 14 of the first season of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. He was introduced as an agent working under John Garrett, who turned out to be a member of Hydra, but Trip has since proven himself as someone who is loyal to S.H.I.E.L.D. Here's what else you should know about Agent Antoine Triplett and what could be next for the original character.

He Was Unknown Even to the Actor Who Plays Him

It's almost a good thing that the character has so little history. At least it made it easier on the cast. The actor who plays Trip, B.J. Britt, told Marvel.com he didn't know much about comic books before he took the role. "My parents never let me watch anything that was violent growing up, so I didn’t get a chance to jump on the bandwagon of the comic books and all the different characters and everything," he said. "When I had to go watch all the Marvel movies in order...I’m calling my mom telling her, 'I’m so mad at you for not putting me on to this way earlier than now.'”

There's a Seed of a Comic Book Origin in There

Trip's grandfather was a member of "The Howling Commandos," a group that has some comic book tie-ins. As far as the Marvel movie universe is concerned, the Howling Commandos was group of soldiers in World War I led by Captain America. That's a little different than the comics, in which the Howling Commandos are led by S.H.I.E.L.D. Director Nick Fury. In Sgt. Fury and His Howling Commandos , which ran from 1963 to 1974, he led a group against Hitler's armies in World War II. That's not really a huge departure from what we know in the movies. Nick Fury's Howling Commandos , on the other hand, was a whole lot stranger. That series, which ran from 2005 to 2006, had Fury leading a team that included a werewolf, zombie, vampire, mummy, and other monsters. Somehow, I don't think any of those commandos are related to Agent Triplett.

Where You'll See Him Next

As with everything Marvel, all roads lead to Avengers: Age of Ultron, and Agent Triplett is no exception. There have been a number of eyewitness accounts, reported in Cinema Blend and ScreenRant, that Britt has been seen on the set of the upcoming mega-blockbuster. If that's the case, that's pretty huge for Britt, and S.H.I.E.L.D. in general. Most often, the show only gets the barest of acknowledgements from the Marvel Cinematic Universe — it feels like the series has to work around whatever the movies want, and not the other way around. And, even when there is crossover, it's usually Clark Gregg's Agent Coulson who gets to bridge the gap between the show and movies. Even Gregg denies he's in Age of Ultron , which means a pretty huge promotion may be ahead for Agent Triplett.

Images: Florian Schneider/ABC