Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s Clark Gregg Returns To ABC For Will Trent, And I Already Can't Wait After First Look

The second season of Will Trent is on the way in the 2024 TV schedule, after a hiatus lasting the better part of a year. The first season ended on an emotional reveal that set up a payoff that is (hopefully) coming in Season 2, and a first look trailer for the new episodes reveals some of what to expect. While fans undoubtedly have to wait until the show is back in primetime for more answers about Will's past, the trailer does reveal something that I'm already excited about: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. alum Clark Gregg is on board!

The trailer (seen above) combines footage from the drama's thrilling first season, which brought characters from author Karin Slaughter's successful novel series to the small screen. The author only had good things to say about the adaptation in Season 1, even though she originally pictured the characters looking different than the actors who portray them. It remains to be seen how closely the second season sticks to adapting parts of Slaughter's books; I'm already confident that Clark Gregg is going to be a highlight early on, though.

It's hard to glean much about Gregg's character other than 1) somebody wants to kill him and 2) he thought it was a good idea to try and run away from an FBI agent. Still, I got a laugh out of his very brief moments in the trailer, and I'm more excited than ever for the return of Will Trent. TVLine also sheds a bit more light on what to expect from him, reporting that he plays an accountant by the name of Arthur Highsmith who attempts to skip down after getting himself into a messy situation. 

Notably, he's set to appear in the first two episodes of Season 2, which indicates that Will Trent is going big by starting the new season with a two-parter. Sign me up! Clark Gregg of course spent the better part of a decade on ABC thanks to his role as Phil Coulson in Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., which ended back in 2020 with a fantastic series finale. While he has since moved on in his career with projects including Florida Man, Painkiller, and now Will Trent, he had a blunt reaction to comments about Marvel TV

While it seems like a safe bet that the closest thing Will Trent will have to S.H.I.E.L.D.-esque superpowers is Will's incredible investigative ability, the trailer indicates that there's a lot to look forward to in addition to Clark Gregg. This Is Us alum Susan Kelechi Watson will appear in Season 2, and apparently catch Will's eye pretty quickly. The glimpse of Angie teasing Will in his suit about how long it'll take him to get undressed just makes me miss those two all the more.

Luckily, the wait for the first new episode since the Season 1 finale back in early May 2023 is almost over. Will Trent returns to ABC for Season 2 on Tuesday, February 20 at 8 p.m. ET. If you want to revisit earlier episodes sooner than the second season arrives, you can find all thirteen of Season 1 streaming with a Hulu subscription now

Laura Hurley
Senior Content Producer

Laura turned a lifelong love of television into a valid reason to write and think about TV on a daily basis. She's not a doctor, lawyer, or detective, but watches a lot of them in primetime. CinemaBlend's resident expert and interviewer for One Chicago, the galaxy far, far away, and a variety of other primetime television. Will not time travel and can cite multiple TV shows to explain why. She does, however, want to believe that she can sneak references to The X-Files into daily conversation (and author bios).