Marvel.com: Towards the end of last season, May and Coulson’s relationship in particular got a little rocky before it became a lot better. Going into Season 2, how would you define the dynamic between the two of them?
Ming-Na Wen: I think they’ve patched things up, and they respect and understand each other enough and have a strong enough friendship where both understand why she had to follow orders. So they’re in a good place. I don’t know how much of this I can give away. What’s really great is [now] that Coulson has new duties as Director in rebuilding S.H.I.E.L.D., he’s got his hands full in coordinating and recruiting S.H.I.E.L.D. members that he feels he can trust. So May is now his right hand man, or I guess, his right hand woman, I should say, in dealing with the ragtag gang of S.H.I.E.L.D. members we have left and in conducting missions. I love the fact that May now has a lot more duties and she really, truly, is in the field, which is a thing that she didn’t want in the beginning. She’s completely immersed in it and she understands why she has to be.
Marvel.com: Another thing that’s coming up is I know that beginning in the new season, May has sort of taken Skye under her wing as well.
Ming-Na Wen: Yeah, very much.
Marvel.com: I was curious what it was that May sees in Skye. At the beginning Coulson obviously saw something in her from the get-go, but some of the other characters, it took a little bit more for them to really accept her. At this point, what does May see in Skye that leads her to become her new supervising officer?
Ming-Na Wen: May does see the potential in Skye. She’s proven herself many times over the course of the last year in certain missions, [especially with] how [Skye] had to handle Ward when she found out he was Hydra. She’s really proven herself under stress. However, I think the other layer is that both Coulson and Skye share this mysterious blue formula that’s in their system. Being her S.O., I think, is something that serves several purposes. One is that she can keep an eye on Skye, she can get to know her better, and if there are any changes that happen in her she’ll be able to pick up on it much quicker. At the same time, she’s a real asset to the team as far as being able to go into the field, and we need every single member that we can get and Skye is someone that she can trust. It’s just a matter of also keeping an eye on her.
Ming-Na Wen: I think they’ve patched things up, and they respect and understand each other enough and have a strong enough friendship where both understand why she had to follow orders. So they’re in a good place. I don’t know how much of this I can give away. What’s really great is [now] that Coulson has new duties as Director in rebuilding S.H.I.E.L.D., he’s got his hands full in coordinating and recruiting S.H.I.E.L.D. members that he feels he can trust. So May is now his right hand man, or I guess, his right hand woman, I should say, in dealing with the ragtag gang of S.H.I.E.L.D. members we have left and in conducting missions. I love the fact that May now has a lot more duties and she really, truly, is in the field, which is a thing that she didn’t want in the beginning. She’s completely immersed in it and she understands why she has to be.
Marvel.com: Another thing that’s coming up is I know that beginning in the new season, May has sort of taken Skye under her wing as well.
Ming-Na Wen: Yeah, very much.
Marvel.com: I was curious what it was that May sees in Skye. At the beginning Coulson obviously saw something in her from the get-go, but some of the other characters, it took a little bit more for them to really accept her. At this point, what does May see in Skye that leads her to become her new supervising officer?
Ming-Na Wen: May does see the potential in Skye. She’s proven herself many times over the course of the last year in certain missions, [especially with] how [Skye] had to handle Ward when she found out he was Hydra. She’s really proven herself under stress. However, I think the other layer is that both Coulson and Skye share this mysterious blue formula that’s in their system. Being her S.O., I think, is something that serves several purposes. One is that she can keep an eye on Skye, she can get to know her better, and if there are any changes that happen in her she’ll be able to pick up on it much quicker. At the same time, she’s a real asset to the team as far as being able to go into the field, and we need every single member that we can get and Skye is someone that she can trust. It’s just a matter of also keeping an eye on her.
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