Agents of SHIELD Actor Reacts To Cut Avengers: Endgame Appearance
It turns out an Agents of SHIELD foe was almost in Avengers: Endgame as Werner Reinhart himself, Reed Diamond, reacts to his cut cameo. Before Marvel Studios pursued their own MCU-based shows on Disney+, Disney had its own Marvel TV division that consisted of multiple series. Prior to the launch of the Disney-branded service, Marvel TV had shows on ABC, Netflix, Hulu, and Freeform. One of them was Agents of SHIELD, which served as a semi-spinoff from The Avengers by focusing on Clark Gregg's Phil Coulson and his team of spies.
Despite the show making tie-ins to the films, the MCU never referenced Agents of SHIELD during its seven-year run. Regardless of the lack of MCU movies acknowledging the TV shows, it turns out Avengers: Endgame almost did feature an Agents of SHIELD villain. Werner Reinhart, who was one of the main antagonists in Agents of SHIELD season 2, was close to having a little appearance in the last Avengers installment. Recently, old concept art from Cantina Creative resurfaced which features a clear shot of Diamond's Agents of SHIELD character, seen next to other HYDRA members. But for whatever reason, it got cut as it was never seen in the theatrical version.
While it's unclear why Werner's visual cameo got removed, the actor has given a funny response to it. As fans had been tagging him about the resurfaced concept art, Diamond reacted to it, making it clear he had no idea Werner was almost in Avengers: Endgame. According to the Agents of SHIELD star, it appears Marvel Studios was very ambiguous with him when they reached out for him to check his availability, sharing the following:
Even though it would have been a brief cameo, Avengers: Endgame already had a lot packed in for the film's 3-hour run. However, it would likely have been a big deal for Agents of SHIELD fans to finally see something from the show get acknowledged in one way or the other, especially as the films have continued to keep the series at arm's length. Given Werner's ties to HYDRA, something the MCU films have used for several phases, it would have been more than fitting to see his history referenced.
While Agents of SHIELD never got a chance to play into the movies with character appearances properly, that might finally be changing. Spider-Man: No Way Home and Hawkeye did the first Marvel TV inclusions by having Charlie Cox's Daredevil and Vincent D'onofrio Kingpin appear in the respective Marvel projects. This came before all the Marvel-Netflix shows and Agents of SHIELD, added to Disney+, as those properties will get explored by an entirely new audience, and open the door for more Marvel TV characters to cross into the films. Despite missing out on Avengers: Endgame, Agents of SHIELD viewers may still see future cameos down the line.
Source: Reed Diamond