ABC/Kelsey McNealHeading into tonight's two-hour Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. season finale, Brett Dalton knows there's a good chance he won't make it out of season three alive.
The actor has already died once this season, as his original character Grant Ward was left for dead on an alien planet at midseason, only for his lifeless body to return to Earth after being invaded by a maniacal alien parasite known only as Hive. And while Hive has proven mighty powerful in this second half of the season, his war with S.H.I.E.L.D. is bound to come to an explosive end sometime—and Dalton's already rallying the troops to keep him alive and kicking.
"My message to my fans is let's recruit our efforts and start the hashtag #HiveLives or #HiveSurvives. That's how Coulson got this TV show," Dalton told E! News. "There's so much fandom behind Clark Gregg's character. He did such a good job to what, I think on paper, was just an agent, a random S.H.I.E.L.D. agent, and he brought so much to it that now we have a TV show because they didn't want to see this guy go. So, hopefully fans will feel similarly about this character."
While Dalton isn't expecting a spinoff, he does admit to hoping that his work cultivating not one, but two characters, on S.H.I.E.L.D. won't come to an end. "Not that I'm saying I'm gonna get my own TV show, although I won't complain if that does happen, but hopefully there will be the opportunity for us to see him again because, you know, three whole seasons were spent developing Grant Ward," he continued. "And then we saw this transition into Hive, but then there was still a little bit of Grant Ward in there as well, so I think it would be nice if this character's arc continued. Crazier things have happened."
In tonight's two-part season ender, S.H.I.E.L.D. has officially moved from being a simple irritant to a full-blown problem for Hive (and, you know, vice versa). "I think that, as I'm sure that S.H.I.E.L.D. feels about Hydra, it's just the problem that won't go away," Dalton previewed. "And I'm sure they feel the same way about me. But yes, they're the problem that just won't go away and I think that, as you've said, they've moved from a pest to a legitimate problem. I think that they need to be dealt with now and, as you saw in the preview, Hive said, 'I'm going to show you something you've never seen before from me' which is rage. He says it in the most Hive way possible, which is not rage. You don't see rage on his face, but you know that he's going to be suiting up and going into battle at this point."
Whether or not Dalton survives the battle—we know at least one cast member won't be making it out of season three alive—he remains wildly proud of the work the series has done this season. "I think that the whole team at Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. have outdone ourselves. I think that we didn't leave anything in the tank for this one. I think we just swung for the fences. I guess it's a choose-your-own-metaphor situation here," he admitted with a laugh. "But, I think that really we have outdone ourselves on this one. Our finales are always crazy and kind of a feverish pitch, but from what I've seen and from what I've heard from people who have seen the whole thing, this is kind of unlike anything else. I think that we have—it's like a new personal record almost…I think that we've cranked it up to 11."
Are you hoping Dalton survives the season finale? Who do you think won't make it out alive? Sound off in the comments below!
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s two-hour season finale airs tonight at 9 p.m. on ABC.