The team from Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D have faced some formidable foes, but none were as entertaining as Bill Paxton’s John Garrett. The late Bill Paxton is probably best known for his numerous collaborations with director James Cameron. He played a small part as a punk who faces The Terminator, before playing iconic coward Hudson in Aliens, sleazy car dealer Simon in True Lies and treasure hunter Brock in Titanic.
Bill Paxton excelled at playing comic relief in the likes of Predator 2 or True Lies, but he tried his hand at just about every type of role. One of his most underrated turns was in 1992 thriller One False Move, and he also gave a moving performance in Sam Raimi’s dark thriller A Simple Plan. Later in his career, he played a lead role in HBO’s acclaimed drama Big Love and had a supporting part in Edge Of Tomorrow.
Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D debuted on ABC in 2013 and is set within the MCU. The show starred Clark Gregg as Agent Phil Coulson, who seemingly died after being stabbed by Loki during The Avengers; how and why Coulson was cured of this mild case of death is a major mystery throughout season 1. Bill Paxton made a guest appearance on six episodes of Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D as John Garrett, who has a complex history with Coulson and acted as Grant Ward’s training officer.
Garrett is eventually revealed to be “The Clairvoyant,” a villain the team has been pursuing in Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D’s first season. Garrett hated S.H.I.E.L.D ever since they abandoned him during an operation in Vietnam, and he switched sides to Hydra. Despite his villain moniker, he can’t see in the future and instead used his clearance to view classified information, but after injecting himself with the Centipede Serum, he receives super strength and healing powers. The latter helps him survive several shots to the chest from Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) himself during the finale, though he’s later vaporized by Coulson.
Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D has featured much more powerful villains, including Hive and Ghost Rider (Gabriel Luna, Terminator: Dark Fate), but John Garrett was the show’s most entertaining foe. He could be menacing, but Paxton was clearly having a blast with the role, with Garrett delivering some great one-liners. He was killed off pretty definitely in the finale and prior to Bill Paxton’s untimely passing, there were no plans to bring Garrett back. He made a big impression over the course of his arc, however, and made for a fun, scenery-chewing bad guy.
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