Agents of SHIELD: [SPOILER]’s New Superpowers Explained

Agents of SHIELD season 7 has given Agent May empathic powers – but just how do they work? Ming-Na Wen’s Agent May has been a mainstay in Agents of SHIELD since the series launched in 2013. Sometimes known as the Cavalry, May is one of SHIELD’s most formidable assets, a skilled warrior who’s faced many challenges over the years.

In the Agents of SHIELD season 6 finale, May entered another dimension to confront potential invaders. She was left badly injured, but fortunately Simmons was able to save her using a healing pod, and May has returned to the field. But it’s becoming clear these experiences have had a lasting impact on May. She’s been cold and emotionless even by her own standards, and then in Agents of SHIELD season 7, episode 3 she suffered an unexpected panic attack. The strange emotional responses continued in Agents of SHIELD season 7, episode 4, and Simmons and Yo-Yo finally figured out what’s going on. After all these years, Agents of SHIELD has given May super-powers.

It seems Agent May’s new default is blank and emotionless, unable to feel anything; that explains her previous coldness. But with her emotions muted, May has developed a sort of tactile empathic ability; she can now sense the emotions of others when she touches them. This experience is overwhelming and difficult to manage, not least since May struggles to differentiate between her own emotions and those of others. But it makes May a vital asset in the battle against the Chronicoms, who possess the technology to infiltrate human society. It seems May cannot sense any emotions from Coulson, which implies she will also draw a blank if she touches a Chronicom.

It’s still unclear exactly how May has gained these powers. It’s clearly a consequence of traveling to a dimension where there are no emotions, no feelings; that presumably shut down May’s own internal emotions. But these empathic powers could conceivably be a simple side-effect of that process; it’s possible the human mind is naturally empathic to some degree, but that ability is normally cloaked by our own feelings. Alternatively, it’s also conceivable May’s mind has been fundamentally altered, unlocking a tactile psychic power that should never have been accessible to her. Whatever the case may be, psychic abilities like this have been rare in the MCU up till now, so May has just become quite unique in the wider shared universe.

Melinda May was an original character created for Agents of SHIELD, although she’s since been introduced in the comics as well. No doubt there will be some speculation she is now following the same kind of arc as Chloe Bennet’s Quake, transforming into an actual established superhero. In May’s case, it’s difficult to find a corollary; there are few empathic superheroes. It will be interesting to see whether practice can expand May’s powerset, allowing her to manipulate the emotions of others at a touch.

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Thomas Bacon
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Tom Bacon is one of Screen Rant’s staff writers, as well as a Peer Mentor for new writers and a member of the Care Team, offering support and a listening ear to members of the Comics group. A lifelong fan of major franchises including Star Wars, Doctor Who, and Marvel, Tom is delighted his childhood is back – and this time it’s cool. You can find him on Twitter @TomABacon.

A graduate of Edge Hill University, Tom remains strongly connected with his alma mater as a volunteer chaplain. He’s heavily involved with his local church, and anyone who checks him out on Twitter will swiftly learn he’s into British politics too.

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