Edison Po was an antagonist from Season 1 of Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.. A former U.S. Marine, he was also a psychopath with a cool demeanour and was very well-mannered. He was involved with the mysterious Clairvoyant and the Centipede Project, which was in actuality a project funded by HYDRA to create an army of super-soldiers. He was portrayed by Cullen Douglas.
History[]
Early Life[]
Prior to the events of the series, Po was a member of the U.S. Marine Corps who specialised in tactical planning and rapid response. He went off the grid in 2008, but in 2012 he reappeared following an incident in a diner in Boston, in which he had stabbed a person through the eye with a steak knife. Apparently after killing the man, Po sat back down and finished his meal before the police arrived to arrest him. Just before his arrest, Po had been contacted by an enigmatic individual referred to as "The Clairvoyant" who had offered Po the chance to work on the Centipede Project.
Po was imprisoned at the Havenworth Federal Penitentiary. There he was visited by a Centipede Project representative named Raina, who informed him that the project initiated by their mutual employer had entered "Stage Two". Raina also relayed the request that he contact the Clairvoyant for any insights he might have as to "Stage Three" of the project, to which Po responded that the Clairvoyant did not like to be touched.
The Centipede Project[]
In 2013, Po was broken out of prison by a group of Centipede soldiers. He was brought to a facility in Oakland where he met with Raina and the two of them discussed how to proceed with Stage Three of the project. Raina informed Po that a S.H.I.E.L.D. team had been taking down their bases of operation, forcing them to relocate every few days for safety. As they observed their Centipede Soldiers, who were exhausted after their mission to rescue Po and were having new injections of the Centipede Serum, Po suggested that they stop running and bring the fight to S.H.I.E.L.D..
It was only after Po had arranged an ambush for the S.H.I.E.L.D. team that had been investigating Centipede that the key to "Stage Three" became clear to him: S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Phil Coulson, who had seemingly returned to life after being killed by Loki before the Battle of New York. Po executed their soldier Brian Hayward before he could be captured and questioned by S.H.I.E.L.D.; seeing Coulson and their previous soldier Mike Peterson through the video feed in his eyepiece, Raina noted that Peterson had not been injected with the Centipede serum in some time, yet had somehow maintained his powers.
Po again consulted with the Clairvoyant, and told Raina that all would be revealed at the right time. Raina continued to ask questions about the Clairvoyant, but Po refused to give up any information about him, reminding Raina that the last person who asked too many questions about the Clairvoyant ended up with a knife in his eye. However he did tell her that he had told the Clairvoyant about Raina's many virtues to their organization.
After kidnapping Michael Peterson's son Ace, Po and Raina set a trap for Coulson. After capturing Coulson, it was revealed to him what Centipede needed to proceed with "Stage Three" was the secret of Coulson's mysterious "resurrection" after the Battle of New York. Po took Coulson to a secret facility in the Mojave Desert where he attempted to use a machine to examine Coulson's memories, however Coulson did nothing but joke and mock Po. Frustrated by the lack of results, Po informed Coulson that if he continued fighting, he would not survive the process. Po attempted to convince Coulson of the power of the Clairvoyant but telling him that he knew how Coulson had lost his father at a young age, although he explained that the Clairvoyant was unable to see how Coulson had returned to life. When Coulson refused to answer, Po had him tortured.
Coulson attempted to escape the facility after managing to break out of his handcuffs and knock out a guard. When he burst outside to look for a way out, Po was waiting for him. Po explained that there was nothing but desert for hundreds of miles, so Coulson's attempts to escape would prove fatal and fruitless. As Po explained why he enjoyed spending time in such a quiet and deserted place, Coulson made an attempt for Po's life but was stopped by one of his Centipede Soldiers before being put back into the machine for more questioning and torture.
Death[]
Po meets his demise in Episode 1.11: "The Magical Place". Po's interrogation methods prove ineffective and he resisted changing methods, which eventually displeased the Clairvoyant. When Raina arrived she tried to convince him to use her methods instead, however Po insisted that his were the methods demanded by the Clairvoyant. Po immediately received a phone call from the Clairvoyant, who promptly ordered Raina to continue the interrogation herself before executing Po through the phone.
The exact method by which the Clairvoyant killed Po is not explained, but it closely resembles the Sonic Taser used by Obadiah Stane to paralyse both Raza and Tony Stark in Iron Man.