So, I don’t know what’s been said or what theories have been floated so far. But here is my take:
Like, I don’t mean Jemma imagined him. I think to her he was very real. But there are enough inconsistencies in his story and actions that I don’t think he is an actual person. Or maybe he’s just not anymore.
I think he is a manifestation of the planet itself. I don’t know who suggested the theory of the planet being Ego, but that definitely seems like it could be the case. Like Space Rando said, the planet seemed to have moods and a mind of its own. In the linked page about Ego, it mentions Ego-Prime, which is a splinter of the planet itself.
So, we have an entire planet that has its own goals and motivations, with the possibility of it creating a separate but linked version of itself. Why do I believe that this is what Space Rando is?
Firstly, there is this scene:
If this wasn’t foreshadowing, then this is some of the most overly dramatic writing in history. “This whole Godforsaken planet is evil.”
Uh huh. Chances are that is going to include you, buddy.
Then, there is the fact that all the other people that came through the portal with him died. Not only that, but they went mad and died. And he was mysteriously unaffected? Hmmmm.
I mean, I get that being trapped on a planet for 14 years would be kind of a downer. But why was he trying so hard to wear down Jemma’s hope? Unless that is literally the purpose he was designed for.
The actor is 31 years old. If we went by that to guess his character’s age, then he would have needed to be 17 when he first went through the portal. Unlikely, right? Particularly because he said he was recruited by NASA as a test pilot in the Air Force, THEN trained by NASA. He literally would have had to start when he was 12 or younger.
Even if he is playing older, I don’t think he could remotely pass as the 40-ish age he’d need to be to make it remotely convincing.
I think Will might have initially come through the portal at 31. That makes total sense from what I know of the world. So, then, why has he not aged in 14 years? Chances are that the man once known as Will did die 14 years ago with the rest of his team. The planet just ‘resurrected’ him for its own purpose. (I don’t mean that the planet literally raised the dead. I mean that they are using an echo of Will and projecting him for Jemma’s benefit.)
Jemma says “Actually, you remind me of-” before getting cut off. The frown on her face, the question in her eyes, makes it seems as if something is niggling at her. Like she is thinking ‘now that I think about it…’ In context it would make sense for her to be thinking ‘Actually, he is very like my father. Maybe too like him.’ What better way to gain Jemma’s trust than to create a handsome man with a personality like a man she loves and respects. Not Fitz - not the man she currently loves - because that would raise her suspicions. But someone that she is close to. That she trusts. A man like her father.
Will starts as a man that she at odds with, but he slowly wears her down. It’s like he was designed purely to make her forget about Earth, but do so in a way that lulls her into a false sense of security. But what the planet didn’t count on was Jemma’s enduring love of Fitz, and Fitz himself.
OK, you all with me so far? Cool.
So, the question is…why do this? Why go to all this trouble to get Jemma to want to stay?
Well, to that I don’t have an answer. I suspect the planet wanted her for something. It’s probably why people have been sacrificing themselves to it for centuries. It needs people for something. Is it just looking for the right one?
Is Jemma the right one? Does it have something to do with her blood? We only ever saw the ‘Death’ thing chasing her for her blood. Will never bled. Is it possible he can’t? Or maybe Death isn’t interested in his blood and the writers didn’t want to tip their hand. I’m really just spitballing here.
I can’t really know, but I have three possible ways that this story could continue from here:
Jemma returns to the planet, but Space Rando is not there and it appears he never was there.
Space Rando is still there, but he can’t leave the planet.
My personal suspicion of where they may go with this: They go back to the planet and find him (probably in the penultimate episode of this season) and bring him back ‘home’. But soon after start to realise that everything is not as it seems. If the planet is Ego, and Will is Ego-Prime, no doubt he will use this opportunity to try to put his plans of world domination into effect. He may even be the Big Bad in the next half-season or season 4.
(Ego’s story does appear to tie into both Thor comics and Guardians of the Galaxy. We have new movies coming up for both of those in a few years. Since AoS is setting up the Inhumans movie, it wouldn’t be out of the question that they also plant seeds for other Marvel films.)
So, I have no idea if I have interpreted all this correctly. But it is one way for the future episodes to go that doesn’t involve a shitty drawn-out love triangle. So for that reason alone I hope it happens.
