Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D. Actor Reveals His Favorite On-Screen Fight - Exclusive
Alphonso "Mack" Mackenzie's official title is Director of S.H.I.E.L.D., but even though he's management, he's not afraid to get his hands dirty. If there's a fight going down on Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., chances are that Mack's right in the middle of it.
So, does Henry Simmons, the actor who's played Mack for the past six years, have a favorite fight scene from the show? Of course he does — but don't expect it to include Mack's signature weapon, the shotgun-axe.
"I'll be honest with you, I didn't like fighting with the shotgun," Simmons admits in an exclusive interview with Looper. "I liked shooting it, but I didn't like fighting with it because it was so awkward."
Instead, Simmons says, he preferred it when Mack dropped the hardware and took it to his opponents hand-to-hand. "I love MMA. I love boxing. And to use my hands, that's what I love the most," Simmons tells us. "I don't even like kicking, just hand-to-hand combat. Just two guys fighting."
With that in mind, it's easy to see why Simmons' favorite S.H.I.E.L.D. fight is the one on the season 6 episode "Code Yellow." If you need a reminder, that's the one on which the team learns that their resident refugee from the future, Deke Shaw (Jeff Ward), has stolen S.H.I.E.L.D. tech and founded his own video game company. Unfortunately for Deke, his time as a Silicon Valley power player doesn't last long. The evil Agent Coulson-lookalike Sarge and his crew attack Deke's company, forcing S.H.I.E.L.D. to come to his rescue.
The ensuing fight between Mack and Sarge's henchman Pax (Matt O'Leary) was one of the most brutal in S.H.I.E.L.D. history, and Simmons wouldn't have had it any other way. "That might have been my favorite fight, because it was rough. It was sloppy. They're guys who just grab each other, throw each other. They don't trade kicks. Just punching," Simmons says.
There's a reason why Simmons prefers that type of brawl. "That's what a real fight is," he explains. "It's not pretty and timed with punches and ducking at the right moment. Just two guys, beating the hell out of each other."
The MCU character Henry Simmons would love to see Mack team up with
As we've seen, Mack is pretty capable in a fight all on his own, but even he needs some help occasionally. While there currently aren't any plans to bring Mack or the rest of the Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. crew to the big screen, Simmons knows exactly who he'd want by Mack's side if a big-screen crossover ever took place.
"Just for my own personal joy as an actor, I would say Black Panther," Simmons says. "I would love to go to Wakanda. Being in that world as an actor and to have my character there and fight with all the Wakandans, that would be wonderful."
Simmons thinks it would be a valuable experience for Mack, too: "Mack will go back to his roots and just be out, man. He'd embrace his African roots and go there. I would love that, I would love that."
Henry Simmons isn't the only member of the S.H.I.E.L.D. cast who's itching to bring their character to the big screen, either. Earlier, Chloe Bennet, who plays Quake on the series, told us that she'd love to return as Daisy for a Marvel Cinematic Universe crossover, while Elizabeth Henstridge says she'd enjoy having her character, Jemma Simmons, take to the rooftops with Black Widow.
For now, however, fans can still catch Mack, Quake, and Jemma on Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., which airs on ABC at 10 PM.