There's a party going on at S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters right now with news that our favorite Agents will return for a fourth season! ABC announced today that our heroes will once again put their lives on the line to protect the world in Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., ahead of the mid-season premiere this Tuesday at 9:00 PM ET on ABC. Before the show embarks on Season 4, though, Director Coulson and his tireless team still have to face the menace of Hive and the world's growing concerns about the number of Inhumans popping up across the globe in the second half of Season 3.

Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. returns for a game-changing fourth season. In the aftermath of their journey to another planet, Director Phil Coulson (Clark Gregg) and the rest of the team are more driven than ever to put an end to Gideon Malick (guest star Powers Boothe) and the Hydra organization. Little do they know that they are up against the deadliest threat they've ever faced - an extremely powerful Inhuman who was transported back from Maveth in the body of their worst enemy, Grant Ward (Brett Dalton).

The renewal comes just days after we got our first look at Hive, who, in the Secret Warriors comic book, was created in a lab by Hyrdra. The character will be vastly different on the series, with executive producers Jed Whedon and Maurissa Tancharoen teasing that this version will have its own twist that will both pay homage to the comic book origins, while at the same time going in a new direction. When we last saw Ward, he was consumed by an Inhuman creature and went on to terrorize the distant planet Maveth. The synopsis for the midseason premiere, Bouncing Back, teases that the S.H.I.E.L.D. team's enemy has "evolved" and their greatest threat has returned, as they try to unite the secret warriors.

There has also been speculation that Powers Boothe's Gideon Malick is actually the Red Skull. There isn't a character named Gideon Malick in the comic books, but there is Marvel character named Albert Malik, who was the second person to take over as the Red Skull. Albert Malik was a Soviet spy during the later half of the 20th Century, until Stalin's successor Gregori Malenkov had pulled Malik from his operations in Algeria and outfitted him as the new Red Skull following the disappearance and presumed death of the original Nazi operative. Malik continued to operate until the modern age, apparently laying low when the original Red Skull returned after years spent in suspended animation. Even if Gideon Malick isn't Red Skull, he could have ties, or possibly be related to Albert.

Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. stars Clark Gregg as Director Phil Coulson, Ming-Na Wen as Agent Melinda May, Brett Dalton as Grant Ward, Chloe Bennet as Agent Daisy Johnson, Iain De Caestecker as Agent Leo Fitz, Elizabeth Henstridge as Agent Jemma Simmons, Henry Simmons as Agent Alphonso "Mack" MacKenzie and Luke Mitchell as Lincoln Campbell. Produced by ABC Studios and Marvel Television, Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. was co-created by Joss Whedon, Jed Whedon and Maurissa Tancharoen, who also serve as executive producers along with Jeffrey Bell and Jeph Loeb.