This post contains spoilers for "Ted Lasso" season 3 as well as "Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D."
Zava: The man, the myth, the legend. The latest teammate to join AFC Richmond, the plucky team at the heart of "Ted Lasso," is none other than a fictional football great with an enigmatic presence and a flair for the dramatic. Zava (Maximilian Osinski) declared his intentions to join the team at the end of the season's second episode, right as he was about to very publicly sign on to the Chelsea roster. We don't know much about Zava yet, except that he eats too much asparagus, parades around in a man-bun and fur coat, and is able to easily hold the attention of soccer fans and players worldwide.
After the Richmond players and coaches hyped him so much ahead of his appearance, I expected Zava's role to end up being a bit of stunt casting, with one of Jason Sudeikis' former "Saturday Night Live" coworkers or another super-familiar face to appear. But it's smart of the show to continue the trend that's worked for it so far — choosing an actor who's right for the job as opposed to a headline-grabbing A-lister. Still, for some audience members, Zava likely looks awfully familiar already.
Here's Where You've Seen Maximilian Osinski
Maximilian Osinski will surely be synonymous with Zava in no time after joining the cast of one of the most celebrated shows on TV, but he's already made a name for himself with a few key roles in the past. Osinski has appeared in guest roles on shows like "Shameless" and "New Amsterdam," popped up in movies like "Love & Other Drugs," and even played a military leader in the second season of "The Walking Dead: World Beyond." But Osinski's most popular work to date is likely "Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.," the long-running ABC series that started as connective tissue between the MCU's film installments before growing into an MCU cult favorite in its own right.
Osinski appeared in the show as the character James Davis, a loyal S.H.I.E.L.D. agent who popped up in 27 episodes, mostly between seasons 4 and 6. Davis piloted the Zephyr One on several missions, formed one-half of a fan-favorite dynamic duo with Agent Piper (Briana Venskus), and was nearly killed by Aida (Mallory Jansen) at the end of the fourth season. Unfortunately, Davis is probably most remembered for his shocking death. In the show's sixth season, a pink-haired, alien-like being named Izel (Karolina Wydra) started possessing members of the S.H.I.E.L.D. crew. After repeated attempts to stop her were thwarted, Izel took Davis' body for a walk off a ledge, resulting in an abrupt end for a character who never got a proper sendoff.
Davis Is Gone, But It Looks Like Zava's Here To Stay
While fans of Maximilian Osinski's character on "Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D." might still be bitter over the character's unceremonious exit (he didn't even fall that far), the good news is that the actor seems poised to stick around "Ted Lasso" for a while. The season's second episode ends with Zava declaring his intentions to join AFC Richmond, and fans wearing Zava jerseys can be spotted in the trailer for season 3. The decision to add the wild card player to the team seems counter-intuitive to Ted's "just have fun" ethos, but he's also likely the key to raising the team's spot in the rankings, where they were initially predicted to finish in last place this season. Thus, it looks like we'll be seeing a lot more of Zava's man bun. Step aside, Jamie Tartt, it seems there's a new diva in town.
"Ted Lasso" streams new episodes each Wednesday on Apple TV+.
Read this next: The Best TV Shows Of 2022, Ranked
The post Marvel Fans May Recognize Zava From Ted Lasso Season 3 appeared first on /Film.