J. August Richards as Mike Peterson in "Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D." (Twitter, via @Marvel).

Marvel's "Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D." is raising the stakes in the back end of its debut season.

Marvel has made a slew of announcements regarding their television series, including the first live-action appearance of Deathlok and the return of some familiar faces from the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU).

The fan-favorite, who will be celebrating his 40th anniversary this year, will be coming to "Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D." on Feb. 4. Executive Producer Jeffrey Bell revealed Thursday that recurring character Mike Peterson's (J. August Richards) story arc is in fact Deathlok's origin story.

Not only is Richards the first live-action Deathlok, but he is also the first major player in the Marvel Universe to appear on TV.

The last time we saw Mike, he had lost contact with S.H.I.E.L.D. and had been turned into a cybernetically enhanced solder by the elusive man in the machine. When he returns to the small screen, the question will be whether he sides with S.H.I.E.L.D. or against them.

Richards described this opportunity as a "dream come true," revealing that his nine-year-old-self's dream was to be a superhero.

Deathlok is not the only big-ticket name coming to "Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D." this season: Marvel has also announced that Stan Lee himself will make a cameo in the same episode. The series' official Twitter account named him the "King of Cameos," as it has become tradition for Lee to make cameos in the MCU films.

As well as Deathlok, other in-universe characters are set to appear in the series. Lady Sif (Jamie Alexander) from "Thor" and "Thor: The Dark World" will return to Midgard to capture the Asgardian villain Lorelei, who will be played by Elene Satine, in the near future.

If this all seems a bit much for the back half of a season, Marvel TV Chief Jeph Loeb stated that the series had been dropping breadcrumbs throughout the season. Several were caught by viewers, as speculations that Richards would play Deathlok have been circulating since his last appearance.

Loeb later added, "We set it up, now we're going to pull the trigger."

Reach Staff Reporter Jennifer Kuan here, and follow her on Twitter here.