‘The Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.’: What you should know about the ABC/Marvel spinoff series
Cast of the new ABC/Marvel series ‘The Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.’
Photo Credit: ABC
After Marvel’s The Avengers hit theaters in May of 2012 and gave us all a deeper look into the workings of the superhero initiative known as S.H.I.E.L.D., we knew that we had to know more. Fortunately, so did Joss Whedon.
This may very well be one of the most daring and ambitious movements made by Marvel to date. Never before has Marvel taken one of their assets to the small screen under their own banner.
I do have to say, if there is anyone capable of handling such an ambitious operation as this, it is definitely geek god, Joss Whedon. He has proven time and time again that he has a mind for the genre, and ultimately, as a fan himself knows what the fans desire the most.
Now, don’t come into the premiere and expect all sorts of capes, suits, and superpowers. If there is anything that you will learn from The Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. it is that not all heroes are super.
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. will focus a lot more on the tech, than super powers.
Now, don’t get me wrong, as anyone would expect from a show spawned by the Marvel Universe, there will be some superpowers and superheroes in the mix, but that will not be the central focus of the show.
The new ABC series will center on the miraculously resurrected Agent Phil Coulson. Yes…Coulson Lives! Agent Coulson is now leading a handpicked team of agents (sound like a certain superhero squad?) to help defend the world from a new sort of threat.
Agent Coulson’s team will consist of Grant Ward, described by EW as a “Swiss Army Knife”, played by Brett Dalton, a hacker named Skye, portrayed by Chloe Bennet, pilot Melinda May, played by Ming-Na Wen, biochem genius Jemma Simmons, played by Elizabeth Henstridge, and gadgets expert Leo Fitz, being played by Iain De Caestecker.
While each of them are special and highly skilled in their own rights, the beauty of them team is how they complement each other. This is a formula that Whedon is used to. The same can be seen in Whedon’s cult favorite Firefly.
Entertainment Weekly gives us a good example of what I am talking about in their August 30th edition. Take for example Grant Ward; EW describes him as an “absolute ninja”, but lacks any sort of people skills. In the series, he will often be teamed with Skye, who has no physical prowess per se, but according to EW is a master social manipulator.
Each character will be the keeper of a secret of their own; however, the biggest of them all sits squarely in the hands of Agent Coulson, played by Clark Gregg.
According to EW, Agent Coulson believes that he was revived and then rehabilitated in Tahiti; however, as is par for the course in the Marvel Universe, things are not always what they seem. As the show progresses we will find out that there is more than meets to eye to Coulson’s miraculous recovery.
Now, while we may not have a constant string of pop-ins by our favorite superhero squad, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. will play along the edges of each of the upcoming films in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
In the pilot episode, the team will find themselves having to combat against a version of Iron Man 3’s Extremis drug. Throughout the season, you will more than likely see crossover elements come into play from Marvel’s upcoming sequels Captain America: The Winter Soldier, and Thor: The Dark World.
"“If something interesting happens in Thor 2, I think we would try to find a way to reference it, or have fallout from that,” executive producer Jeffrey Bell told Entertainment Weekly."
Beyond the pilot episode, Whedon will continue to give notes on S.H.I.E.L.D. scripts; however, he will be concentrating mainly on directing Avengers: Age of Ultron. While Whedon fans on the small screen would like to keep him all to themselves, you must concede that Avengers is a cause worthy of the geek god himself.
Here is a preview of what you can expect when the Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. get started.
As you can see from the trailer, we are in for quite the action-packed wild ride this season. When it comes to Whedon, the one thing you can expect is the unexpected.
Marvel’s The Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. debuts on Tuesday, September 24th at 8:00 p.m. on ABC.