Marvel at TV’s new super agents

Published Aug 30, 2013

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THERESA SMITH

It was a running joke in the first Iron Man movie that the Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division needed a better name. So, now, ABC brings us Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

Headwriter for geekdom the world over, Joss Whedon (The Avengers, Buffy, Firefly) is responsible, along with his wife Maurissa Tancharoen, for the creation of this new TV series.

Commissioned by ABC, the first episode will be directed by Whedon, who is featured on the cover of the latest Entertainment Weekly alongside Agent Coulson (Clark Gregg) and computer hacker Skye (Chloe Bennet).

Whedon has apparently taken a cue from his Buffy season three episode The Zeppo (a deconstruction of the usual Buffy episodes to star the person who mattered the least, ie Xander) to create this TV series about the people who don’t have the superpowers.

One of the major plot points of The Avengers, was the death of the popular agent Coulson, so it will come as a bit of a shock to see him pop up in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

Though the series only premieres on ABC on September 24, a series of featurettes have been steadily appearing online, introducing various characters and the world which up to now has been the cinematic universe of Marvel’s superheroes.

Large scale billboards and posters have also been popping up all over Los Angeles, with cast members having great fun tweeting pics of themselves posing with the promotional material.

Either it was a robot who died in the film, or Nick Fury lied to the Avengers but, either way, Clark Gregg reprises his role as he puts together a small team of agents to handle strange new cases.

Gregg has also been helping the Marvel cinematic universe’s continuity by providing the voice to the animated Agent Coulson in the Ultimate Spider-Man TV series – the second Marvel series to pop up on Disney XD.

While the continuity of the series has to dovetail with the films – agents from the TV series will interact with the agents in the forthcoming Captain America sequel – it still has to further its own plotlines.

Each case will have team members work together to figure out how to deal with newly emerging superhumans in the world.

While M-net has picked up the TV series, there hasn’t been any indication yet of when or on what channel it starts on local TV.

Check shieldtv.net for the latest info.

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