WHAT WILL WE SEE IN THE S.H.I.E.L.D. TV SERIES??

WHAT WILL THIS S.H.I.E.L.D. TV SERIES BE ABOUT??  

After much fan speculation Marvel finally revealed that the TV series they planning will in fact be about the organization that has been tying The Marvel Cinematic Universe together all this time known as S.H.I.E.L.D.

Marvel then revealed that the man behind the show, whose responsibility it will be to bring this show to life on the small screen, would be none other than Avengers director, Joss Whedon (creator of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel and Firefly).

Joss will be helping with some creative aspects of the show and just lend his hand in the creative process as well lending his experience to his brother Jed Whedon and Jed’s wife, Maurissa Tancharoen, as the married couple would serve as show-runners.

Recently Whedon spoke about the new S.H.I.E.L.D. TV series and said, "It's new characters. It needs to be its own thing, you want [The Avengers] to go off on their own thing and say, 'Well, what has S.H.I.E.L.D. got that the other heroes don't have?'“

He then went on to say, "They're not superheroes, but they live in that universe, that makes them a little bit — even though they're a big organization — underdogs, and that's interesting to me."

Now that is very interesting to me, as what he said kind of mimic some of my thoughts that I had about this S.H.I.E.L.D. TV series. It would be interesting to see how S.H.I.E.L.D. would be utilized in this TV series, but what every fan wants to know is what can we expect from it.

I certainly feel that Marvel's ambition isn't limited and that this S.H.I.E.L.D. TV series could be used to expand the MCU at a much quicker rate, then they would be able to do with their films alone.

That being said, the TV series could literally be about anything within S.H.I.E.L.D. It could be about young S.H.I.E.L.D. agents in training in the S.H.I.E.L.D. academy, it could be about low leveled Agents, R&D S.H.I.E.L.D. departments, finding new super powered human beings, a specific S.H.I.E.L.D faction or it could be about the various spy missions S.H.I.E.L.D. agents get called out on.

With that being said, here are a few things we think we MIGHT see or NOT see in the S.H.I.E.L.D. TV series:

NO HELICARRIER BUT OTHER BASES OF OPERTATION

Now I recently watched Avengers again, (yes I just bought the Blu-Ray), and in a film that has several standout scenes, the reveal of the S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier is such a memorable one. The Helicarrier has been a big part of the S.H.I.E.L.D.’s history debuting all the way back in 1965. However, considering Marvel won't spend outrageous sums of money bringing it to life on the small screen, it's safe to say that the Helicarrier might cameo once or safer to say, never appear in the TV series at all.

S.H.I.E.L.D.'s Helicarrier

 Now don't fret, S.H.I.E.L.D. is an International Organization who have an insane amount of resources including, many Bases of Operations around the world.

These bases can be found in highly populated areas, right under the publics nose, or in isolated locations like under the sea or in the middle of the Dessert.

NO NICK FURY BUT MAYBE MARIA HILL

Firstly, Samuel L. Jackson is an incredibly busy man, in the last decade maybe two, I can't even remember going through an entire year without watching at least one movie that didn’t have SLJ in it. Now taking into account that his Nine contract movie deal might not have provisions for a TV series appearance, and given the fact that SLJ ain’t cheap, we doubt that we will see Jackson as Fury appear in the series.

Nick Fury

However we think that Cobie Smulders might make an appearance or two on the TV series as Maria Hill, (S.H.I.E.L.D.’s second in command), for two reasons: namely Hill needs more screen time and secondly she would be less of a hassle.

Cobie is highly experienced TV actress, having been one of the main cast members of How I Met Your Mother, taking into account that the character she plays is also a big part of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s mythos, having her in the series could help audience get a little more familiarized with Hill, as her presence on the big screen becomes more prevalent.

Maria Hill

The only problem with this is that she might have some scheduling problems to work out as she is still on How I Met Your Mother. Hopefully it won't be that big of a problem.

NO AVENGERS BUT MAYBE OTHER SUPERHEROES

Even before Joss said it, I felt that this S.H.I.E.L.D. TV series won’t feature any of the main cast of the Avengers, for similar reasons as I mentioned for Jackson.

However, what most fans are hoping for is that they at least mention, introduce or have full roles for some other superheroes in this series. Marvel has a plethora of characters at their disposal so there is no shortage of options that they could take.

Characters like Moon Knight, Luke Cage, Iron Fist, Doctor Strange, Captain Britain, Black Panther, Kar-Zar, the Punisher and DareDevil could all potentially make appearances in the TV series, but I feel they will just be in for a guest appearance of sorts, as the series will be focused on S.H.I.E.L.D.

As such, I looked at certain superheroes that have connections to S.H.I.E.L.D. that could possibly appear on the show on a weekly basis, without having to go full on super-powered hero, these include:

Ms Marvel, Carol Danvers (Director of S.H.I.E.L.D.), Captain Marvel

Captain Marvel (formerly known as Ms. Marvel) aka Carol Danvers is probably one of Marvel's biggest characters with an even bigger fan base, who have been calling for her to be introduced into the MCU sooner rather then later. This show could be the perfect place for her introduction as she could be a pilot who works for S.H.I.E.L.D.; never jumping into her origin story has to how she became a super-heroine or introducing the Kree. This is the perfect place to set up her existence without getting into to many specifics. In Marvel's Ultimates Danvers is actually the Director of S.H.I.E.L.D.

Jennifer Walters (Left), Jessica Drew (Centre) and Sharon Carter (Right)

She-Hulk (Jennifer Walters), the cousin of Bruce Banner aka the Hulk, and one of Marvel's awesome characters as she's a long standing member of the Avengers as well as a S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent, and a qualified lawyer. She-Hulk's origin story is so simple it could actually be done in one, probably two episodes, with her immediate recruitment into S.H.I.E.L.D. all they would have to do is keep her human throughout the series and have her hulk-out like twice!

Jessica Drew aka Spider-Woman is probably one character that should be introduced as is she has been a long time member of the Avengers, as well as a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent. Drew could be shown to be using her powers secretly without ever donning the Spider-Woman suit. Thus showing that there are more super-humans in the world then what we have seen in the films, and one them happens to work for S.H.I.E.L.D. Or they could just ignore her powers for now and just have her as a kick-ass Agent!

Sharon Carter aka Agent 13, the niece (or maybe grandniece or great grand niece) of Peggy Carter (Captain America's WWII love interest). Sharon is Caps modern day love interest, as well as (... U guessed it) A member of S.H.I.E.L.D. Seeing as how Falcon, Possibly Black Widow & Hawkeye, S.H.I.E.L.D., Cap’s own issues plus the whole Winter Soldier thing will all be factors in the next Captain America film, a character like Sharon can do with a bit of an introduction prior to the film, allowing audiences to get a little more familiarized with the character. Which can help tremendously in allowing the character to not get the short end of the stick as we saw with Agent Clint Barton (they never even called him Hawkeye) in The Avengers.

Barbara "Bobbi" Morse (Left), Tony Masters (Centre) and Yelena Belova (Right)

Mockingbird (Barbara "Bobbi" Morse) aka Agent 19 is really a no brainer, she's a long standing member of S.H.I.E.L.D., she has a long standing relationship with Hawkeye and before the whole S.H.I.E.L.D. TV series, their was talk of her getting her own TV series. So we would be surprised if this kick-ass agent doesn't make it into the S.H.I.E.L.D. TV series.

Tony Masters, better known as the villain TaskMaster, he might not be a superhero but this awesome villain, has a very unique ability to mimic any physical movement perfectly. He has used this ability to study the fighting techniques of various heroes and villains making him one of the toughest hand-to-hand combatants in the Marvel Universe. TaskMaster has also been employed by various villainous organizations as well as S.H.I.E.L.D. and other US government agency's to train their respective agents. He trained Jessica Drew as well as Eric O'Grady (the third Ant-Man). So hopefully he is introduced as a S.H.I.E.L.D. trainer, leaving his fall into villainy for a season finale or some heroes big screen adaption.

Black Widow (Yelena Belova)... there was never just one (sorry Bourne: Legacy). Yelena is a spy/assassin trained by the same people who trained Natasha Romanoff (Played by Scarlett Johannson). After Natasha defects, and switches allegiance to S.H.I.E.L.D. and the US, Yelena was trained to be the new Black Widow. She would also join S.H.I.E.L.D. later, but she was pretty corrupt none-the-less. She's not fond of Natasha at all, and she is quite the rogue agent, having her in the series could be very interesting. Essentially as she is totally kick-ass but will probably need an attitude adjustment.

THE RETURN OF CLAIRE AND BENNY FROM ITEM 47

Item 47, is right now the closest thing to how we think this S.H.I.E.L.D. TV series might work! If you haven't seen it as yet, make sure you get your hands on the Avengers Blu-ray now!!

Lizzy Caplan (Claire) and Jesse Bradford (Benny)

Lizzy Caplan (Claire) and Jesse Bradford (Benny) star in this awesome Marvel One Shot, and at the end of it, you realize that you just might not have seen the last of them yet, as they both (SPOILER ALERT) join S.H.I.E.L.D. So maybe, just maybe, we see a little more of them in this S.H.I.E.L.D. TV series.

OTHER S.H.I.E.L.D. AGENTS RETURNING

Agent Sitwell

What other S.H.I.E.L.D. agents could return to the TV series?? I'm glad you asked, as Agent Sitwell (Maximiliano Hernandez) might probably be featured more prominently on the show. Hernandez made his first appearance as Sitwell in Thor, and then the Marvel One-Shot "The Consultant" alongside Agent Coulson (Clark Gregg), and then landed a minor appearance in the Avengers before featuring in his second Marvel One-Shot "Item 47". We hope he really gets his time to shine on the small screen.

Agent Blake

In Item 47 we get introduced to Agent Blake, played by Titus Welliver, who is described as a straight-faced, play it by the book type character. Titus is very good actor, having starred in a number of TV shows as well as films, so we would be surprised if he is not included in the S.H.I.E.L.D. TV series.

Yes Warren Kole was in Avengers as a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent.

Warren Kole, most famously known for his role as detective Wes Mitchell in Common Law might also just be one S.H.I.E.L.D. agent that you will see more of,… or maybe NOT. Yes, Kole actually made an appearance in Avengers as a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent, and had like two lines! Now I know it's probably a long shot, but given the success of Common Law, Marvel might just take the opportunity to make his Agent a little more prominent in the universe, or not! Stranger things have happened.

COULSON, DEAD OR ALIVE??

First thing first, if Coulson is indeed alive I feel that they would re-introduce him in a feature film, as opposed to in a TV series. However that doesn't mean he won’t appear at all. Depending on the timeline they use, Coulson could be a main feature or a guest star for episodes that flashback to previous S.H.I.E.L.D. missions.

Agent Coulson will be Avenged

Either way I won't rule out Coulson's appearance in this S.H.I.E.L.D. series just as yet.

NEW SHIELD AGENTS WE HOPE TO SEE

So far we haven't really gotten to know any other S.H.I.E.L.D. agents beside Coulson, and Sitwell (who we still don't know that well). So in terms of some of the better known S.H.I.E.L.D. agents, here are just a few names we hope pops up in the series.

Eric O'Grady (Ant-Man - Left) Abigail Brand (Centre) and Daisy Johnson (Quake - Right)

Daisy Johnson (also known as Quake) is super powered agent, who is the daughter of the villain Mister Hyde and the present director of S.H.I.E.L.D. (in the comics that is). Well seeing as how her dad is a villain, the story of her recruitment in S.H.I.E.L.D., could make for one good episode!

Abigail Brand is the commanding officer of S.W.O.R.D., a S.H.I.E.L.D. offshoot that deals with defending the Earth from extraterrestrial threats. Given the earths recent encounter with aliens in New York, it would make sense if we see Brand as a scientist who works for S.H.I.E.L.D., and helps sets up this new division, called S.W.O.R.D. (which was actually created by Whedon himself in the comics).

Eric O’Grady is the third man to wear the Ant-man suit, but before he became "the Irredeemable Ant-Man", he was a low level S.H.I.E.L.D. agent. O'Grady is a man that stole Pym's Ant-Man suit, not to seek justice or anything like that, but to get girls by claiming to be a superhero. It could be interesting to see how his life was as a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent, and how he actually managed to become one.

Clay Quartermain, G.W. Bridge, Jimmy Woo and Contessa Valentina Allegra de la Fontaine

Before Agent Coulson, there was Clay Quartermain, probably one of the most famous S.H.I.E.L.D. agents’ who isn't a superhero or a director of the Organization. He is highly skilled, very competent guy, who is loyal, athletic, and a good soldier. I'd be surprised if he doesn't finally get introduced into the MCU in this series.

G.W. Bridge the fourth executive director of S.H.I.E.L.D. Little is known about George Washington Bridge's early youth. A seventeen-year-old G. W. served in the Vietnam War, before later using his military skills to become a highly skilled mercenary. He would join S.H.I.E.L.D. and work his way up the ranks soon after. 

Jimmy Woo is a Chinese-American secret agent, who first worked for the FBI, being one their most decorated agents, before being picked up by S.H.I.E.L.D.

Contessa Valentina Allegra de la Fontaine an Italian citizen who joins S.H.I.E.L.D., after her parents have been killed. She was a former love interest for Nick Fury, something that could be interesting to see.

Al MacKenzie (Left), Alexander Pierce (Centre) Walter Lawson aka Captain Marvel (Normal vs Ultimates Outfit)

Al MacKenzie was once the C.I.A. liaison to S.H.I.E.L.D, who became romantically involved with Contessa Valentina Allegra di Fontaine after a while, which led to an estrangement between him and Nick Fury. MacKenzie later joined S.H.I.E.L.D. full time, however subsequently, under unknown circumstances, he resigned from S.H.I.E.L.D., and wrote a "tell-all" book entitled UnSHIELDed: an Unauthorized Insider's Look Behind the World's Most Powerful Global Spy Network, which purportedly explained some of the history behind the organization from his point of view. (Talk about drama!)

Alexander Goodwin Pierce was a S.H.I.E.L.D. sleeper agent working in HYRDA, he would also become Fury’s body guard before leading one of Fury’s own independent teams.

How do you introduce a new complicated alien race to General audiences? Well you first introduce scientist Walter Lawson who is in fact Mar-Vell also known as Captain Marvel, a Kree (Alien Race) soldier sent to spy on Earth. Carol Danvers (Ms. Marvel) gains her powers (as well as name) from Captain Marvel; Introducing the audience to him as Lawson will allow Marvel to foster a relationship between the character and the audience, by teaching the audience a little more about the Kree as well as tease his Captain Marvel awesomeness!

THE HISTORY OF S.H.I.E.L.D.

In terms of how S.H.I.E.L.D. was formed (in the MCU), all we know right now is that Howard Stark was one of the founding members. We can only assume that Peggy, Colonel Phillips, Dum Dum Dugan and the Howling Commandos (All of whom are characters from Captain America: the First Avenger), were the other founding members. We not even sure if Nick Fury was indeed a founding Member of S.H.I.E.L.D and in what year was it founded.

Now in 2010, Marvel released a new interesting S.H.I.E.L.D. comic, that kind of deals with S.H.I.E.L.D.'s origins. It points to S.H.I.E.L.D. being founded by Imhotep (He is considered to be the first architect, engineer and physician in early history, and served as chancellor to Pharaoh) in the 27th Century BC (Ancient Egypt).

The series details the secret history of an occult organization called the Brotherhood of the Shield, whereby we soon find out that Zhang Heng (a great Chinese astronomer, mathematician, inventor, geographer, cartographer, artist, poet & statesman), Galileo Galilei (the "father of modern observational astronomy", the "father of modern physics", and "the Father of Modern Science"), and Leonardo da Vinci (a painter, sculptor, architect, musician, scientist, mathematician, engineer, inventor, anatomist, geologist, cartographer, botanist, and writer), were all members of S.H.I.E.L.D.

We then find out that other legendary men have also had certain connections to S.H.I.E.L.D., such as Michelangelo, Sir Isaac Newton, Nostradamus as well as Nikola Tesla.

We really don't foresee them telling these stories just as yet, but we do hope that they do tease the Brotherhood of Shield as part of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s history, without getting into to many specifics.

EXTENDING THE MARVEL UNIVERSE

This TV series it gives Marvel the opportunity to introduce locations, villains, organizations, etc. in the Marvel Universe simultaneously. This will not only get the audience familiarized with smaller or even bigger aspects of the Universe, but Marvel can use this to see how the audience responds to certain elements that they might add. If the reaction is extremely positive, it might help push a particular characters chances to get to the big screen sooner rather than later.

K'un L'un

In terms of some interesting locations we would love to see: Savage Lands (a hidden Pre-historic land), Atlantis (based on the mythical city), K'un L'un (the stronghold of a colony of humanoid aliens whose spaceship crashed in a pocket dimension that intersects with Earth), and Transia (fictional European country, birth place of Scarlett Witch & Quicksilver as well as Jessica Drew) amongst others.

The Raft

Hopefully we learn more about villainous organizations like AIM, Secret Empire, Black Spectre and the Serpent Society while maybe learning more about HYDRA too, while we get introduced to other Government organizations such as S.W.O.R.D. and Department H.

This could also be a good time to introduce audience members to the legendary super-villain prisons known as The Raft, Rykers Island, and the Vault.

Judging from all these aspects that we pointed out, it's clear to see that there is great potential to expand the MCU and get many different characters and places set in the world, without disrupting anything that has been done in the films so far.

This TV series could really enrich the MCU, allowing audiences to see things that we wouldn’t necessarily get to see in the films or any other TV series in fact.

So we really are hoping that Marvel does take advantage of their awesome collection of characters and put them to use, while allowing us to get to know more about S.H.I.E.L.D. and the world of the Marvel Universe.

Let us know what do you think about the Marvel Universe so far, and what do you want to see in this S.H.I.E.L.D. TV series and what you don’t want to see?? Comment below!