Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

[Retro_Link]

Pilot Ordered for ABC's Joss Whedon Marvel TV Series - And it's S.H.I.E.L.D.

 

Whedon will co-write and possibly direct the pilot.

 

We now know what the big Marvel TV series is that Joss Whedon is helping bring to ABC, which is set inside the Marvel Cinematic Universe and tied into the Avengers – It’s S.H.I.E.L.D.

 

Deadline broke the big news, revealing S.H.I.E.L.D. has officially been given a green light for a pilot by ABC. Whedon will co-write the pilot and possibly direct it as well. Writing with him will be his brother, Jed Whedon and Jed’s wife, Maurissa Tancharoen. Jed Whedon and Tancharoen wrote Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog with Joss Whedon and another brother, Zack Whedon, and were most recently writers on Spartacus.

 

Executive producing along with the Whedon brothers and Tancharoen will be Marvel TV head Jeph Loeb and Jeffrey Bell. Bell is another former Whedon collaborator, having been the showrunner on Angel in its final seasons - making it likely he could serve as showrunner on S.H.I.E.L.D. if it gets a series pickup. (Whedon will be a bit too busy prepping Avengers 2 to serve in that capacity, one would assume)

 

With the pilot already greenlit, it’s looking very possible that S.H.I.E.L.D., should it get a series order (and it has to... right?), would be on the schedule for fall 2013.

 

Update: Variety’s Cynthia Littleton attended a Q&A Whedon was at on Tuesday night. She Tweeted from the event that Whedon noted the S.H.I.E.L.D. series would be relatively "autonomous" from the Avengers films and that he indicated Jed Whedon and Maurissa Tancharoen would serve as showrunners.

E.X.C.I.T.E.D.!!

 

Will Samuel L Jackson feature in this though? Surely you'd have to think he would from time to time/a lot!... I know it can feature on Shield Agents going off and dealing with plenty of Marvel characters not big enough to carry their own solo movie, but still.

 

Also get Cobie Smulders on board please!... Thanks!!

[Cube]

OMG! OMG! OMG!

 

 

WHEDON TV SERIES!

 

OMG!

[Shorty]

I wonder if they'll bring in any big names from time to time. Sure, you can run a show based on a small part of the universe with plenty of your own content, but I'm not sure you can do a whole series while ignoring the elephant in the corner that is the Avengers exist in this universe.

 

Either way, sounds awesome. Maybe it will even be as good as Smallville should have been

[Agent Gibbs]

could be and should be epic really! wonder if we'll get some cool cameo's or if someone like MAria Hill will feature heavily? as Cobie Smulders is mainly a tv actress and was little more than a small part in the film! she could do with some background that and i'd like to see her in that tight uniform again ;p

[Ashley]

OMG! OMG! OMG!

 

 

WHEDON TV SERIES!

 

OMG!

 

Aaaaaaaaaand cancelled.

[Agent Gibbs]

Aaaaaaaaaand cancelled.

 

[Retro_Link]

Whedon commits to Marvel!... Big Time!!

 

http://uk.ign.com/articles/2012/08/30/joss-whedon-talks-shield-and-his-overall-marvel-deal

 

Joss Whedon Talks S.H.I.E.L.D. and His Overall Marvel Deal

 

The Avengers writer/director on his big expanded role with Marvel.

 

On the heels of the big news that Joss Whedon is co-writing, producing and possibly directing a S.H.I.E.L.D. TV pilot for ABC, Whedon spoke to Vulture a bit about the project, along with his new role with Marvel – a three-year contract tying him to them exclusively when it comes to TV and film, which not only includes writing and directing Avengers 2, but advising on all the Marvel Cinematic Universe projects.

 

Mid-summer, Whedon expressed some hesitation about returning for Avengers 2, saying he might want to do a self-generated project first. Explaining what made him not only sign on, but sign on in a big way, he remarked that it was the size of the role that drew him in. Said Whedon, “It was part of what made it attractive to me. I loved the idea of being a consigliere. Every writer loves the idea of being able to go in and fix a problem and then leave without obligation. It's fun! I also love these characters and the Marvel universe, and I grew up reading the books, and I've been going back and reading the old books and realizing that they shaped my storytelling way more than I give them credit for. Now I'm starting up a TV show, which is something I really wanted to do, but I thought it wasn't going to be a part of my life for the next several years. It's like a tapas menus of projects that excite me, in addition to the Avengers sequel, which I'm excited for because I'm incredibly excited about the next story that I'm going to tell. For me, it's a huge win.”

 

Whedon adds, “It is unbelievably daunting, especially because I don't want to lose sight of all the other things I have on my docket and in my heart. So, it's going to be an insane few years, but I feel ready for that. It's an unholy amount of productivity, but as long as I give it all I can, it's a good thing. What's great is that the deal with Marvel is nonspecific, so I will give all I can, but the moment I can't, I just walk away. The moment I say, ‘You know, I'd like to help more on this project, but I need this time for The Avengers,’ there's no obligation. It's not like, ‘You must spend this amount of time on this movie.’ It's as much as it needs to be.”

 

S.H.I.E.L.D.: What We Might See in Joss Whedon’s TV Series

 

When it comes to S.H.I.E.L.D., Whedon didn’t offer any specifics on the character and storyline. But Vulture -- referring to some of his infamous situations on previous TV series like Firefly and Dollhouse -- asked, “How does it feel to finally be working on a project that may very well get the biggest promotional push of any TV show ever and will most likely not air on a Friday?”

 

Whedon replied with a laugh, “You know, I can't guarantee that any of that will happen! But so far, it feels just fine. The important thing to me is that we know what the show is. We love what it is. It came together very organically, so when we went in to pitch [to Marvel], it wasn't like, We're trying to find this because you want a TV show, it was, Check this out. And that's a good way to walk in a room.”

 

That being said, Whedon remarked, “Good support is wonderful, but it's not a hill of beans, because they may give us all this support and then decide, ‘Eh. Yeah, it's Friday.’ They might give us all the support and then not do that, but then audiences might go, ‘Yeahhh … no.’ You just can't be sure. What I do know is that it's the show it should be, and we've got some really dope notions. It's going to work very well for people who either love the Marvel universe or for people who've never dipped a toe in the Marvel universe.”

 

You can read more of Whedon's conversation over at Vulture.

[Cube]

Are there actually any names to the other people in charge of the films overall? Or it is just a board of directors at Marvel or something?

 

With Joss Whedon having so much influence, I'd be extremely disappointed if the likes of Nathan Fillion, Amy Acker, Summer Glau and other actors heavily linked with Whedon don't get at least a guest star role in one episodes of the TV series. Hopefully one or two can get into one of the films, too.

[Agent Gibbs]

wait wait wait, can you imagine Summer Glau as a shield agent in that tight ass uniform... oh gawwd

Edited August 31, 2012 by Agent Gibbs

[Rummy]

I've always enjoyed Whedon's work with Marvel that I've seen, and he's proper on it so this isn't a bad thing. However, I don't know much about SHIELD, is there enough material to roll with? Where will the Marvel edge be? Are they going to have names etc, will this be outside of the films(ie different actors, stories etc), or will we get to see Samuel.L return? Surely he isn't really a series kind of man. It just seems like there might be too many issues to make this as awesome as we'd hope.

[Retro_Link]

I've always enjoyed Whedon's work with Marvel that I've seen, and he's proper on it so this isn't a bad thing. However, I don't know much about SHIELD, is there enough material to roll with? Where will the Marvel edge be? Are they going to have names etc, will this be outside of the films(ie different actors, stories etc), or will we get to see Samuel.L return? Surely he isn't really a series kind of man. It just seems like there might be too many issues to make this as awesome as we'd hope.

There would be plenty of material to work with because S.H.I.E.L.D. is pretty much a constant in the background of the entirity of Marvel's Comics.

 

Think of it how in Smallville a lot of single epiosdes feature on smaller 'metoer freak' characters... those not big enough to have much development... whilst others (good or bad) have full seasons/half seasons/story arc's dedicated to them... and then there are also episodes where Clarke/Lois/Oliver/Jimmy/whoever get development. This can work in much the same way!

 

It would be nice to think Sameul L Jackson, Scarlett Johanson, Jeremy Renner might feature... though it's more likely it would be through through Video Calls or very brief cameos. Who know's... with Josh Whedon behind it, and it being connected to The Avengers... maybe this would be a big enough draw to get them on board for a few episodes?

 

But yeah it would more likely focus on the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents like Maria Hill (please, please, please, please, please)... and other such [Agent Coulson esqeue] agents we see in the Marvel Shorts.

 

Wonder if The Incredible Hulk TV series is still in the works... or whether they'll just weave some of that into this now?

[Rummy]

There would be plenty of material to work with because S.H.I.E.L.D. is pretty much a constant in the background of the entirity of Marvel's Comics.

 

Think of it how in Smallville a lot of single epiosdes feature on smaller 'metoer freak' characters... those not big enough to have much development... whilst others (good or bad) have full seasons/half seasons/story arc's dedicated to them... and then there are also episodes where Clarke/Lois/Oliver/Jimmy/whoever get development. This can work in much the same way!

 

It would be nice to think Sameul L Jackson, Scarlett Johanson, Jeremy Renner might feature... though it's more likely it would be through through Video Calls or very brief cameos. Who know's... with Josh Whedon behind it, and it being connected to The Avengers... maybe this would be a big enough draw to get them on board for a few episodes?

 

But yeah it would more likely focus on the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents like Maria Hill (please, please, please, please, please)... and other such [Agent Coulson esqeue] agents we see in the Marvel Shorts.

 

Wonder if The Incredible Hulk TV series is still in the works... or whether they'll just weave some of that into this now?

 

Quite a good point actually. I just wasn't aware if there's much comic material, as shield IS background, usually to a more major/front player. Would be interesting if they went for setting it in a different time period(allowing them to possibly change up some actors, avoid current folks etc) and threw in some lesser known dudes/dudettes etc, maybe other characters from the Avengers lineups over the years(pyms spring to mind, having recently watched Ultimate Avengers 1+2). Setting it slightly out of time would give them freedom to work over a lot of limitations I think. However I certainly would like to see more Maria Hill, and possibly some Coulson too!

[Retro_Link]

I think S.H.I.E.L.D. does have and has had it's own comic series at times as well... I think I heard they recently made some more 'Movie universe' changes to it aswell, though I could be wrong.

 

But yeah it will be interesting to see where the focus lies and on which characters; and also what theme they go for with the show. On one hand they could make it quite a cool/serious government agent esque show... not similar too, but with that kind of 24/Flashforward vibe, but with a lighthearted edge, or they could straight up make it as 'Smallville' or Fun like the Marvel movies as they want.

[ReZourceman]

S.H.I.E.L.D. hasn't had its own comic for a while, but it is a very heavy focus in several of the books and its often got mini-series, most recent being the introduction of Coulson and the original Marvel universe's Nick Fury's son (looks just like Sam Jackson/Ultimate Nick Fury....stupid, but whatever) but yeah, its....MARVEL DNA, so a T.V. series has literally...so many fucking oppurtunities. I hope we see a hell of a lot of low level villains.

 

Boomerang plz.

[Retro_Link]

http://uk.ign.com/articles/2012/09/12/joss-whedons-shield-tv-series-to-feature-new-characters

 

Joss Whedon's S.H.I.E.L.D. TV Series to Feature New Characters

 

While promoting his new movie, Whedon revealed that his S.H.I.E.L.D. TV show will feature an all-new lineup of agents.

by Matt FowlerSeptember 12, 2012While at the Toronto International Film Festival promoting his film, Much Ado About Nothing, Joss Whedon sat down with MTV News and revealed that the Marvel S.H.I.E.L.D. TV series that he's currently developing is "very far" along in the developmental process and that he's already pitched it to ABC - with new S.H.I.E.L.D. characters in place of Nick Fury, Agent Coulson and Maria Hill.

 

One of the things fans have been speculating about is how involved would Fury and the rest of the S.H.I.E.L.D. team, most recently seen in Whedon's The Avengers, would be on a week-to-week TV show. Budget-wise and availability-wise. So this idea of new agents and characters answers that question.

 

"It's new characters" Whedon stated. "It needs to be it's own thing. It needs to be adjacent, but you don't want to do a show where you're constantly going, 'Iron Man just left, but he was totally here a minute ago.' You want them to do their own thing. What does S.H.I.E.L.D. got that the heroes don't have? To me, it's that they're not superheroes. But they live in that universe. Even though they're a big organization, that makes them underdogs and that's interesting to me."

So there you have it.

 

No Cobie is reason to cry though.

[Agent Gibbs]

So there you have it.

 

No Cobie is reason to cry though.

 

:cry:

 

So dun dun dougan maybe?

[Shorty]

I'm very interested to see how this is approached. Maybe it could have a tone a bit like Powers.

[Cube]

Wouldn't that suggest they plan on using her more in the films?

[Dannyboy-the-Dane]

A bit sad, but realistic and by no means unexpected. I like his points about SHIELD's role in this universe.

[Retro_Link]

Wouldn't that suggest they plan on using her more in the films?

Well yeah we're bound to see her in Avengers 2 and maybe even some of the others like Cap 2 (fingers crossed), but it doesn't mean her role will be any more substantial than last time. Where as she could have been a great regular in the TV show.

[Cube]

http://tvline.com/2012/10/01/joss-whedon-s-h-i-e-l-d-casting/

 

Details on five of the characters

 

SKYE | This late-20s woman sounds like a dream: fun, smart, caring and confident – with an ability to get the upper hand by using her wit and charm.

 

AGENT GRANT WARD | Quite the physical specimen and “cool under fire,” he sometimes botches interpersonal relations. He’s a quiet one with a bit of a temper, but he’s the kind of guy that grows on you.

 

AGENT ALTHEA RICE | Also known as “The Calvary,” this hard-core soldier has crazy skills when it comes to weapons and being a pilot. But her experiences have left her very quiet and a little damaged.

 

AGENT LEO FITZ and AGENT JEMMA SIMMONS | These two came through training together and still choose to spend most of their time in each other’s company. Their sibling-like relationship is reinforced by their shared nerd tendencies – she deals with biology and chemistry, he’s a whiz at the technical side of weaponry.

 

Grant has clearly been written for Adam Baldwin. Jemma sounds like something Summer Glau would play, too.

 

I can't see more than two Firefly cast members getting the other roles (even though Ginna Torres sounds perfect for Althea). Eliza Dushku is a strong contender for the series, too. Fran Kranz could play Leo.

 

Amy Acker will certainly get a recurring role and I can see Colbie appearing a few times.

[Agent Gibbs]

Amy Acker

 

i'm sold!

 

throw in an Alexis Denisof and a Jewel Slaite and i'll be happy

[Cube]

By "certainly" I mean based on how she appears at least once in everything added with this being Joss Whedon.

[Agent Gibbs]

By "certainly" I mean based on how she appears at least once in everything added with this being Joss Whedon.

 

well obviously :p but i'd say you could place a bet on it with confidence

[EEVILMURRAY]

As tempting a prospect as this may be, Marvel (and many other comics) have founded themselves in the extraordinary. So a series (albeit set in that universe) but being about "regular secret agents" sounds like giving up.