S.H.I.E.L.D. will be the live-action Marvel TV series coming to ABC!
Deadline reported that The Avengers writer-director Joss Whedon will write + possibly direct the pilot, with his brother Jed Whedon + [Jed’s wife] Maurissa Tancharoen along as showrunners:
The project is based on Marvel’s peacekeeping organization S.H.I.E.L.D. (which stands for Strategic Hazard Intervention Espionage Logistics Directorate or Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement + Logistics Division) found in both the Marvel comic book and feature film universes, including the blockbuster 2012 movie The Avengers, in which S.H.I.E.L.D. director Nick Fury recruits Iron Man, Captain America, the Hulk + Thor to stop Thor’s adoptive brother Loki from subjugating Earth.
Whedon also confirmed that S.H.I.E.L.D. will be largely “autonomous” from The Avengers 2.
Hit the jizzump for some nerdy ass ANALysis to follow up on my other speculation/ANALysis post about this topic.
SIGH.
Though going the S.H.I.E.L.D. route may ultimately cut costs on superhuman effects over a show built around superheroes with extraordinary abilities, honestly, I’m a bit disappointed with this announcement.
I would love to see the TV series explore some of the occult + historical origins of the organization chronicled in the 2010 ongoing comic book series going back to ancient Egypt, ancient Rome and the Renaissance, and involving historical figures like Galileo Galilei, Leonardo da Vinci, Isaac Newton, Michelangelo, Nostradamus + Nikola Tesla.
S.H.I.E.L.D. characters in the current Marvel canon are all integral players and if Whedon’s statements about the TV series remaining separate from the movies remain true, Samuel L. Jackson (Nick Fury), Cobie Smulders (Maria Hill) and Clark Gregg (murdered agent Phil Coulson) should stay away from the series beyond special guest appearances. Plus, Smulders is a series regular on continuing TV show How I Met Your Mother and Gregg unofficially denied he will be coming back (as an android).
Though some of my previous character picks would work in this new S.H.I.E.L.D. series (Hawkeye, Mockingbird, Ms. Marvel, Vision), there are some other characters that can be added:
1. G.W. Bridge
After both solo + team mercenary work with the Six Pack (which also featured Cable + Deadpool), Bridge joined S.H.I.E.L.D. and worked his way up through the ranks. The non-powered hand-to-hand fighter, firearms specialist and strategist is also an Islam convert that would make for intriguing television.
The blonde fast-talking human member of the Hulkbusters is also a former romantic interest of Jessica Jones.
3. Jimmy Woo
Chinese American FBI agent who oversaw the Avengers in the 1950s and led several S.H.I.E.L.D. subgroups.
