Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., or simply Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., is an American television series created for ABC by Joss Whedon, Jed Whedon, and Maurissa Tancharoen, based on the Marvel Comics organization S.H.I.E.L.D. (Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division). The series is produced by ABC Studios, Marvel Television, and Mutant Enemy and is set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, sharing continuity with the films in that franchise. It revolves around the character of Phil Coulson, with Clark Gregg reprising the role.

A pilot, written by Joss Whedon, Jed Whedon, and Maurissa Tancharoen, and directed by Joss Whedon, was given the green light in late 2012 and filmed in early 2013. The series was officially ordered on May 10, 2013 and premiered on September 24, 2013. On October 10, 2013, ABC picked it up for a full season of 22 episodes.

Premise
Agent Phil Coulson puts together a small team of S.H.I.E.L.D. agents to handle strange new cases. Each case will test the team in cooperation and ingenuity as they try to work together in trying to save the world from threatening, supernatural events on Earth.

Cast and characters

 * Clark Gregg as Phil Coulson: The character headlines the series. Coulson is a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent who oversees many of the agency's field operations. Though he appeared to have died at the hands of Loki in The Avengers, he is revealed in the series pilot to have been revived by medical technicians after having been clinically dead for eight seconds. Speaking of his character's return from the dead, Gregg said, "When Joss described to me the mystery and the complexity and the unanswered questions about Phil Coulson standing there trying to deal with this, I found it so fascinating and so true to the world of the comics and mythology in general as I understand them that I was immediately in." The changes that Coulson has undergone since his survival from a near death experience will be explored during the first season. Executive producer Jeffrey Bell explains, "There is a lot that's strange and different about Coulson since his return to duty, and even he's noticing it. It sets him on a quest. "What happened to me? Why am I feeling this way? Who am I?" Executive producer Jeph Loeb adds that Coulson may regret uncovering his answers saying "When you start to pull on a thread, you run the risk of unraveling the whole sweater". Coulson is revealed to have been revived days after he died, and not mere minutes, in the episode "The Magical Place". In episode "T.A.H.I.T.I.", it is revealed that the serum used to revive Coulson is of alien origin.


 * Ming-Na Wen as Melinda May: A S.H.I.E.L.D. ace pilot and weapons expert, whose nickname is "the Cavalry", although she dislikes the name, as the events that led to its coining during her time as a field agent haunt her, having left her "very quiet and a little damaged". The experience was so horrific that she took an obscure desk job before Coulson recruits her in the series pilot. According to Wen, May "needed to be saved. She returned to S.H.I.E.L.D. out of loyalty to Coulson, but there's a part of her that remains reluctant. If it weren't for his intervention, she'd still be down in that dark, dingy room stapling things." The character was originally listed with the name Agent Althea Rice on casting sheets. In the episode "Yes Men," she is revealed to be aware of how Coulson was resurrected, and to be spying on Coulson on behalf of Nick Fury, as revealed in "Turn, Turn, Turn".


 * Brett Dalton as Grant Ward: A S.H.I.E.L.D. Black ops specialist. He is a gruff, unsociable "manly man" in his early 30's who is great at his job, but not so great at getting along with his coworkers. Ward appeared to have strong moral foundation and is not without his charm. After a traumatic encounter in the episode "The Well," he begins a sexual affair with Agent May. The affair ends in the episode "Yes Men". Ward is revealed to be a Hydra agent in "Turn, Turn, Turn".


 * Chloe Bennet as Skye: A civilian computer Hacker and member of the hacktivist group called "the Rising Tide", with an obsession for superheroes, whom Coulson recruits in the pilot episode. Skye is described as "bubbly and goofy" but "also warm, edgy and witty". She can more than hold her own in any situation. In "The Girl with the Flower Dress", it is revealed that Skye joined S.H.I.E.L.D. and Rising Tide in order to find out about her parents. In "Seeds", it is revealed that Skye was designated by S.H.I.E.L.D. as an '0-8-4' (object of unknown origin). After she is shot twice in the stomach and given hours to live in the episode "T.R.A.C.K.S.," she is subjected to the same regenerative serum used to revive Coulson, in "T.A.H.I.T.I". In "Yes Men," Coulson shares the secret alien nature of the serum with her, and the two make a pact to work together to uncover more information about it. She becomes a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent in the episode "End of the Beginning" with level 1 clearance.


 * Iain De Caestecker as Leo Fitz: An agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. who specializes in engineering, especially weapons technology. De Caestacker downplays the apparent romantic chemistry between Fitz and Simmons, insisting that Simmons is merely "motherly" toward Fitz. Described as "superorganized", the character keeps only bare essentials on his worktable, with the exception of a monkey figurine that is a nod to De Caestecker's obsession with monkeys.


 * Elizabeth Henstridge as Jemma Simmons: An agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. who specializes in life sciences (both human and alien). She is generally cheerful and enthusiastic about her work. Agents Fitz and Simmons are close partners. Henstridge and Caestecker agreed at Paleyfest 2014 that Fitz and Simmons have a brother/sister relationship.

Production
After The Walt Disney Company purchased Marvel Entertainment in 2009, they announced that a Marvel Television division was being formed. In the following months, various pilots based on comics from Marvel's catalog went into development.

In July 2012, Marvel Television entered into discussions with ABC to do a new show set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, though at that point it was undecided what the show would be. It was described as a kernel of an idea' with a number of scenarios being explored, including a high-concept cop show." In August 2012 it was announced that Marvel's The Avengers director Joss Whedon, creator of cult hit shows such as Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Firefly, would be involved in the show's development. A few weeks later ABC ordered a pilot for a show called S.H.I.E.L.D.; the pilot was to be written by Joss Whedon, Jed Whedon and Maurissa Tancharoen, directed by Joss Whedon, and executive produced by Joss Whedon, Jed Whedon, Tancharoen, Jeffrey Bell and Jeph Loeb, with Jed Whedon, Tancharoen and Bell slated to serve as the series' showrunners. According to Entertainment Weekly, Disney CEO Bob Iger greenlit the S.H.I.E.L.D. series after watching the Marvel One-Shot short film Item 47, about S.H.I.E.L.D. agents pursuing a couple in possession of a Chitauri weapon used in the Battle of New York in The Avengers. Joss Whedon stated that the show would be autonomous from The Avengers, saying "It’s gotta be a show that works for people who haven’t seen the Marvel movies. It will please Marvel fans, I think." In a September 2012 interview at the Toronto International Film Festival, Whedon reiterated that sentiment, going on to say "It's new characters. It needs to be its own thing. It needs to be adjacent [to The Avengers]... What does S.H.I.E.L.D. have that the other superheroes don't? And that, to me, is that they're not superheroes, but they live in that universe. Even though they're a big organization, that [lack of powers] makes them underdogs, and that's interesting to me." Whedon deflected any direct influences from other series, such as the efforts of Fox Mulder and Dana Scully in The X-Files, and explained that while the show would involve people with powers and the spectacle of science-fiction storytelling, it would focus on "the peripheral people ... the people on the edges of the grand adventures."

In January 2013, ABC president Paul Lee said that the story takes place after the events of The Avengers. Filming of the pilot episode began on January 22, 2013 and concluded on February 11, 2013. On April 6, 2013, ABC announced that the show would be titled Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. On May 10, 2013, ABC announced that it had officially picked up the series.

In a June 2013 interview, Clark Gregg explained how the TV series would tie into the Marvel Cinematic Universe films: "...the exciting part is going to be seeing the way that Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. interacts with the S.H.I.E.L.D. component in Captain America 2, and the other movies, and whether those movies will then affect our show." Jed Whedon said the TV series will work in tandem with the Marvel films, both past and upcoming. “We plan on trying to weave in between the films and try to make them more rewarding on both ends,” said Whedon.

In July 2013, Maurissa Tancharoen revealed on her Twitter page that Joss Whedon, Jed Whedon, Jeff Bell, Paul Zbyszewski, Monica Owusu-Breen, Brent Fletcher, Lauren LeFranc, Rafe Judkins and Shalisha Francis would be the writers for the series. Additionally, composer Bear McCreary confirmed that he would compose music for the series. On July 19, 2013, at San Diego Comic-Con International, the entire pilot was screened.

The main recurring setting for the series is the Bus, a retrofitted Boeing C-17, that serves as both the transportation and headquarters of the titular team. The Bus includes such features as a soundproof interrogation room, a forensics and research lab located on the lower deck, where Fitz and Simmons work, and a cargo hold directly outside the lab where the team parks its SUV and Lola, Coulson's prized Chevy Corvette.

On October 10, 2013, ABC announced it ordered a full season of 22 episodes. The series ranks as the No. 1 series of the 2013–14 season among adults 18–49. On October 12, 2013, Marvel screened "Eye Spy" at New York Comic Con. On March 23, 2014, Marvel screened "End of the Beginning" before its PaleyFest panel for the show. At the panel, the producers indicated that they and the writers are able to read the screenplays for upcoming MCU films to know where the universe is heading, which allowed them to form a general plan for the show through the end of a third season, should the show be renewed for such.

For the final six episodes of the season, Marvel revealed the "Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: The Art of Level Seven" initiative, in which a different image is released the Thursday before a new episode, depicting a first look at a key event from the upcoming episode. Bell stated that the initiative is a way to tie the series back to its comics roots, and was thought of at the beginning of the season. The production team tries to pair specific artists to the teaser posters, based on their previous work and how it connects to the themes and emotion of the intended episode. For "Turn, Turn, Turn", the image by Mike Del Mundo depicted a maze forming the S.H.I.E.L.D. logo and show title, with a rat inside, hinting ominously at S.H.I.E.L.D.’s corruption and a possible traitor. For "Providence", Paolo Rivera crafted the image, which highlights the rise of Hydra by drawing a melded Hydra and S.H.I.E.L.D. logo, and depicts the team divided by Coulson, Raina, and Ward. For "The Only Light in The Darkness", Pascal Champion's image focuses on Coulson and his cellist lover, Audrey, while also hinting at the villain for the episode, Marcus Daniels. The four piece of art, for "Nothing Personal" by Stephanie Hans, highlights Skye and Ward in a depiction of a moment from the episode, with Deathlok looming over but not looking directly at them, and the S.H.I.E.L.D. logo in the background.

Due to the events of the 2014 film Captain America: The Winter Soldier, which revealed that Hydra had infiltrated S.H.I.E.L.D. with sleeper agents, the series sees a retooling for the final six episodes of the first season. Loeb said, "It's an extremely unique experience that doesn't exist anywhere else out there in the entertainment business," regarding the synergy the show has with addressing events from the films. The characters face the Hydra issue head on, while experiencing trust issues within themselves. Whedon added that the Hydra element, which the show could not mention until after the release of Winter Soldier in order to avoid spoiling the film, also attempts to address the lack of characters from the comics, a complaint fans had throughout the season, while also tying established threats such as the Clairvoyant, Project Centipede, and Deathlok, back into Hydra.

The series' first tie-in episode with the Marvel Cinematic Universe is in the episode "The Well", which takes place after the events of the 2013 film Thor: The Dark World. A second tie-in takes place revolving around the events of Captain America: The Winter Soldier, in the episodes "End of the Beginning" and "Turn, Turn, Turn". Beginning with "T.A.H.I.T.I.", all episodes leading up to The Winter Soldier crossover were part of a series of episodes dubbed "Uprising".

Casting
In October 2012, a casting sheet for five lead roles was sent out. Later that month, at the New York Comic Con, Joss Whedon, Kevin Feige and Clark Gregg announced that Gregg would be reprising his role as agent Phil Coulson in the series' pilot, and would "headline" the series. Toward the end of the month, actress Ming-Na Wen was cast as agent Melinda May. In November 2012, Elizabeth Henstridge and Iain De Caestecker were cast as agents Jemma Simmons and Leo Fitz, respectively. Later in November, newcomer Brett Dalton was cast as agent Grant Ward. In December 2012, Chloe Bennet was cast as Skye, the sixth and final series regular. In January 2013, Cobie Smulders, who played agent Maria Hill in The Avengers, said that her character may make an appearance in the show and that her commitment to How I Met Your Mother would not prevent her from participating. In April 2013, J. August Richards, one of the stars of Whedon's 1999 series Angel, was also cast in the pilot in an unspecified role. When asked if Richards' role would be one familiar to the comics, executive producer Jeffrey Bell said, "You know, not necessarily. I mean, we’re going to draw from [the comics], but Marvel has its thing, and we’re also going to be expanding forward, and this world is different since The Avengers. So I think there will be people showing up, some from the Marvel Universe and some not." Buffy the Vampire Slayer actor Nicholas Brendon, another Whedon collaborator, was also reportedly considered for Richards' role. Richards' role was later revealed to be Mike Peterson. Cobie Smulders reprises her role as Maria Hill in the pilot after her appearance in The Avengers. Joss Whedon stated: "I wanted very much to have Cobie in the pilot because as much as anyone else, she is S.H.I.E.L.D. She's cool and commanding, and has the dry humor that plays so well with Clark's." Smulders reprised her role in the episode "Nothing Personal". In June 2013, Samuel L. Jackson expressed interest in guest starring as S.H.I.E.L.D. director Nick Fury, and subsequently appeared in the second episode "0-8-4". He will make a second appearance in the season finale.

Broadcast
The series has been licensed in 155 countries and territories. It originally premiered on September 24, 2013. CTV announced in June 2013 that they hold the broadcast rights for Canada, and the series debuted alongside the American broadcast. On August 22, 2013, it was confirmed that Channel 4 would air the show in the United Kingdom, and it premiered on September 27, 2013. In Australia, the show premiered on Channel 7 on October 2, 2013, with the broadcast of the first two episodes.

Reception
Before the premiere, the entire pilot was screened at San Diego Comic-Con International in July 2013, and was met with a very positive reaction from the crowd. Critically, the initial screening of the pilot was met with mostly positive reviews. As of September 28, 2013, based on the pilot, the first season has received positive reviews from some critics, and received a Metacritic score of 74 out of 100, based on 32 reviews. IGN gave the pilot an 8.5 out of 10, saying it "quickly hits the right notes to firmly show how it exists on the ground level" of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The New York Times' Brooks Barnes felt the storyline in the pilot was hard to follow at times, and did not like the thick accents of De Caestecker and Henstridge. He also added that "what goes over well at Comic-Con does not necessarily work in the real world," especially on a network with "Scandal moms and Dancing with the Stars grandparents".

Entertainment Weekly's initial reactions were that if everything that made the show appealing—its continuity with Marvel Cinematic Universe, its continuance of the The Avengers storyline, and Whedon's return to television—were stripped from it, the show would still work. However, they also questioned whether the show was accessible enough to attract a wider audience. Varietys Brian Lowry felt that the "pilot picks up where Avengers' left off, but doesn't pack quite the same punch," adding that the banter "occasionally feels a little precious and clunky."

Jim Steranko, an artist and writer who worked on 18 of the Nick Fury: Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. comic books between 1966 and 1968, was critical of the pilot episode, lamenting that "the show had no menace, no tension." For the second episode, Steranko said that it was "too unfocused to be satisfying," but praised Jackson's cameo as Nick Fury as "an electrifying reminder of what the series could and should be." In contrast, Steranko's opinion of later episodes in the first season were largely positive, congratulating the writer and director of "The End of the Beginning" for "finding an entertaining, bravura groove that finally brings the concept to life", and saying of the next episode "I was concerned that last week’s bravura transformation was only a fluke, but it was apparent from the opening moments that the exec lineup’s new image-and-edit policy was in play."

Ratings
In the United States, the premiere episode of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. earned a 4.7/14 rating in the 18–49-year-old demographic, with 12.12 million total viewers, making it the biggest network drama debut in four years. Though the series debuted to strong ratings against its competition, NCIS, its ratings declined considerably over the following two months, though it remained Tuesday's top show among men 18–49, and overall was the No. 3 show among upscale young adults behind Modern Family and The Big Bang Theory. It also enjoys DVR recordings that, according to TV Guide, are "through the roof".

In Canada, the first episode on CTV, which premiered with the United States, saw 2.706 million viewers, earning the third highest viewership for the week on the network. In the United Kingdom, the debut episode three days later on Channel 4 saw the biggest drama launch of the year, averaging 3.23 million viewers including the +1 channel and recordings viewed the same night, or a share of 14.8 percent of people watching TV in the UK at the time. The Seven Network premiere in Australia on October 2, 2013 was watched by 1.3 million viewers, the top show of the night. In New Zealand, the first episode premiered on February 16, 2014 to 326,790 viewers, the fourth highest show of the night, and the most watched show on TV2.

US ratings
As of September 30, 2013, an estimated 22.1 million viewers have watched the premiere episode through live, DVR, encore, and online viewing in the US.

Awards
In June 2013, the series was awarded, along with five other shows, the Critics' Choice Television Award for Most Exciting New Series.

The show received two nominations at the 40th People's Choice Awards, for Favorite New TV Drama, and Ming-Na Wen was nominated for Favorite Actress in a New TV Series.