Joss Whedon's S.H.I.E.L.D to ABC!

Anyone else see the new clips from SHIELD during ABC's showing of Iron Man 2 last Tuesday night? The new hacker girl is cute.

 

Very curious as to what kind of relationship this series will have with the films. There's every reason to think A-list Superheroes will appear on screens at some point, or be the subject of discussion, or appear offscreen during engagements. I would expect to see Samuel J. at least once.

Also, since Black Widow and Hawkeye are human, they're more likely to appear as they would spend the most time with S.H.I.E.L.D.? Eventually, RDJ will have to appear. My guess would be as Tony, not Ironman.

I hope this series is great and that it lasts for a while. It's been a while since a watchable sci-fi series was on broadcast TV.

 

I wouldn't hold your breath for actual appearances of A-list superheros. I think the show wants to be its own thing and not rely on the popularity of the movies. Every once in awhile MAYBE there might be a cameo from what I read.

That doesn't mean there won't be a heavy tie in with the movies, through reference of events, and cross-over minor characters. I hear fall out from the battle of New York will have something to do with the pilot episode

 

They can CGI Ironman or Hulk in without having to pay any actors or fudge any 'likeness issues'.

What they'd do with a non-speaking appearance is another thing...

 

^^^^
Iron Man yes.
However, Ruffalo's Hulk has been done mo-cap with Mark's likeness in the face. So that might(?) be an issue.

 

I can't see them putting Iron Man in it without getting RDJ along to deliver the snark and attitude that has led to his cinematic version becoming so popular.

 

I could see a few 'easter eggs' slipping in - Iron Man taking off and flying away in the background etc.

 

^Actually, and if I had more time I'd try to find the exact quote, Whedon has said words to the effect that they don't want to do the "Iron Man just left, you just missed him" thing, as it would be a cheat to the audience.

 

Joss I believe has already said that Agents of Shield will be separate from the films. It takes place in-continuity, but I wouldn't expect to see any of the major players in the show at all. Maybe we'll get references to the big guns, but my sense is that this series will be mostly self-contained.

 

Not to mention they would probably have to rework their contracts to appear in the series. Or sign new contracts. I'm not sure how that would work.

 

I don't see why Iron Man can't make a cameo in the show with a few lines.

We already saw several stuntmen wearing great look Iron Man suits in the behind the scenes footage on the IM1 dvds. Don't expect him to be flying around or blowing stuff away with his repulsor blasts though!

 

It seems unlikely that their current contracts with Disney/Marvel would contain any clauses restricting them from doing more stuff for Disney/Marvel. So I don't see why contracting them to appear in the show would conflict in any way with their existing movie contracts and thus require their rewording or replacement. The only potential conflict would be one of scheduling. And the main obstacle, of course, would be one of salary.

Because it would be cheesy and gimmicky rather than serving a story function, and the producers have already said they're not doing the show that way. The only reason to include a given character in the show is if there's a good story reason for it, a script that justifies their inclusion. Otherwise it's just a petty, mercenary ratings grab, and we should be very, very glad they aren't doing that.

Besides, Marvel's a big universe. Sure, the comics characters cross over now and then, but you can read, say, Spider-Man or X-Men for years without seeing Iron Man or the Hulk show up. So why not let the show have the same freedom to be itself, to carve out its own corner of the MCU?

 

The Arrow producers also said superpowered characters would never appear on the show too, but the Flash will be in the next season.

I'm not demanding anyone appear in SHIELD or anything, but just saying that would be interesting if one of the big superheroes made a small appearance.

 

But probably not Wolverine.

 

What? "Too?" That's a complete non sequitur. You're talking about two different things. Of course there are superpowered characters in Agents of SHIELD -- we've all seen the promos with J. August Richards exhibiting superstrength. The show is about dealing with superpowered people, good and bad. But what they've said is that they won't be doing stupid, cheap fanservice references like "Oh, Iron Man was just here before you arrived." That is NOT the same thing as saying they'll never have appearances by the movie characters. It just means they won't cheat and pretend they're hanging around all the time just off-camera. If they do it, it will be real and it will be meaningful.

Yes, Arrow is adding the Flash. But they're adding him as a recurring character who will be central to the story arc of the episodes he appears in. They're not just tossing in a throwaway reference as fanservice.

No, it would be interesting if they made a meaningful appearance, one that had a story impact rather than just being an empty cameo.

 

Well, I believe that SHIELD is going to at least talk about the feature film characters; they'll miss a huge promotional opportunity if they completely ignore their existence.

But for visual crossovers, I don't think you'll see anything but tangential stuff. You might see Cap way off in the distance fighting a battle; maybe even his shield bouncing off the scenery where the tv characters are standing; but SHIELD would be showing the outside perspective (like the JLU Booster Gold episode "The Greatest Story Never Told").

For actual face to face crossover, I see it going the opposite direction - the characters from the tv show will appear in the feature films. That's an easy add.

 

At this point, if any movie characters are going to pop up, I'm thinking it would probably be some of the smaller supporting characters would be a lot more likely than any of the big 7.
I was thinking earlier today that Emily VanCamp's Sharon Carter would be a good possibility. She's a movie character, she works for S.H.E.I.L.D. and the actress isn't as high profile as some of the others and she already has a relationship with ABC. Plus Emily VanCamp is friggin' awesome, so I would love to see her pop up one something else I'm (planning on) watching.

 

I share the skepticism but I can't help but wonder if the first episode may have some surprises. Should be interesting.