Except they're both out of play following Age of Ultron. Thor is off in the cosmos investigating the Infinity Stones, and the Hulk is who knows where. And the Avengers are kind of preoccupied this week...
Agents of SHIELD: Season 3 - Discussion (SPOILERS LIKELY)
- Thread starter Trekker4747
- Start date
Except they're both out of play following Age of Ultron. Thor is off in the cosmos investigating the Infinity Stones, and the Hulk is who knows where. And the Avengers are kind of preoccupied this week...
With Cap, Iron Man and the other Avengers preoccupied with “Civil War” and its aftermath, my guess is Coulson goes for the “nuclear option” by unleashing Lash after Fitz and Simmons figure out Hive can’t control him.
Civil War spoilers:
I don't think the Avengers are in any shape to help and wouldn't answer the call even if they could. It's unclear who is still on the Raft (I think they were all liberated at the end), but they're beaten, broken, and fugitives. And that's assuming that this stuff doesn't take place during the movie.*
* I tried to come up with a timeline for The Winter Soldier that worked pretty well. That movie was clearly over a week tops (with the stuff beyond the building taking place in two to three days). I'd say this was maybe a week as well. It's not something that would drag out in AoS, but the first point about the Avengers being broken still stands.
* I tried to come up with a timeline for The Winter Soldier that worked pretty well. That movie was clearly over a week tops (with the stuff beyond the building taking place in two to three days). I'd say this was maybe a week as well. It's not something that would drag out in AoS, but the first point about the Avengers being broken still stands.
This clip shows the events of Civil War beginning to impact AoS. To the surprise of no one, Coulson is "Team Cap".
Basically, the offer from the President is this-- If Coulson comes clean and registers all of his enhanced assets and complies with the Sokovia Accords, he will re-legitimize SHIELD and bring them in out of the cold. When Coulson refuses...
Talbot: "Why are you so pig-headed? It's good enough for the Avengers."
Coulson: "Not all of them."
Talbot: "Why are you so pig-headed? It's good enough for the Avengers."
Coulson: "Not all of them."
^^ Suddenly the theme from Get Smart started playing in my head. 
It seems like the TV side read the script but didn't see how the movie played out seeing that SHIELD is an US government agency, black ops but still under their control, they just carry the name ATCU instead of SSR or SHIELD.
Checking the map from Talbot's worldwide anti-HYDRA operation a couple of episodes ago...and roughing out the locations:
North Island, New Zealand/Aeteroa
Honshu Island, Japan/Nihon
Bangkok, Thailand
Hong Kong/Guangzhou region
Mumbai, India/Bharat
Szechuan Province, mainland China/Zhong Guo
Ulyanosk, Russia
Alexandria, Egypt
Sicily, Italy
German/Czech border
London, UK
Morocco
Ilha de Marajo, Brazil
Atlanta
New York City
Los Angeles
Anchorage
North Island, New Zealand/Aeteroa
Honshu Island, Japan/Nihon
Bangkok, Thailand
Hong Kong/Guangzhou region
Mumbai, India/Bharat
Szechuan Province, mainland China/Zhong Guo
Ulyanosk, Russia
Alexandria, Egypt
Sicily, Italy
German/Czech border
London, UK
Morocco
Ilha de Marajo, Brazil
Atlanta
New York City
Los Angeles
Anchorage
Talbot's kind of overselling it there, given that the only remaining Avengers on the pro-Accords side at the end are Iron Man, War Machine, and Vision.
SHIELD was always international, answering to the World Security Council, of which the US was just one member. And Coulson's group hasn't had any official remit to operate since the events of The Winter Soldier. It's working with the ATCU, operating under their auspices as part of their deal with President Ellis to cooperate on the Inhuman/Hydra situation, but it's not a US government agency, or really anyone's agency.
My (possibly incorrect) understanding at present of MCU SHIELD-as-was before TWS is that SHIELD was attached to the US Defence Department, as the SSR was to the War Department from 1943 to 1947. There was a slow transition underway from US control to a more international governance model as of the first Avengers movie, hence the World Security Council's existence. Representation from the UK(Hawley), India(Singh), either Taiwan or mainland China(Yen) and one other anglosphere country(Rockwell).
Was Pierce supposed to be Secretary of Defence?
Was Pierce supposed to be Secretary of Defence?
Yes, although we spell it Defense in these parts.
Anyway, it seems I was incorrect -- the MCU Wiki says that SHIELD is now a "semi-legal" black-ops arm of Ellis's government. Presumably what Talbot means about "coming in from the cold" is coming out into the open, registering its assets and becoming a legal, overt agency again.
I saw the set up ,like the real life Delta Force operated under cover of being US Army Rangers until politically outed in Somalia, we only send the best so for politics we now tell the press Delta or SEAL even if they the special ops folks don't like it. So when necessary Daisy is Agent Johnson of the ATCU like Delta was part of Task Force Ranger. but President Ellis in plain language stated that General Talbot operates under Director Coulson. Coming in from the cold seems it is just the SSR/SHIELD brand can be used again. I guess the reason that General Talbot kept trying to get permission before using the ATCU on his previous assignment of knocking out the reminder of Hydra but no longer Coulson's SHIELD who a cease fire had been made with when Ward was turned over, was because that wasn't his new mission
That was my interpretation.
I'm surprised seeing as SHIELD and Coulson as the guy actually doing it were registering Superhumans long before the Accords were a thing. And they didn't exactly change things after Coulson took over.
Forcing the issue of "indexing" was the justification for Jaiying's preemptive strike at Afterlife
It's a bit of a different issue since people previously on the index mostly seemed to be subjects/victims of artificial enhancements, intentionally or otherwise. Though while the Inhumans are also the result of artificial intervention, the ones living today inherited their potential from their ancestors, most unknowingly so.
Putting a blanket "serve or go to prison" enforcement order on people based on their genetic heredity is flat out racism and tramples their rights. Hell, it's really borderline slavery when you think about it.
I can absolutely buy Coulson being OK with the index as a necessary evil, but the Accords are an entirely different order of magnitude.
Putting a blanket "serve or go to prison" enforcement order on people based on their genetic heredity is flat out racism and tramples their rights. Hell, it's really borderline slavery when you think about it.
I can absolutely buy Coulson being OK with the index as a necessary evil, but the Accords are an entirely different order of magnitude.
I am not sure, we had SHIELD working for the World Security Council and now back under the United States government. Coulson might take it is easier to get forgiveness than permission prejudice he is already working under an accord and has been except for a relatively short period when Hydra emerged and destroyed Big SHIELD.. It seems more aimed at non governmental vigilantes which are different from non state terrorist in their ultimate goals rather then the "enhanced" the Inhumans and Super Soldiers who can't be disarmed versus the Iron-Men, Ant-Men, Falcons, War Machines and Deathloks who can have their technology seized from them. Maybe Stark can make a suit out of the contents of a prison cell maybe Lang if given the proper components but the others are just the pilots
I don't think it's an issue of whether it's the UN or the US that's in charge. There's a fundamental difference between keeping track of people who have been turned into living weapons, it's quite another to effectively enslave an entire people because of their innate abilities.
Make no mistake, that's the implication since...
Make no mistake, that's the implication since...
Ross specifically says to Black Widow that if they don't decide to sign the Accord that they'll be "retired". If you think that means that means they'll simply forbidden from Avenging than you're not paying attention. 
