6 Things I Want to See in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. has been out for five weeks now, and so far, opinions are mixed. I think everybody can agree that the show is well put together, but a lot of my friends and online critics are waffling over whether or not it’s any good. Personally, I’m liking the show, but I can recognize that it’s not very exciting yet. It’s mildly entertaining at best. If this were just a normal procedural and not connected to the Marvel Universe, I probably would have stopped watching a long time ago.
Though who can resist those eyes?
But for exactly that Marvel connection, I’m not about to give up on it anytime soon. This is a weekly, live action TV show produced by Joss Whedon about the Marvel Universe. That is a sentence that none of us thought possible only a few short years ago. Other than a Firefly revival, what else could we possibly want from a Whedon TV show? So I’m sticking with Agents of SHIELD without regret. We’re only five episodes in, so that’s no time to judge the overall quality of a show. But just because I’m me, here are six suggestions for improving Marvel’s Agents of SHIELD.
6. More Marvel cameos
How can Disney not afford the special effects?
This one is a given. And I mean both characters from the movies and from the comics. Agents of SHIELD has already set the stage of comic book super-villain Graviton to show up, and by all means, I’m looking forward to that. So why not keep it going? Bring in more villains. Bring in more heroes. Bring in Robert Downey Jr. or Chris Evans for Sweeps Week and make us all squee a little bit more. Original characters, villains and evil agencies are fine, and SHIELD should definitely continue with those, but speaking for all of fandom, we want more movie stuff!
5. Make SHIELD a character
And maybe give everybody literal shields?
You know how people are always saying that “Gotham City is a character in and of itself” in the good Batman movies? Well this show needs to do the same thing with SHIELD as a spy agency. I want to get a real feeling that this organization exists beyond the core team. The pilot episode had both Maria Hill and Shepherd Book (playing some kind of SHIELD doctor who most likely is not named ‘Shepherd Book). The second episode had Nick Fury. The third episode had a fat, slovenly truck driving agent who I instantly bonded with. A future episode is going to cameo the SHIELD agent from that Item 47 movie short. But where is Jasper Sitwell? Where are the two new recruits from the Item 47 short?
SHIELD is a big organization with many different agents, and while we clearly need to focus on the main task force, I would like to see SHIELD as a whole fleshed out a lot more. Granted, they can’t get Nick Fury to show up very often, but surely the actress that plays Maria Hill isn’t too hard to get. And Dr. Book needs to come back a lot more often. Heck, I even want that fat, slovenly agent to become a reoccurring character because too many people on Agents of SHIELD are ridiculously beautiful.
Seriously, Simmons is so overwhelmingly attractive that it’s kind of annoying.
And also ravishing
SHIELD is much more than just this plucky band of overly attractive agents. I want to see a lot more of the whole agency.
4. Airtight synergy between the show and the movies
You just know Coulson owns all those action figures
I know that the movie studios and the TV studios aren’t run by the same people, but surely there are some executives in charge over at Marvel and Disney who know what’s going on in both, right? Why not tailor some upcoming SHIELD scripts to incorporate upcoming Marvel movies? Maybe a future episode of SHIELD directly references the events of Thor: The Dark World, which comes out in November. Surely a final cut of that film exists by now, right? Give the SHIELD writers a sneak peek. And what about Guardians of the Galaxy, Captain America: The Winter Soldier or Ant-Man? Agents of SHIELD would be the perfect place to drop little hints and references to these upcoming films to build up some viral steam. It’s free advertising!
Maybe Coulson starts talking about a secret agent named the ‘Winter Soldier’ before the Cap sequel comes out. Or once Edgar Wright settles on an Ant-Man script, the SHIELD gang could have to deal with some character or plot element before the movie comes out. Maybe they reference Dr. Hank Pym. Or maybe an episode could act as a direct or indirect prologue. Heck, all they’d have to do is mention ‘shrinking’!
Shrink-‘ing’, not shrink-‘age’
Or maybe they could go all out and do an episode of Agents of SHIELD that takes place within one of these upcoming movies. The Captain America sequel is supposed to incorporate SHIELD to some degree, but while it might be too much to expect an Agents cameo in the movie, maybe they could do an episode that runs parallel to the events of the movie. For example, let’s say there’s an attack on the SHIELD Helicarrier in the movie. Well maybe in the next episode of the show, the agents are on the Helicarrier at the same time and they experience the exact same attack?
Basically I want deeper, more awesome integration between the show and the movieverse, not just random references to the Battle of New York over and over again. The movie scripts are solidified well in advance of show filming, so surely someone has the power to bring everyone together.
3. The Game Changer episode
They’re kind of his trademark
Did anybody else watch Dollhouse, the last Joss Whedon show on TV? I think both seasons as a whole are fantastic, but the first five episodes of the series were pretty boring. Then along came the sixth episode, which changed everything. The overall plot and characters were not disrupted, but all of a sudden we were given a new perspective on the show, given new insight into the way everything worked, and Dollhouse was never the same again. It went on to feature some of the best episodes, moments and characters I’ve ever seen on TV.
Clearly, I want the same thing to happen to Agents of SHIELD. Right now, the show is still setting up its characters and plot. We’re getting to know them in their routine course of business in what have amounted to a handful of mostly mediocre television. But once they establish who these characters are and the world they live in, I want to see the writers really shake things up! Witty banter, fight scenes and heroic day-saving is all well and good, but Agents of SHIELD won’t really take off until some much-needed drama is added to the mix. Surprise twists, unexpected developments, and maybe even a character death or two could really turn Agents of SHIELD into must-watch TV.
Right in the feels
My fear is that there are so many cooks in the kitchen hoping this show succeeds that nobody’s going to be brave enough to shake things up. But we’ll see. I still have the faith.
2. Don’t hook up Skye and Ward, hook up anybody else
It’s 2013, it could happen!
The worst part about the show so far is the obviously telegraphed relationship between lead characters Agent Ward and Skye. It’s as plain as the nose on my face (do kids still say that?). They are both young and incredibly attractive, and a large part of each episode revolves around the two of them bickering or butting heads, with an obvious mutual respect/attraction bubbling just under the surface. There might as well be a ticking clock in the corner of the screen counting down until the episode where they kiss.
I can’t think of anything more dreadful.
Instead, I want to see literally anyone else hook up. And I don’t just want Ward and Skye to not hook up, I want them to hook up with other people. I want to see a Fitz/Skye relationship or a Ward/May one night stand. Anything that isn’t obvious. Maybe a Fitz/May hook-up. Anything that isn’t boring and predictable. When it comes to relationship – and there will be relationships – this show needs to think outside the box and surprise us. Think Jeff and Annie on Community – at least when that first started, not several seasons later, when the writers had more fun mocking us about it than actually doing anything with it.
1. The Leader
Mr. Big Green Head himself
Obviously the greatest strength of Agents of SHIELD is its connection to the Marvel Movieverse, something they are not afraid to point out on a weekly basis. They’ve dropped more references to The Avengers than I care to count. But why stick to just that one movie (despite it clearly being the most popular, well known and profitable) when they’ve got more than half a dozen flicks to draw from? Specifically, I’m talking about The Incredible Hulk and one Samuel Sterns, otherwise known as Mr. Blue. Or as he’s known in the comics: Mr. Giant Green Head and Tiny Mustache!
I think it’s pretty safe to say that The Incredible Hulk is never going to get a proper sequel. The Hulk as a character will probably get another movie in this post-Avengers world, but it’ll star Mark Ruffalo and probably won’t have anything to do with that 2008 film. So Marvel may never follow up on that scene towards the end where Sterns, played by actor Tim Blake Nelson, had gamma-irradiated blood drip into his brain.
He sees you
That scene wasn’t just for fun. That was an obvious reference to the fact that Samuel Sterns is The Leader in the comics, one of the Hulk’s arch-enemies. At the time, they probably though they were setting up a villain for the sequel, but that obviously never panned out.
Which makes this storyline perfect as something that can be picked up by Agents of SHIELD. I don’t imagine Nelson is such a big, expensive actor that they can’t snatch him up for an episode or a storyline. And the Leader would be a perfect season-long Big Bad. Obviously Agents of SHIELD is creating some of their own super-villains, but here is an opportunity to pick up on an open-ended storyline from the actual movies without any chance of spoiling any future film plans. The Leader is the perfect villain for Agents of SHIELD. Say it with me now:
The Leader is good! The Leader is great! We surrender our will as of this–whoa…that kind of got away from me there…
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Those are my ideas for Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., what are some of yours? Are you guys and gals enjoying the show? Are you hating it? What would you like to see improved? Let me know in the comments!
Posted on October 23, 2013, in Lists of Six!, Marvel, Television and tagged Agents of SHIELD. Bookmark the permalink. 12 Comments.
Henchman-4-Hire 
Good list. I especially agree with not having Ward and Skye hook up. Absolutely anything would be better than that. Also it is difficult to have Colby Smulders reprise Maria Hill on the show because she plays Robin in How I Met Your Mother for CBS. Obviously actors can be on two networks at the same time, but you need contractual relief to get it usually. So I assume CBS has her on a short leash. But HIMYM is on its last season, so maybe we’ll get more Maria next year.
I also love Agent Mack, the truck-driver…which BTW ugh. He is clearly meant for far greater things on this show. Plus the hotness of the team is disconcerting, but I like when the one woman in episode two accused Coulson of hiring a bunch of hot spies to go on road trips with because he’s having a mid-life crisis. Onto my list of things I want to see on Agents of SHIELD.
6. Coulson and Ward to cry like little babies. I’m worried that Coulson isn’t emoting enough which feeds into my LMD fear (#3). And Ward is way too macho-tough guy for me. They need some new emotions and I pick weeping. Whedon needs to throw in some trademark tragedy and get people down to tears. Except Malinda May. She makes emotionlessness into an art form.
5. Simmons needs to shoot someone. Of the two, Fitz seems like far more of a coward and Simmons might be a little more outgoing. And they’re trained SHIELD agents. They can obviously fire guns and stuff. Also we saw a little training of Skye too. So let’s just have all three of them shoot a bunch of people in horrible and scarring ways. Kaylee never got to shoot anyone until the movie. Same with Simon. Let’s not wait to get canceled before Simmons puts a HYDRA agent on his knees and puts two in the back of his head execution style.
4. The Warriors Three. Here me out. Obviously the show needs more Marvel heroes. It needs more ties to the movies. And everything else you said. But I would honestly hate seeing Ward and Iron Man on the same screen together. It just doesn’t fit right. So I thought about all the usable Marvel heroes that would fit the show dynamic (so far) and I think the Warriors Three are perfect. Let’s say some Asgardian Artifact McGuffin falls into the wrong hands, so SHIELD sends Coulson’s Crew after it…since he sorta got the last one. But to help him out they’ve spoken to Thor and he was happy to send some help. So in come the go-to guys for all Asgardian adventures: The Warriors Three. And they are hysterical. Volstagg will out-silly everyone else on the show. Falstaff (who I assume Zachary Levi will be perfect as) is more charming than anybody on the plane. Perfect for flirting with all the women who strike me as so far unapproachable. And Hogun is tougher than Ward and seems like a perfect match for Malinda May. And so they team up and the Warriors Three try to punch all their problems, they fail, and then we get a nice episode that points out you need the delicate spywork of our guys to solve some problems. Thus further reinforcing the whole point of the show: yes there are gods and powers and things way beyond our grasp, but we are humans and we can still do anything.
3. Please don’t make Coulson an LMD. It’s the easy answer. And if Ward and Skye have taught us anything, it is that I hate the easy answers. And making him and LMD gets us right into Battlestar Galactica territory. Who’s a robot? And I loved BSG, but I am full. I’m just not ready to go through all that again. So no robots that are indistinguishable from humans. And I assume no Skrulls either. I figured using the Chit’auri fixed that for us. And while the “Who can I trust?” is essential for a spy TV show, they don’t need the LMD crutch to do it. Let’s just say he was healed by magic and introduce Dr. Strange. Or what about using the cosmic cube? Or….what if SHIELD forced Loki to heal him after the battle and we get into all sorts of issues about how Coulson is alive because of evil magic. I think a Loki cameo would work just fine….but again….I really don’t want to see Skye (or anyone but Coulson) in the same scene as Loki.
2. The cellist in Oregon. She was mentioned a couple times in Avengers as Coulson’s new girlfriend. Now I assume she was told of his death. Tony Stark specifically mentions that she should be notified. And I assume that she isn’t allowed to know that Coulson is still alive. So maybe he goes and sees her concert in disguise. And that’s when he starts crying. Boom! Full circle.
1. The Avengers need to learn that Coulson is alive. It is going to stretch belief that they’ll never figure it out. Let’s take this one piece at a time. Level 6 security allows you to know that Coulson died. Level 7 lets you know he’s alive again. We can assume that Level 8 or higher is knowing how they did it like Maria Hill and Shepherd Book. But we also have to assume that Level 5 and lower weren’t told that he died and all the background SHIELD agents and people Coulson walks by were never told that he died and assume that everything is normal. Otherwise we’d have to assume that there are a lot of Level 7s or that lowly SHIELD agents just aren’t freaked out by ghosts.
So how does Black Widow not know Coulson is alive? She’s at least Level 6. She knows he died. And she obviously knew him pretty well. She takes his call in the middle of a mission and blows her cover to do so. And she also recognizes his voice. So what’s to stop some Level 5, who thinks Coulson never died and everything is normal, from just casually mentioning Coulson while he’s changing the tires on her flying car? All of this also applies to Captain America who we know is with SHIELD in his new movie.
It gets worse when you think of Tony Stark and Pepper Potts. They cared about Coulson, they’re tech savvy, and they’re part of this world. In the pilot Coulson goes up against Gunn in the middle of a crowded public area. I can’t remember but I assume they did some media black-out thing. But how long is that going to keep happening? Eventually someone will take a photo of Coulson and it won’t be long until Tony or Pepper would find it.
Now I have no idea what the Avengers would do once they find out. I also have no idea what Marvel, Disney, or ABC would do. What could you do? You can’t get those guys on the show. Marvel already said they’re not putting Coulson back in the movies. I think this is a whole weird problem but however they solve it, I don’t want it to be ignored and swept under the rug.
I’ve heard that the cellist might show up! That would be neat. Also, when I read that rumor, I realized they were talking about someone who plays the cello. I thought ‘Chellist’ was a woman’s name.
Also, you make a very good point about people seeing Coulson alive. There have been a ton of people just walking around in the background who would have seen him. He specifically talked to some people in the pilot about loading Lola into the plane. There’s no way all those people could be Level 7s.
I agree with Marvel and Disney about not putting Coulson back into the movies. But you’re definitely right about this creating a big plot hole.
Also, as for Coulson’s return, my theory is that ‘Tahiti’ was actually ‘Asgard’ and they magically brought him back to life. Maybe Thor went on an adventure into Valhalla and brought Coulson back to life.
And the Warriors Three would be amazing on this show! Though I wouldn’t want May and Hogun hanging out simply because they’re both Asian.
I certainly didn’t mean to imply that they should hang out because they’re both asian. I meant because they’re both extremely terse. I also didn’t realize that Hogun was asian. I guess I just don’t look at people like that. Boom. High-roaded.
The main thing I want to see is some episodes that show that SHIELD is pretty damned dirty.
That’d be neat. SHIELD as a whole or some of the main characters specifically? What side would they be on?
SHIELD as a whole. My problem is right now, the show has a message of secrets good, transparency bad. I get that the team has to be on the up-and-up, since they’re the protagonists. But I want it made clear that SHIELD is not an organization of angels.
I’m going to throw another odd theory out there: What if we haven’t yet seen the real Coulson?At the end of the Eye Spy episode, the rescued agent asks what they did to Coulson, obviously meaning he isn’t behaving the way she remembers him. But this is the same character we’ve seen throughout the movie and television universe. Tony Stark mentions LMDs when talking to Coulson on the phone before he arrives at Stark Tower. What if every Coulson we’ve seen is an LMD? It seems curious that of all the agents that would have lived and died throughout the time that SHIELD has existed, only Coulson is the one worth bringing back. Maybe there are multiple Coulsons already running around, which would easily explain why he seems to be be everywhere that something was happening.
Now that’s a pretty awesome and insane theory! I don’t particularly like it, but I like that you’re thinking outside the box!
I’m still also a bit hung up on Nick Fury’s bunker full of toys that should still exist after that whole Age of Ultron mess. But odds are pretty good it will never get mentioned again.
Yeah, you’re probably right about that. Bendis has a habit of just inventing things for his big stories that he never cares about again afterwards, like Layla Miller or Fury’s Secret Warriors.
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