Since the announcement of “Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.,” fans have wondered what kind of form the series would take on. Would it be a heavily serialized series or would it feature mostly stand alone episodes? In an interview with The Huffington Post, producers Maurissa Tancharoen and Jed Whedon compared the show to another beloved series.
“It’s a little bit like the “X-Files” model,” Whedon said about the show’s self-contained stories. “You can come each week and see [that episode] and not have seen everything, but if you have, it’s a richer experience. And as we move forward, those things will start to weave together more and more. But we do want to always have every episode have its own beginning, middle and end, and feel like its own [thing].”
“We definitely don’t want anybody ever to watch an episode and have to have watched all the others. That’s definitely a goal of ours. But we think there’s a way to do that, [similarly to] the way that they’ve done it with [Marvel films] where it’s just a better experience if you have been keeping track. And also we’re pretty sure that we will be asking enough interesting questions that people will want to hear the answers. At least that’s our goal.”
One element of the Marvel Cinematic Universe that will play into the series, that we’ve yet to hear much about, is the inclusion of magic.
“We will deal with two scientists facing things like a hammer that only one guy can pick up and trying to piece that together in their minds and get a grip on a world that doesn’t make sense.”
Another thing fans have often speculated on is the inclusion of and of the characters from The Avengers, like Iron Man or Captain America.
“We’re open to any opportunity,” Tancharoen said. “They all have an open invitation to swing by — any Avenger,” Whedon added.
Clark Gregg reprises his role of Agent Phil Coulson from Marvels feature films as he assembles a small, highly select group of Agents including: Brett Dalton as Agent Grant Ward, Iain De Caestecker as Agent Leo Fitz, Elizabeth Henstridge as Agent Jemma Simmons, Ming-Na Wen as Agent Melinda May and Chloe Bennet as the mysterious computer hacker Skye.
“Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.” will premiere on ABC on Tuesday, September 24 at 8 p.m. You can read our summation of the pilot episode, screened at Comic-Con, by clicking here.
