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, andMaurissa Tancharoen, based on the Marvel Comics organization S.H.I.E.L.D. (Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division), a fictional peacekeeping and spy agency in a world populated with superheroes and numerous supernatural phenomena. It is set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe(MCU), sharing continuity with the films of the franchise. The series is produced by ABC Studios, Marvel Television, and Mutant Enemy Productions, with Jed Whedon, Tancharoen, and Jeffrey Bell serving as showrunners.

The series revolves around the character of Phil Coulson, with Clark Gregg reprising his role from the film series, and his team of S.H.I.E.L.D. agents, who must deal with various unusual cases and enemies, including Hydra and the Inhumans. Joss Whedon began developing a S.H.I.E.L.D. pilot following the success of his film Marvel's The Avengers, and Gregg was confirmed to reprise his role in October 2012. The series was officially picked up by ABC in May 2013, and also stars Ming-Na Wen, Brett Dalton, Chloe Bennet, Iain De Caestecker, and Elizabeth Henstridge, with Nick Blood, Adrianne Palicki, Henry Simmons, and Luke Mitchell joining in later seasons. Several episodes directly crossover with films or other television series set in the MCU, while other characters from MCU films and Marvel One-Shots also appear throughout the series.

The first season originally aired from September 24, 2013, to May 13, 2014, while the second season aired from September 23, 2014, to May 12, 2015. After initially high ratings but mixed reviews, ratings steadily dropped, while reviews steadily improved, throughout the first season. This led to much lower but more consistent ratings, as well as positive reviews, in the second season. Several characters created for the series have since been introduced to the comic universe. The series was renewed for a third season on May 7, 2015, which is scheduled to premiere on September 29, 2015. A related series, Marvel's Most Wanted, centered on Blood and Palicki's characters Lance Hunter and Bobbi Morse, received a pilot order in August 2015.

Premise
The first season sees S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent Phil Coulson putting together a small team of S.H.I.E.L.D. agents to handle strange new cases.[3] They investigate Project Centipede and their leader, "The Clairvoyant", eventually uncovering that Project Centipede is backed by the organization Hydra, which has infiltrated S.H.I.E.L.D. In the second season, following the destruction of S.H.I.E.L.D., Coulson and his team look to restore trust from the government and public while dealing with Hydra and the newly revealed Inhumans, people who possess special abilities.[4][5] Coulson's work is further complicated by the appearance of another faction of S.H.I.E.L.D. agents who do not trust his leadership. During the third season, in the wake of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s wars with Hydra and the Inhumans, Coulson begins a secret mission to assemble a team of Inhumans to deal with new threats to the world, while others are also tracking down members of the group.[6][7]

Cast

 * Clark Gregg as Phil Coulson:
 * A S.H.I.E.L.D. agent who oversees many of the division's field operations.[8] In April 2013, Gregg said of Whedon's explanation for Coulson's resurrection following the character's death in The Avengers, "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."[9] On whether the resurrected Coulson would be the same as before he died, Gregg said "I don’t know how you could not change going through what he went through. I think if he hadn’t gone through some kind of change, it wouldn’t be any good. That said, I don’t know if he understands how much he’s changed."[9] After Coulson was promoted to Director of S.H.I.E.L.D., Gregg said "He kind of got his dream job that I don’t even think he would have ever dreamed he would be given. ... The main thing is doing this job the way he can do it best seems like it’s going to require him to move a little bit in the direction of a more pragmatic figure like Nick Fury".[10]


 * Ming-Na Wen as Melinda May:
 * A S.H.I.E.L.D. ace pilot and weapons expert, nicknamed "the Cavalry".[11] Joss Whedon had the character, who was originally listed with the name Agent Althea Rice on casting sheets,[12] "rolling around in his head" for a long time.[13] In preparation for the role, Wen was "given a couple of background stories about her", but found it challenging to play a character who is respected by those around her, even though the audience doesn't know why, stating "It's a challenge in different ways. I think, at this point, I really am starting to know who she is and the stuff that I use to help me understand what could have happened to her to have brought her out of the field and into a desk job, I think we've all pretty much experienced that. So I use some of my own personal experience where we've been scarred or we've been greatly disappointed".[13] Talking about May's reasons for staying with S.H.I.E.L.D., Wen explained "[H]er loyalty and her love for Coulson. Maybe not romantic [love], it’s just really – it’s hard to describe – it’s a bond, it’s unbreakable, and she will watch over Coulson and take care of him and help him through whatever he needs to at this point in his life ... She wants to be there for him, and if it serves S.H.I.E.L.D., that’s just more or less a side effect, really."[14]


 * Brett Dalton as Grant Ward:
 * A Hydra agent who poses as a S.H.I.E.L.D. black ops specialist.[15][16] From the conception of the series it was decided that Grant Ward would be a traitor, with Jed Whedon saying "since this is an infiltration based on betrayal on a massive scale, we wanted to have it on the small scale, and have it be a really personal dagger to the heart."[17][18] Following the death of his Hydra superior, John Garrett, Dalton said on Ward's allegiances "I think he’s a wildcard. At this point his allegiances are kind of put into question because he wasn’t really loyal to Hydra. He was loyal to Agent Garrett. He was loyal to what became a father figure, and he was more about his teammates rather than the team."[19] Dalton later elaborated that "It’s not quite good guy, it’s not quite bad guy. It’s not trying to get in with S.H.I.E.L.D. again, it’s not trying to get in with Hydra. He’s really on his own path. He’s living by his code at this particular point in life."[20] After accidentally killing his love Kara (Maya Stojan), Ward seems to accept his position as an antagonist to S.H.I.E.L.D. – "There is so much closure out there in the world that needs to be achieved. There’s a lot of unfairness that he wants to fix, so we see somebody who is determined, who knows who he is, and is like, “Fine, if you want to call me the bad guy, I’m the bad guy.” I don’t think there’s any question at the end of that of who he is and what he wants to do."[21] Austin Lyon portrays a young Ward.[22]


 * Chloe Bennet as Daisy "Skye" Johnson / Quake:
 * An Inhuman hacktivist S.H.I.E.L.D. recruit who can sense vibrations and create earthquakes.[5][12] When the character of Skye was introduced to the series, it was always intended that she would be the MCU version of Johnson, as Tancharoen explained, "there are always the series of clearances, but we always knew we wanted to evolve Skye into something else. Daisy Johnson was the main character that we wanted to go for. We got confirmation on that very early on, so we’ve been on that track ever since."[23] Bennet noted on the character, "I think she’s always someone who will wear her heart on her sleeve, but I think she’s much smarter about it now, if that makes any sense. I don’t think she’s the type of person who can halfass anything, and that includes emotions. If she feels something, she feels something. But she knows how to control it more".[24] Talking about the changes to the character after it was revealed that she was Daisy Johnson and an Inhuman, Tancharoen said "With this discovery will come some consequences, especially in her relationships with everyone around her, specifically Coulson ... Needless to say, it’s going to be a very complex, emotional journey for her."[23] The character begins using the moniker "Quake" during the third season, and no longer goes by "Skye".[25]


 * Iain De Caestecker as Leo Fitz:
 * An agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. who specializes in engineering, especially weapons technology.[12][26] De Caestecker, in describing the character, said that "Fitz has got this funny kind of temper. He’s quite passionate about what he does. So those moments where – I don’t think he’s someone that really responds very quickly to emotion; he doesn’t really understand emotions as much, so when you do see that kind of side to him, I think it’s quite interesting."[27] Fitz has a lot of interaction with Simmons in the series, with De Caestecker explaining "My character, he’s Engineering, so he’s on the computer and tech side of everything. He’s consumed within that world, and he works very closely with Simmons, who’s Biochem. They’ve got this kind of weird chemistry together, and they just kind of fit each other in a very weird way."[28] Following injuries the character receives at the end of the first season, the series began to deal with brain trauma, as De Caestecker explained "From the get-go, before I even knew about it, the writers had the idea, and they did a lot of research in it with doctors. When I found out about it, I did my own research and correlated it together. It's just something that should never be trivialized. It's a real and serious thing to a lot of people, brain trauma, so we just have to constantly be respectful towards it."[29]


 * Elizabeth Henstridge as Jemma Simmons:
 * An agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. who specializes in life sciences (both human and alien).[12][26] Henstridge described her character as "a biochem expert. She’s young and hungry and she’s a great woman to play because she’s intelligent and focused and curious and she doesn’t apologize for it. She’s got a wonderful relationship with Fitz. They kind of bounce off each other."[30] Talking about Fitz and Simmons being separated over the course of the series, Henstridge said "they've never been without each other. When you see them without each other, that brings a whole new dynamic just to them as characters in discovering what it's like to have to be independent because this whole S.H.I.E.L.D. team has come together and everybody is on their own apart from Fitz-Simmons."[31] On the harsher side of Simmons seen later in the second season, after the reveal of the Inhumans and the subsequent death of Agent Triplett (B.J. Britt), Henstridge said "In some ways, this is Simmons coming full circle. Because before coming into this team and all of a sudden being practical medicine, she's always been very mathematical in a way. ... She's had a traumatic event and she's gone straight back to what she knows of trying to make everything black and white."[26]


 * Nick Blood as Lance Hunter:
 * A mercenary before agreeing to join S.H.I.E.L.D.[32] On his character joining the cast in the second season, Blood explained "the nice thing about him coming into this group is that Lance doesn’t really care that much of what people think of him. So he’s very much himself and very comfortable in it. He doesn’t bow down to the etiquette of the S.H.I.E.L.D. hierarchy."[33] He later elaborated that "Hunter probably feels very independent, still, so I don't think he would like to admit that he's not an outsider, that he's a part of it. ... I think he doesn't have too much respect for authority and titles, particularly in this world, but I think he takes each decision as it comes. If Coulson does something he respects, that's all good. If he doesn't, he's going to say something. But I think he sees that [Coulson is] trying to do the right thing and, he's got a lot of respect for him in that sense" Also, on Hunter's on-again, off-again relationship with Bobbi Morse, Blood said, "I think the dynamic's great. I think it's really good and there is a lot of truth in it of those relationships you have where it's kind of, "can't live with each other, can't kill each other," and that sort of thing."[34]


 * Adrianne Palicki as Bobbi Morse:
 * Hunter's ex-wife and an agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. who spent time undercover within Hydra.[35] Palicki, a comic fan, was approached by the showrunners specifically for the part during season two, and at first hesitated to take the role, thinking "I will never be able to play another Marvel character if I go forward in this role." Palicki already had martial arts and gun training, but had to learn to use the character's signature arnis sticks, and noted similarities between Morse's fighting style and that of Scarlett Johansson's Black Widow from the MCU films.[36] Executive producer Jeffrey Bell, in response to a question on whether Morse had more secrets than those revealed during the second season, stated that "she and Hunter have been keeping secrets from one another, evidently for years. And one of the things I find interesting about her is she seems to be more of an ideologue – she’s loyal to an idea – and sometimes, the short term of what appears to be betrayal or short term conflict is often because of what she views as the greater good. ... having her represent that, I think, has generated a lot of interesting discussion and story."[37]


 * Henry Simmons as Alphonso "Mack" MacKenzie:
 * A S.H.I.E.L.D. mechanic with a distrust of the alien and superhuman.[38] On the different dynamic that a mechanic brings to the S.H.I.E.L.D. team, Simmons said "I think my guy does have a little bit of a different element, [because] the other people have the stress of the everyday life or death danger situations. Mack doesn’t have that quite yet. He has the stress of getting things done because he wants to contribute, but he’s not out there in the field."[39] About Mack's stance on violence, Simmons confirmed that "Mack really is a guy that does not like violence at all, but, when pushed, it’s “by any means necessary.” He doesn’t enjoy it, but he’ll do what he has to do."[40]


 * Luke Mitchell as Lincoln Campbell / Sparkplug:
 * An Inhuman with the ability to manipulate electrical charges.[41] Regarding the character's introduction as a human-looking Inhuman, Bell stated that "So far, we’ve seen that there’s a guy with no eyes, and there’s a woman who now is covered in thorns. And as in the X-Men world, there are a handful of people who look more like them, but a lot of them turn out to be just attractive people with powers. And we thought, “Hey, let’s have some of those as well!” We were looking for a new character to come on, and Luke just really impressed us. He was a good actor, had a nice quality, and we felt he might be a good person to sort of usher Skye into this other world."[42] The character uses the moniker "Sparkplug" in the third season.[43]