HomeARTSAgents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: Underwhelming, But That’s a Good Thing

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: Underwhelming, But That’s a Good Thing

By ANDY GILCHRIST
Staff Writer

Director Joss Weadon returns to the world of The Avengers with Agents of S.H.I.E.LD.
Director Joss Weadon returns to the world of The Avengers with Agents of S.H.I.E.LD.

We are living in the age of superhero films. 15 years ago, the genre barely even existed, but now people are wondering if it’ll ever end. The Dark Knight trilogy and the films of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, such as Iron Man and The Avengers, have shattered box office records and received critical applause as well. Now, the genre looks to make the jump to television.

While series like Smallville and Arrow have been on the air for years, Marvel Studios only just debuted their first live-action TV project last week: Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., a series designed to both flesh out the world created in Marvel’s big budget summer blockbusters as well as create a group of characters that are compelling in their own right.

While the first episode drew a huge audience, whether or not each viewer will like it depends on what they are looking for. Those looking for a series with just as much power and force as The Avengers will be disappointed. But those looking for a solid procedural action-drama, which just happens to be set in the world of superheroes, will be very much satisfied.

Taking place a few months after The Avengers and last summer’s Iron Man 3, the world now knows that there is something greater than man out there. Fan favorite S.H.I.E.L.D. agent, Phil Coulson (Clark Gregg) has returned from the dead, claiming that he only passed out in The Avengers, and is reporting back for duty.

But there are hints that something else has happened, that there’s more to Coulson’s resurrection than even he knows…

Now that the world knows of superhumans, people with powers are showing up everywhere. S.H.I.E.L.D. assigns Coulson the head of a new team of agents to handle the toughest and strangest cases. The team’s field leader is Grant Ward (Brett Dalton), a black-ops agent who prefers to work alone. Melinda May (Ming-Na Wen) serves as the team’s pilot and weapons expert, but her past is shrouded in mystery.

Computer hacker Skye (Chloe Bennet) is brought in to help save the planet, stop superhumans from being abused, and to satisfy her own obsession with superheroes.

Finally, Leo Fitz (Iain De Caestecker) and Jemma Simmons (Elizabeth Henstridge), collectively known as “Fitzsimmons,” act as the team’s tech support and science experts, providing them with the weapons and knowledge to fight with.

The series comes from geek god Joss Whedon, creator of such heralded works as Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Firefly, and Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog, and the writer/director of the mega-blockbuster The Avengers. Whedon’s involvement, as well as spinning-off from the immensely popular Marvel movies, has created a built-in audience for the show that will likely carry it to a full season, maybe even a second, regardless of the quality of the show.

But the demands of this higher viewership could prove to be as hurtful as it is helpful.

Expectations for this show have been ridiculously high ever since it was announced. Before the pilot was even officially picked up for a series last May, fans were already marking the show on their fall calendars and debating how Coulson lives.

Fans will immediately compare it to Marvel’s best films, such as Iron Man and The Avengers, and will be initially disappointed because it’s just not as good. The banter between these new heroes isn’t even close to that between Tony Stark, Steve Rogers, and Thor. But it doesn’t have to be.

The problem is that many people will tune in expecting to see Avengers: The Series. They’ll want analogues to all the major characters: a wise-cracking tech-enhanced genius, a super-soldier, some sort of monster/god figure, and a few bad-ass spies to round out the team.

But that’s not what Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. is. Whedon specializes in underdog stories, stories about outsiders coming together to become something greater than themselves, and that’s exactly what he’s created again here. This is not a show about superheroes; it is a show about mortal men and women struggling to adapt to a brand new world where science, magic, and religion coexist and man is no longer the dominant species.

These are imperfect human beings living on the fringes of this superhero world who only have each other to rely on. Ultimately, this is a very human story, one that we can not only be entertained by, but relate to as well.

A word of caution, though. While the writers and producers initially said that audience members would not necessarily need to know the films of the Marvel Cinematic Universe to understand the show, they appear to have lied. While references to Stark Industries and Black Widow’s S.H.I.E.L.D. file were inevitable, it goes a bit further than that. Those who did not see this summer’s Iron Man 3 will not understand a vital piece of the pilot’s third act without a Google search.

While the unprecedented financial success of all of Marvel’s films suggests that most people watching Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. will get the references the writers sneak in, the show risks alienating a good percentage of the viewership who don’t get all the allusions to Marvel’s movies.

This risk will greatly increase after a few episodes, when it’s likely that the show will begin referencing aspects of the original comics not yet shown on film.

While many fans will see this as a fun challenge to spot all the references, others will wonder why they’re exerting energy just to watch a TV show and stop tuning in. Whether the show decides to cater to the desires of the fanboy or the casual viewer may decide how long the show stays on the air.

Having already conquered the world of film, Marvel Studios is using their latest project, Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., to try and expand their empire into the realm of television. The success or failure of the show could determine the direction of the studio for years to come and reveal whether Marvel will continue to grow or has already peaked.

Though the series has begun with a strong debut, only the next few episodes will tell us whether or not the show, and perhaps the entire Marvel universe, is here to stay for a long time.

RELATED ARTICLES

Most Popular

Recent Comments