Highlights
- Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. deserves a second chance thanks to the potential it still holds now that Marvel Television is being revived.
- The series struggled initially to establish its own identity separate from the MCU, but found its footing by season two with the introduction of Hydra.
- Despite lack of on-screen heroes from the films, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. managed to create its own compelling saga over seven seasons.
Back in 2013, ABC premiered the very first Marvel Television series, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. At the time, fans had hoped the series would feature appearances by the heroes featured on the big screen within the Marvel Cinematic Universe, especially as the series was meant to tie in to the films. Unfortunately, though, the series only loosely tied in to the events in the films, and many quickly abandoned the show before it wrapped up its seven-season run.
With Marvel Studios officially bringing back the Marvel Television banner for its own shows, it only feels right that Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. is given a second chance to shine. Although the series wrapped in August 2020, the show’s cast has continually expressed interest in revisiting their characters. So, why does Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. deserve a second-chance more-so than other Marvel Television projects? The series had – and still has – plenty of potential now that the studio is trying to offer stories on the small screen that are easy to grasp for general audiences that haven’t been following the continually growing cinematic universe.
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.’s First Season Woes Left Many Unimpressed
Many shows experience growing pains during their first season. Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. was no exception to this, unfortunately. The series took quite a bit to truly establish itself and find its own footing, separate from the movie universe it was an extension of. Although Agent Coulson was a familiar face from the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the series mainly focused on new characters fans had yet to meet in either the films or comics. This meant the series had a lot it needed to establish from the beginning, and for fans that had hoped for something along the lines of WandaVision or Loki, it was understandably frustrating. These were not characters fans were familiar with; they had hoped of seeing some of their favorites from the film make their way to the series. They did, occasionally, of course, as both Samuel L. Jackson’s Nick Fury and Cobie Smulders’ Maria Hill made various appearances during the series to try and lure viewers in, but fans simply never felt like it was enough.
The so-called connections teased were usually just lines about what happened in the movies, with the team arriving after the fact. They’d reference characters like Thor and Loki, and even Captain America, but that was about it. With the lack of on-screen heroes, the show’s ratings went from stellar to sub-par rather quickly. Thankfully, however, the show managed to figure out what it wanted to be by the end of the first season, and by season two, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. had successfully built its own story worth telling with the introduction of Hydra. The series would go on to try and introduce heroes from the comics, such as Deathlok, Mockingbird, and Ghost Rider, but even with these additions, the series failed to recapture the fanbase it needed and viewership continued to decline with each new season.
Why the Series Deserves a Second Chance from Fans
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. was never going to be WandaVision or Loki, or even Daredevil, for that matter. However, that hadn’t stopped fans from wishing for something more. The problem was, however, was that Marvel Television was headed by Jeph Loeb, not Marvel Studios’ Kevin Feige. There was always going to be a disconnect from the greater Marvel Cinematic Universe as Marvel Studios and Marvel Television were two very different banners. Working against Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., too, was that the series was a primetime series having aired on ABC. While Disney+, Netflix, Hulu, etc. have different hopes for viewers and budgets, ABC and primetime networks in general, are a lot stricter. With Marvel Television now being revived under Feige, however, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. deserves a chance to shine for what it managed to accomplish during its run.
Over the span of seven seasons, Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. managed to create its own saga. While there were mentions of the battles seen on the big screen, and references to the Avengers throughout, the series really took the time to craft its own stores. Its take on HYDRA was well-done, resulting in a betrayal from one of the agents that no one had seen coming. More impressively, though, the series managed to give us the best live-action Ghost Rider to date with the addition of Gabriel Luna as Robbie Reyes. Although short-lived, the actor left his mark with the character, nearly securing his own spinoff series before Marvel Television was shuttered by Marvel Studios. While not all the cast may want to come back, and the final season did essentially go its own way, with the Multiverse Saga, there are plenty of ways for Marvel Studios to properly introduce these characters into the Marvel Cinematic Universe now that Marvel Television has been revived and allow fans to discover what they might’ve missed.
In the end, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. was Marvel’s first foray into television and remains one of its best. Fans were quick to write off the series simply because Thor or Captain America, or even Black Widow, never made an appearance in the series. Sure, while it would’ve been fun to see these heroes appear in the show, the series never truly needed them. With one of the best bottle episodes of television to date, thanks to “4772 Hours,” and the addition of Daisy Johnson, Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. proved its worth time and time again, and it’s time for fans to rightfully give the series a second chance.
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