I know I’ve probably said this many times already but the
following statement is undeniably true. Marvel has been on quite a run the last
few years. Ever since the original ‘Iron Man’ film debuted back in 2008, Marvel
has created an impressive ‘Cinematic Universe’, successfully connecting all of
their main franchises together into one world. All of these superheroes would
eventually unite for the ultimate superhero team-up film, ‘The Avengers’, which
ended up with rave reviews and over a billion at the box office. Now Marvel is
in the middle of ‘Phase Two’ as they continue to expand their universe even
more, with the next team-up film, ‘Avengers: Age of Ultron’, slated to hit
theaters in 2015. While Marvel has made an effort to connect these films
together through references present in each film, the major force that keeps
this universe connected is the government agency known as S.H.I.E.L.D. (the
Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division). Usually
just a minor part in most of the films, S.H.I.E.L.D. is now the headliner of
Joss Whedon’s newest show, ‘Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.’
The pilot episode takes place after the events of ‘The
Avengers’, as the world now knows that superheroes are real in the wake of the
Chitauri invasion of New York. When Agent Grant Ward (Brett Dalton) is briefed
by Agent Maria Hill (Cobie Smulders, reprising her role from ‘The Avengers’)
and told to ‘talk to Agent Coulson’, he tells her that he knows that Coulson
was killed before the Battle of New York. To his surprise, Coulson (Clark
Gregg) suddenly appears, very much alive. How did he survive being stabbed by
Loki in the film? Well, I won’t spoil the explanation they give in this
episode, but something tells me there’s more to it than what they initially
tell us. Anyway, Coulson puts together a team of agents, including Ward, pilot
Melinda May (Ming-Na Wen), weapons tech expert Leo Fitz (Iain De Caestecker),
and bio-chemistry expert Jemma Simmons (Elizabeth Henstridge) to investigate a
mysterious group known as the Rising Tide. In the process, they enlist the aid
of the mysterious Skye (Chloe Bennet), a hacker connected with the group, and
come across a man named Mike Peterson (J. August Richards), a single father
that has somehow acquired superpowers.
Going in, I really didn’t know what to expect from this show
but after watching the pilot, I can safely say that I like the route they are
taking. Instead of focusing on a single superhero or a whole team of heroes,
the focus is on S.H.I.E.L.D., more specifically the team that Agent Coulson forms
to deal with the strange developments that occur in the post ‘Avengers’ world.
This gives the show a more humanistic feel, which is a nice change of pace from
the films, while still maintaining the fact that its characters live in a world
full of heroes and gods, with plenty of references to the films. Will we see
someone like Iron Man or the Hulk in future episodes? For the record, none of
these heroes appear in the pilot (aside from some brief glimpses in the
beginning, directly taken from ‘The Avengers’) but with a show like this, it’s very
likely that this will happen in the future. I’m also interested to see how this
show might tie in to one of the upcoming ‘Avengers’ films, the next possible
one being ‘Captain America: The Winter Soldier’.
One thing that is certain about this show is that the cast
is terrific, as it usually is in a Joss Whedon show. At its center is Clark
Gregg’s Agent Phil Coulson, whose dry humor is a perfect match with Whedon’s writing.
The explanation for how he survived his ‘death’ is a little questionable, but
it seems like there’s more to it than what we’re initially told, as evident
from a scene between Agent Hill and a S.H.I.E.L.D. doctor (played by Firefly’s
Ron Glass). The rest of the members on Coulson’s team all do great jobs as well
and have great camaraderie amongst each other. But in regards to this pilot,
the one who steals the show would have to be Chloe Bennet as Skye. Like Gregg,
she works well with Whedon’s dialogue and I’m interested in finding out the
mystery surrounding her. At one point in the episode, she’s helping Mike Peterson
clear his records and mentions that ‘she’s done it before’, indicating that
there’s more to her character that we’re not getting at the moment. There are
quite a few mysteries surrounding the cast, from an apparent incident that
happened in Agent Ward’s past to the reason why Agent May doesn’t want to go
back into the field, that are sure to be uncovered as time goes on.
The pilot episode for ‘Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.’ has easily
been one of the most talked about pilots in the history of television and
ultimately it is a pilot that doesn’t disappoint. Joss Whedon makes a
triumphant return to the world of television after his shows ‘Firefly’ and
‘Dollhouse’ were both cancelled prematurely (hopefully this show lasts longer
than those last two). Of course, comic book fans will certainly love this show
but it will also appeal to non-fans because of its terrific cast, its spot-on
continuity with the Cinematic Universe, and for having a more humanistic feel
to it by focusing on S.H.I.E.L.D. instead of a superhero. This show certainly
has quite a lot of potential and I look forward to seeing what they do next.
Pilot Episode Rating:
4.5/5
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