Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Season 4 'Review'

Ghost Rider, LMDs, and a virtual world come into the equation in this show's greatest season yet.

(WARNING: SPOILERS)

Top 10 Favorite Superhero Film/TV Casting Choices (Protagonists)

This weekend sees the release of the highly-anticipated superhero flick, Logan, the latest installment of the X-Men franchise. All the hype surrounding this film is due to it being the final appearance of Hugh Jackman in the title role of James ‘Logan’ Howlett AKA Wolverine, a role that he’s been occupying for almost two whole decades. He’s appeared in almost every X-Men film to date (possibly ‘every’ film if you somehow count Jackman’s photo cameo in Deadpool as a proper cameo, even though he’s not Wolverine in it), effectively making him one of the most iconic casting choices in the history of the superhero genre. So, with that in mind, today I’m going over one of the most important aspects of any great superhero film; casting. After all, it’s one of the primary decisions that goes into making any lead character in a superhero film or TV show work as well as they can and, for the most part, superhero films/TV shows have done a solid job with casting their main protagonists. Obviously, though, not every superhero film casting is going to be a success; there have been some disastrous casting choices in this genre over the years (e.g. George Clooney as Batman in Batman and Robin). That, and it’s undeniable that every superhero casting is going to subjected to a lot of premature backlash from fans who just don’t see that actor/actress in the role. Just look at what happened when Ben Affleck got cast as Batman. But, thankfully, a lot of these superhero films/TV shows have been much more successful in the past few years in terms of casting their protagonists. Thus, in honor of Logan’s release, I’m listing 10 of my personal favorite superhero portrayals from film and TV. Though I just want to note that, for this list, I’m only focusing on main protagonists of superhero films and TV shows, not the villains. Don’t worry, though, as I will do a ‘Top 10 Superhero Villain Performances’ post in the future; maybe even one on the best supporting characters from these films. Also, I’m not going to be doing this in any specific order aside from alternating between actors and actresses, as I wanted to split this up evenly amongst male and female leads, and the occasional connection between franchises. With that said, here are my Top 10 casting choices in superhero films and TV shows.

HONORABLE MENTIONS

Obviously, it was hard to narrow this down to 10 choices; thus, I’ve got quite a few Honorable Mentions to name. First up, we have my favorite Batman; Christian Bale from the Dark Knight trilogy. While many have given him flak for the infamous raspy voice that he uses while wearing the cowl, he’s probably gotten the most material to work with out of any Batman star to date. By comparison, Michael Keaton, who for the record was great in the role in the Tim Burton-directed films, was often underplayed in favor of the villains. And as for the voice, I don’t mind it; if it’s fun to imitate, then it’s all right by me (“SWEAR TO ME!!”). Then, there’s Mark Ruffalo as the Hulk in the recent MCU films, specifically the Avengers films. Ruffalo is the third actor to portray the character, after Eric Bana in the oft-forgotten Hulk film directed by Ang Lee from 2003 and Edward Norton, whom Ruffalo directly replaced in the role, in the also oft-forgotten MCU film The Incredible Hulk. And while both Bana and Norton did do solid jobs in the role, Ruffalo has easily been the best Bruce Banner to date, particularly due to his strong camaraderie with his co-stars. Going over into the X-Men franchise, you can’t forget about the ‘Merc with the Mouth’, Deadpool, played by Ryan Reynolds. Reynolds is arguably one of the most pitch-perfect superhero castings to date; heck, the comics directly referred to him when describing the character. And while, obviously, his first turn in the role, in X-Men Origins: Wolverine, was marred by major deviations from the source material, he got the chance to do the character justice in 2016’s smash hit Deadpool. Finally, we have one of the more ‘recent’ additions to the superhero genre; Tom Holland’s iteration of everyone’s favorite web-slinger, Peter Parker. While I’ll admit that I’m still a big fan of Andrew Garfield and am a bit disappointed that he didn’t get the chance to join the MCU once Marvel Studios struck a deal with Sony, Holland proved to be an excellent Spidey in Captain America: Civil War, nailing all the character’s defining traits.

And now, onto the main list…

MELISSA BENOIST – SUPERGIRL (SUPERGIRL)

To start things off, we have one of the newest shining stars of the superhero genre. In 2015, Melissa Benoist, fresh off her leading role on the show Glee as well as a memorable supporting role in the film Whiplash, took on the role of Kara Danvers AKA Kara Zor-El, cousin of Kal-El AKA Superman, in the TV adaptation of Supergirl. Originally premiering on CBS, the show has since moved over to ‘The CW’, where it is a much more natural fit with the other superhero shows that have been developed for the network by Greg Berlanti and Andrew Kreisberg. As for Supergirl, like I said in my review of Season 1 this past April, while the show’s light-hearted nature does result in some extremely cheesy moments from time to time, its heart is always in the right place and, as such, represents a lot of the best parts of the superhero genre. And, of course, one of the best aspects of this series, in general, has been Benoist in the lead role. When she’s in her ‘civilian identity’, Kara Danvers, she absolutely lights up the screen with her charisma, as well as the adorable awkwardness that sometimes comes from her trying to act normal when working off those who don’t know that she’s Supergirl. But, once she puts on the suit and cape, that awkwardness melts away and she conveys such great strength and passion as National City’s beloved heroine. And even as Season 2 of Supergirl has been introducing new characters, as well as new plotlines for returning characters, Kara has still been the main focal point of the entire show, hence why she’s very much become one of the genre’s best protagonists.

CHRISTOPHER REEVE – SUPERMAN (SUPERMAN I-IV)

Next up, we have the classic superhero film casting choice that started it all; Christopher Reeve as the Man of Steel himself, Superman. But it’s interesting to note that, at first, he wasn’t the original choice for the role. Initially, A-listers like Robert Redford, Burt Reynolds, and Paul Newman were considered for the part. But, when Richard Donner was brought in to direct the first Superman film in 1978, the filmmakers then switched gears and began searching for unknown actors. Reeve was in the running but was initially ignored for being too skinny. But, after going through a strict workout regime with David Prowse (AKA the original in-suit performer for Darth Vader in the Star Wars films) to gain the proper physique, Reeve finally got cast and, of course, absolutely killed it in the role. Simply put, he was the perfect embodiment of the beloved superhero; charismatic, good-looking, and noble in every way. And even when the series started to severely go downhill with the third and fourth films, with Reeve even having a story credit for the latter, he still always did a great job in the role. As such, his portrayal of Superman is so iconic that it is one that has admittedly been hard to top, though that’s not to say that there haven’t been other good portrayals of the character since Reeve. While he has been somewhat limited by certain narrative choices (e.g. a lack of given dialogue), I’d argue that Henry Cavill has done a good job so far as the character in the current-era DC Extended Universe films. However, like I said, sometimes he has been limited by the material that he’s been given, which is sad because his turn in 2015’s The Man from U.N.C.L.E. shows that he does have the proper charisma for the role. And then there’s Tyler Hoechlin, who I’d argue was very Reeve-esque during his turn in the role in Season 2 of Supergirl. In fact, dare I say it, Hoechlin’s been the best Superman since Reeve.

JENNIFER LAWRENCE – MYSTIQUE (X-MEN: FIRST CLASS, X-MEN: DAYS OF FUTURE PAST, X-MEN: APOCALYPSE)

I’m aware that this choice may be a bit controversial (I’ll explain why in a little bit) but I think that Jennifer Lawrence has done an excellent job in the role of the shape-shifting femme fatale Mystique in the First Class-era X-Men films. She first appeared in the series’ 2011 ‘reboot’ X-Men: First Class, which pulled an interesting narrative retcon by having her become the foster sister of Charles Xavier AKA Professor X. I say ‘interesting’ because, obviously, this wasn’t brought up at all in the original X-Men trilogy, even though the next film in the series ended up wiping those films from the continuity. However, I do think that it was an interesting story route. Because once Magneto enters the picture, Mystique finds herself conflicted between the ideologies of him and Charles. Specifically, this was due to a fear of how people would react to her in her natural blue (and, well, naked (no other way around it)) form. While Charles urged her to keep her blue form hidden, Magneto encouraged her to embrace it. Thus, at the end of the film, she ends up leaving with Erik, though it should be noted that Charles did encourage her to go with him because he knew that ‘it’s what she wanted’. This then leads into Days of Future Past, in which she becomes the main focal point of the plot as it's established that her assassination of scientist Bolivar Trask was the catalyst for the events that resulted in the desolate, dystopian future that part of the film is set in. Like First Class, a lot of her character development comes in the form of her ties to both Charles and Magneto. While her time with Magneto has led her into becoming more like the cold-blooded femme fatale that we saw in the original trilogy (it’s noted in the film that killing Trask would’ve been the moment when she truly became ‘Mystique’), it’s also clear that there’s still some humanity left in her, which Xavier uses to convince her to not kill Trask, partially by admitting his mistake in trying to control her life all these years. The result is easily Lawrence’s best performance in the role...

…which then brings us to Apocalypse, and this is where that ‘controversy’ that I mentioned earlier comes into play. Because, of course, as many of us know. Apocalypse ended up attracting a mixed response from critics and audiences upon release. And one of the reasons why was due to Lawrence. Quite a lot of critics felt that Lawrence phoned it in for Apocalypse; a sign of her showing growing disinterest in the franchise, partially due to having to go through the elaborate makeup process to get into character even though that process had become more simplified after First Class. As for me, though, I didn’t think she phoned it in; maybe I’m just not good at sensing this sort of thing but I thought she was just as good as she was in the other films (though I will say DOFP is still her best turn in the role). Not only that, but Apocalypse is, in a way, kind of her story. After unintentionally becoming a ‘hero’ following the events in Washington D.C. at the end of DOFP, she is seen to be maintaining a low profile while trying to protect some of her fellow mutants all over the world. But, once the ‘god’ mutant Apocalypse reawakens, she begins to embrace her role as the leader of the next generation of X-Men as she leads them into battle against him. And at the end of the film, she and Beast are seen training the team’s new recruits. Right now, it’s unclear where the franchise will go from here. Are they going to continue from where they left off in Apocalypse with the new cast? If so, hopefully, they let the new cast become the main characters of future films. The First Class-era was primarily based around Xavier, Mystique, and Magneto and while I won’t mind if they come back for future films in supporting roles, I think it’s safe to say that their story arcs are done for the most part. Still, I think Lawrence was an excellent addition to the First Class-era as the second iteration of Mystique. In fact, I kind of prefer her version of the character over Rebecca Romjin’s from the original trilogy. I’m not saying that Romjin was bad as Mystique but, like Christian Bale compared to Michael Keaton as Batman, I think Lawrence has just had better material to work with. Speaking of her two main co-stars…  

MICHAEL FASSBENDER AND JAMES MCAVOY– MAGNETO AND PROFESSOR X (X-MEN: FIRST CLASS, X-MEN: DAYS OF FUTURE PAST, X-MEN: APOCALYPSE)

From one First Class-era star to another, now we have the duo of Michael Fassbender and James McAvoy, who have been killing it in the roles of the metal-controlling mutant Erik Lehnsherr AKA Magneto and the world’s most powerful telepath, Charles Xavier AKA Professor X. In the original X-Men films, the characters were played by the legendary Ian McKellen and Patrick Stewart, respectively. Both did fantastic jobs in their roles but it’s come to the point where Fassbender and McAvoy have arguably outshined their predecessors thanks to the recent trilogy. First up, let’s talk about Fassbender as Magneto. In the three X-Men films that he’s appeared in, Fassbender has been the major standout of two of them. The first of these was First Class, which is fitting because, ultimately, First Class was Magneto’s story. While the film was solidly balanced in terms of the roles of him and Xavier, showing how the two first met, became friends, and were then divided on their views of humanity, a lot of the plot of First Class revolved around Magneto. The film opens with a re-do of the opening scene from the original X-Men film, in which a young Magneto is separated from his parents at Auschwitz and attracts attention by using his powers to bend a metal gate. This scene is then expanded upon by showing that this then led to Erik becoming a pawn of Nazi scientist and fellow mutant Sebastian Shaw. Shaw even kills Erik’s mother in his attempts to manipulate Erik into using his powers. Thus, most of the film sees Erik attempting to track down and kill Shaw, and despite Xavier’s attempts to dissuade him from this (“Killing Shaw will not bring you peace.”), Erik ignores the advice of his friend and kills Shaw, showing that while they may have been enemies, he did share his views on the divide between humans and mutants. And after accidentally causing Xavier to be paralyzed from the waist down, Magneto leaves to start his war against humanity for what they’ve done to him and his fellow mutants. 

Fassbender returned in Days of Future Past alongside Ian McKellen as the older Magneto. Sadly, the two never shared a scene together like James McAvoy and Patrick Stewart did in the film but it wasn’t a big loss and, seeing how the story takes place in two separate eras, you could say that it was much more plausible to have the two telepaths interact with each other instead of the two metal-benders. It’s also worth noting that, in this instance, Days of Future Past was more Xavier’s story than Magneto’s. Thus, Magneto was more of a supporting ‘protagonist’ (term used loosely because he is Magneto) this time around. Set primarily in the 70’s, he is first seen being held in prison for being the alleged assassin of John F. Kennedy as evident by the curvature of the bullet that killed him, although he later reveals that he was trying to save Kennedy because he learned that he too was a mutant. Wolverine, Xavier, and Beast (with the help of Quicksilver) break him out of prison so that they can acquire his help in preventing Mystique from killing Bolivar Trask. However, Magneto then betrays them by trying to kill Mystique instead, and once he learns about Trask’s newest invention, the Sentinels, he uses his powers to take control of them and, as usual, proceeds to go off against humanity. He tries to kill President Nixon and his Cabinet but Mystique prevents him from doing so, setting up the events of the sequel. In short, he may not have been the ‘main character’ this time around but Fassbender was still great in the role. And yes, I’m saying this even after he recently said in an interview that he feels like his performance in this film was mostly just him yelling at people (e.g. the scene where he gets hostile with Xavier while on a plane).   

Fassbender’s most recent appearance as Magneto in X-Men: Apocalypse saw him once again end up as the standout of the film, just like in First Class. And in this instance, it was by giving him the most emotional bits of character development in the film. Following the events of DOFP, it’s shown that Erik was forced to go on the run after the events in D.C. He ends up in Poland, where he takes on the name Henryk, gets a job, ironically as a metalworker, and starts up a family, with his wife, Magda, aware of his past and his daughter Nina being a mutant as well, with the ability to command animals. When he ends up inadvertently revealing his powers to his co-workers, he’s then ratted out to the police, who accidentally end up killing Magda and Nina when they confront him. As revenge, Erik kills them in the same manner that he killed Shaw in First Class; by forcing the Nazi coin that he was coerced into trying to manipulate right through them (literally). It’s easily the most emotional scene in the film and is the main reason why I completely disagree with the argument that Apocalypse lacked emotional depth. This then leads to him being approached by Apocalypse and persuaded into being the fourth member of the Horsemen. With enhanced powers (courtesy of Apocalypse) and a refueled hatred for humanity, Magneto works alongside Apocalypse in his plans to conquer the Earth but, after some convincing from Mystique and Quicksilver (who is revealed to be his son, though he doesn’t reveal that to Magneto just yet), Magneto comes to his senses to help the X-Men take down the god mutant. As the film ends, he heads out on his own once again after helping to rebuild the X-Mansion. Like I said earlier with Mystique, it’s unclear if this is the last time that we’ll be seeing Magneto for a while. But, if it is, at least we got a great trilogy-worth of performances from Michael Fassbender in the role.

And now let’s move onto James McAvoy as Xavier. I’ll admit that when First Class came out, I wasn’t exactly sure how I would feel about McAvoy in the role following Patrick Stewart’s excellent take on the character in the original X-Men trilogy. But, just like how the film ended up being a surprise success, he proved to be a great fit in the role. He had the ‘wise mentor’ persona down well but it was also kind of cool to see a young Xavier that, prior to the incident that cost him his legs, was a lot more high-spirited and even a bit of a party animal. That starts to change once he meets Magneto and becomes the leader of the first class of X-Men. But, of course, that friendship between Xavier and Magneto fades once their differing views on the human-mutant divide come into play, and the film ends with Xavier paralyzed from the waist down due to Magneto deflecting a bullet aimed at him. This, as well as the loss of his foster sister Mystique to Erik’s cause, affects him heavily, which we clearly see when he first appears in DOFP. 10 years after the events of First Class, it’s established that Xavier’s school for mutants was heavily shuttered by the Vietnam War. Thus, he’s become a bitter and pessimistic drunk due to the failure of his school. He’s also regained the use of his legs thanks to a serum made by Hank McCoy but this serum also suppresses his powers, which at this point he’s okay with so that he doesn’t have to endure the pain of listening to all the voices in his head anymore. But, when Wolverine comes into the picture to seek his help, Xavier ends up embarking on a journey to regain his faith in humanity. As I’ve said numerous times already, Xavier’s arc in this film is the reason why DOFP is ultimately his story and it results in McAvoy’s greatest performance in the role. That continues in Apocalypse, which sees Xavier finally adopt his definitive bald look. And of the trilogy’s three main leads, it seems like McAvoy is the most likely of them to return in a future film.  

CHLOE BENNET – QUAKE (MARVEL’S AGENTS OF SHIELD)

Going into the realm of superhero TV for my next pick, we’ve got the Inhuman agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. from Marvel’s Agents of SHIELD, Daisy Johnson AKA Quake, played by Chloe Bennet. Daisy has easily had one of the biggest arcs in the entire show. At first, we knew her as the mysterious hacker Skye, who Agent Phil Coulson recruited to join his team of S.H.I.E.L.D. agents despite her ties to the rogue hacktivist group, the Rising Tide. Soon, though, she proved herself to be a loyal S.H.I.E.L.D. agent as she helped Coulson and co. take down the growing threat of HYDRA within the organization. And then, in the show’s second season, things began to change once her real identity was revealed. In the Season 1 episode ‘Seeds’, we learn that Skye had been deemed as an 0-8-4 (S.H.I.E.L.D. code for ‘object of unknown origin’) when she was just a baby. Halfway through Season 2, in the episode ‘What They Become’, the truth behind her ‘unknown origin’ was revealed. A run-in with the mysterious substance known as Terrigen Mist revealed that she was a member of the race of powered beings known as Inhumans and that her real name was Daisy Johnson. Thus, the rest of Season 2 consisted of her struggling to embrace her newfound earthquake-causing powers. At one point, she ends up in the Inhuman paradise known as Afterlife, where she is reunited with her mother, Jiaying. However, when Jiaying’s intentions are shown to be quite sinister (e.g. planning to unleash the Terrigen Mist upon humanity), Daisy is forced to fight her own mother, reaffirming her loyalties to Coulson and S.H.I.E.L.D in the process.

By Season 3, we see that Daisy has embraced a newfound confidence in her Inhuman identity, as she helps S.H.I.E.L.D. search for and protect her fellow Inhumans from enemy threats. Some of these Inhumans are even recruited into a special team, the ‘Secret Warriors’. However, this season ended up putting Daisy through the emotional wringer. In the episode ‘Spacetime’, she received a vision from another Inhuman foretelling the impending death of a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent, which haunted her for the rest of the season. And then, if that wasn’t enough, two episodes later in ‘The Team’, it was revealed that she had been brainwashed by the ancient Inhuman creature known as Hive, who at that point had taken over the body of S.H.I.E.L.D. traitor/Hydra agent Grant Ward, who happened to be Daisy’s love interest back in Season 1 prior to that reveal. While she does get brought back to normal by the season’s end, we see that this ordeal has severely affected her on a mental level. And then, to make matters worse, the agent whose death she foresaw ends up being her new love interest, fellow Inhuman Lincoln Campbell. Thus, as Season 4 begins, it’s revealed that she has left S.H.I.E.L.D. and has become a vigilante known as ‘Quake’. Since the show’s currently in the middle of the fourth season, I won’t get into any major details in regards to what happens in it just yet (that is, of course, until my inevitable review of Season 4). While I will say, though, is that it’s quite interesting to see Daisy go down a darker route than before, haunted by some of the recent tragedies in her life.  

As I’ve stated numerous times in my annual season reviews of AoS, Daisy has consistently been one of my favorite characters on the show. Performance-wise, Bennet has done a fantastic job in the role, especially when handling the trademark snappy dialogue that’s usually seen in a Joss Whedon-produced show. At the same time, like I said before, Daisy’s also arguably gotten the most material to work with out of any character in the entire series. From her starting out as the mysterious hacker with the equally mysterious past to becoming the initially scared but later confident superhero who constantly fights for the safety and rights of her fellow Inhumans, she’s very much been the catalyst for the introduction of the Inhumans into the MCU. On that note, a new Inhumans show is set to come out this fall on ABC, after debuting the first two episodes in IMAX theaters. Presumably, this is a replacement for the Inhumans film that was originally announced as a part of Phase 3 of the MCU films but was then taken off the studio’s schedule last year. On that note, though, some of the crew at Marvel (e.g. producer Kevin Feige) have stated that this doesn’t mean that the project is ‘fully canceled’. What does that mean? Well, if you ask me, I’m guessing that this was probably because they figured that a TV show was a better way to properly introduce the series’ mythos to audiences. Either way, it’s also been stated that the new show is more of its own thing than an Agents of SHIELD spin-off, so it’s uncertain if Daisy will appear in it at any point. However, I hope that they figure out a way for her to appear in some way, even if it’s just for a cameo; because after all, it was primarily thanks to her that the Inhumans managed to get a proper introduction in the ever-expanding Marvel Cinematic Universe.

ROBERT DOWNEY JR. – IRON MAN (MARVEL CINEMATIC UNIVERSE)

Hands down, one of the most perfect casting choices in the history of the superhero genre. Nowadays, it’s hard to imagine anyone else in the role and that’s because RDJ was such a perfect live-action representation of the genius billionaire playboy philanthropist Tony Stark. And sure, maybe part of it was due to his infamous legal troubles in the past but, at the same time, it’s undeniable that this was the role that helped relaunch Downey Jr’s career. A lot of this was thanks to the solid emotional arc that Tony went through in the first film. After an incident in which he’s captured by terrorists and forced to build weapons for them, he instead builds a suit of armor and uses it to become the superhero known as Iron Man. The rest is history, and through it all, Downey Jr. has consistently maintained the character’s slightly arrogant but still all-around likable persona. Tony Stark’s also been through a lot in the MCU from a story perspective. For example, in Iron Man 3, he found himself having to come to grips with the fact that he’s just one small part of a larger universe; that and having to deal with the PTSD that came from his near-death experience in the first Avengers. And then, in Age of Ultron, he’s the one responsible for the creation of Ultron, the sentient A.I. hell-bent on world domination. Thus, when he decides to agree with the signing of the Sokovia Accords in Captain America: Civil War, it’s easy to see why he went this route. As my good friend and fellow film critic Matthew Goudreau has pointed out, a lot of the MCU has been Tony trying to atone for his mistakes. Because even when Civil War forced him into being the opposition to Captain America’s ‘Pro-Superheroes’ side, there were still times where you could sympathize with Tony’s stance on the matter, like when he learns that Cap’s friend Bucky was the one who killed his parents. So, in short, thanks to this great series-long arc, it’s easy to see why Tony Stark has been one of the most popular protagonists of the entire franchise. Because, after all, without Robert Downey Jr. and the original Iron Man, there probably wouldn’t have been an MCU in the first place. 

SCARLETT JOHANSSON – BLACK WIDOW (MARVEL CINEMATIC UNIVERSE)

Next up, we have the MCU’s first major female lead; Natasha Romanoff AKA Black Widow, played by Scarlett Johansson. Black Widow’s come a long way since her first appearance in Iron Man 2, especially because, admittedly, it took a little while before Johansson really settled into the role. That’s not to say that she was bad in Iron Man 2 but it’s clear that she was hindered by the generally cluttered nature of that film’s plot. Thankfully, that changed once she returned for the first Avengers. Because even though that film obviously saw her become one of many main characters, Johansson was clearly more comfortable in the role this time around, while Black Widow also got some nice material to work with in the film. For example, when fellow agent Clint Barton AKA Hawkeye was brainwashed by Loki, Romanoff showed some noticeable concern, implying a personal connection between the two. And while the next Avengers film revealed that Hawkeye was married to someone else, it’s clear that the two had some history, which would probably explain the line in the first Avengers in which the two bring up an old mission in Budapest, with Hawkeye noting that he remembers Budapest a lot differently than her. Then there was also the growing relationship between her and Bruce Banner. This relationship is focused on more in the sequel but it’s there nevertheless, with Black Widow being the one who first approached Bruce to join the Avengers. In her next appearance, she teamed up with Captain America in The Winter Soldier, serving as an excellent foil to Cap while still being just as badass as she’s been in the other films, so much so that I’d say this was Johansson’s best performance in the role.

And now, it’s time to once again bring up the controversy surrounding her role in Age of Ultron, and no, I’m not referring to the lack of Black Widow merchandise during the film’s release. I’m referring more to her role in the film itself, namely through her relationship with Bruce. As I just stated earlier, I wasn’t bothered by them being linked romantically because you can at least see hints of it in the first Avengers film. The other major problem that many people had with her role in the film came during a scene between her and Bruce in which she admits that she yearns for a normal life after everything she’s done. They particularly got worked up over a line where she tells him that ‘he’s not the only monster’ on the team, a reference to her days training in the Black Widow program, where she lost the ability to have kids. In the first few days of the film’s release, Joss Whedon was hounded with the severe blowback that came from this. However, I honestly don’t see what’s so bad about it; it didn’t diminish Natasha’s value to the team or anything. It was just her expressing her desire for a normal life, something that’s been so hard for her as of late. It also perfectly sets up why she, to the surprise of many, sided with Iron Man in Civil War; clearly, she’s ashamed of a lot of things that happened in her past. In other words, the ‘red on her ledger’ that was mentioned in the first Avengers. And even though her allegiance is with Iron Man in that film, it’s clear that she’s still close to Cap, as evident in the scene where she talks to him after Peggy Carter’s funeral and notes that she’s there so that he wouldn’t be alone. This friendship then comes into play later when she lets Cap and Bucky escape via Quinjet during the airport battle so they can go after Zemo. Now, of course, a lot of the discussion regarding Black Widow’s role in the MCU has stemmed from all the demand for a Black Widow film, which has yet to happen. I hope that it does happen but at the same time, I’m not furiously demanding it either. I’m sure that it’ll happen soon, thereby affirming Black Widow’s status as a vital part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

(P.S. I hear Joss Whedon is being considered for it; if so, let him do it!)

CHRIS EVANS – CAPTAIN AMERICA (MARVEL CINEMATIC UNIVERSE)

When cast in 2011’s Captain America: The First Avenger, Chris Evans took on the second major superhero role of his career as Steve Rogers AKA Captain America. He previously starred as Johnny Storm, AKA the Human Torch, in the 2005 Fantastic Four film and its 2007 sequel, Rise of the Silver Surfer. And while both films received mixed to negative reactions from critics and audiences, many agreed that he was at least one of its best parts. However, this may have also led to some backlash from fans when he was cast as Captain America due to the major differences between the two characters. But, in the end, Evans absolutely nailed it. Just like RDJ as Iron Man, he conveyed all the great character traits of the good-natured weakling from Brooklyn who, through science, becomes the physically enhanced soldier, Captain America. Also like RDJ, Evans has consistently maintained this persona throughout the entire franchise, even after the character gets sucked into modern times at the end of First Avenger. This subsequent ‘fish out of water’ characterization especially comes into play in Winter Soldier, where he finds that his old-school, ‘black and white’ war ideologies don’t match up with the more uncertain and less compromising attitudes of present day society. As such, it’ll be interesting to see where his story arc goes from here after Civil War, especially after the Russo brothers stated in an interview that he stopped being ‘Captain America’ after the scene in which he leaves his iconic shield behind after the final battle against Tony. Either way, Evans is yet another valuable part of the Marvel Universe and, dare I say, it may have gotten to the point where he’s even outshined RDJ as perhaps the franchise’s best lead.

HAYLEY ATWELL – PEGGY CARTER (MARVEL CINEMATIC UNIVERSE)

Ok, this is the only instance in which I’m technically cheating here by having a character on this list that isn’t primarily a ‘superhero’. However, because Peggy ended up becoming the lead of her own show, Agent Carter, I think that she deserves some recognition. Because although Agent Carter was sadly canceled after Season 2, it’s clear that the character has had a major impact on the genre without ever having superpowers. Hayley Atwell’s first appearance as the Strategic Scientific Reserve agent turned co-founder of S.H.I.E.L.D. was in Captain America: The First Avenger and right out of the gate, she established herself as one of the best ‘love interests’ of the superhero genre by being a love interest who was more than capable of taking care of things herself. Literally, her first scene in the film sees her punch a soldier right in the face when he tries to hit on her. She soon befriends Steve Rogers prior to his transformation into Captain America, admiring his intelligence, honesty, and bravery despite his scrawny build. This friendship soon leads into a romance that sadly ends in tragedy. In what is easily the most emotional scene of the film, Steve sacrifices himself by crashing the Red Skull’s plane into the Arctic while Peggy talks to him over the radio, trying to figure out a way to get him out of the situation. Obviously, we know that this didn’t end up killing Steve; it’s just that it led to him being frozen in time for nearly 7 decades (Saddest line in the entire film? “I had a date…”). Thankfully, for Steve, he learns that Peggy is still alive by the time that he’s thawed out, resulting in an emotionally heartbreaking scene in Winter Soldier in which the two are reunited but, sadly, Peggy is starting to suffer from Alzheimer’s. She finally passes away in Civil War, as her niece, Sharon Carter, delivers a touching eulogy at her funeral that inspires Cap to stand by his stance on the controversial Sokovia Accords (“Even if the whole world is telling you to move, it is your duty to plant yourself like a tree, look them in the eye and say, ‘No, you move’”)

2 years after the release of First Avenger, Atwell reprised her role as Peggy in one of Marvel’s One-Shot short films, Agent Carter, which was released on home media alongside Iron Man 3. The critical success of that short immediately led to the development of a TV series based around everyone’s favorite SSR operative, Marvel’s Agent Carter. Aired during the midseason break of Marvel Studios’ other ABC show, Agents of SHIELD, the series gave Atwell a true chance to shine in the role of Peggy, who in the show, set one year after the events of the film, continued to work for the SSR while also struggling to cope with the sexism of the era. But, even though she frequently found herself being undervalued by other members of the SSR, she truly proves herself by being the one who is primarily responsible for taking down the organization’s enemies. Really, the moment that truly defined her as one of the best characters in the MCU occurs in the Season 1 finale, ‘Valediction’. After taking down the organization known as Leviathan, Peggy earns the respect of her colleagues but the media ends up giving fellow SSR agent Jack Thompson the credit instead for stopping them. However, Peggy assures fellow agent Daniel Sousa that it doesn’t matter to her if she gets credit for what she does because no matter what, she ‘knows her value’. And that, ultimately, is why Peggy is one of the brightest stars of the MCU; she’s a strong-willed, no-nonsense woman in a time when no one expected much out of her. And while it’s sad that Agent Carter ended up getting canceled after only two seasons, especially after Season 2 ended on an unresolved cliffhanger, Peggy’s impact as a role model to women is undeniable.           

HUGH JACKMAN – WOLVERINE (X-MEN FILMS)

And finally, we bring it all back to the one whose tenure in the role of his iconic character is coming to an end this weekend with Logan; Hugh Jackman as Wolverine. Though it’s interesting to note that when the original X-Men film was being made, Jackman wasn’t the first one that director Bryan Singer cast in the role. Dougray Scott was initially cast in the part before turning it down due to scheduling conflicts with a different blockbuster from that year, Mission Impossible 2. And with no disrespect to Mr. Scott, I think we can all agree that this was ultimately for the best. Because even though there may have probably been some dissent from some comic book fans due to a 6’2’’ Broadway star playing a character that’s 5’3’’ in the comics, Jackman absolutely nailed it in the role, from the stubborn attitude to the moments in which he’s fueled with berserker rage. Now, obviously, as many have pointed out, the films’ overt focus on Wolverine and his story sometimes led to the underdevelopment of other characters, particularly Cyclops (James Marsden), who was mainly there to be part of the love triangle that Wolverine and Jean Grey were also involved in. Nevertheless, it was never too much of a big loss thanks to Jackman’s consistently excellent performances in the role. It’s easy to see why he became the definitive star of the franchise, appearing in almost every single film in the series up until Logan. And whenever he wasn’t in a lead role, he just made an awesome cameo, like in First Class, where he tersely rebuffs the offer of Xavier and Magneto to join them, and Apocalypse, where he’s unleashed in his Weapon X form upon the forces of Colonel William Stryker. That and his scene in Apocalypse ends with a hilariously meta quote from Cyclops (“Hope that’s the last we’ve seen of that guy…”).     

If I had to pick Jackman’s best performance in the role (pre-Logan, even though by the time this is posted, I’ll have already seen the new film), it would have to be in Days of Future Past. And the main reason why is because this could’ve just easily been another case of Wolverine hogging the spotlight, as the film sees him being the one that is sent back in time instead of Kitty Pryde like it was in the comics (or Bishop in the case of the 90’s animated series). However, the film does explain the logistical reasoning behind this as it’s established that Wolverine’s healing abilities make him the only one who’s capable of surviving a trip that far back into the past. Not only that, but it’s also fun to see the hot-tempered Wolverine try and be the ‘patient and peaceful’ time-traveler who must convince people that he’s from the future, which obviously doesn’t always go well (“Peaceful thoughts…”). But the coolest thing about Wolverine’s role in the overall story is that he’s ultimately not the main character. Don’t get me wrong, he’s still a vital part of the story but in this instance, it’s a much more reserved role compared to the other films. Ultimately, Jackman ends up being the bridge between the original series and the First Class-era films and because the film basically serves as a send-off for the cast of the former, he lets the First Class-era stars like James McAvoy and Michael Fassbender lead the way. So, in short, while it may not have always been a smooth journey (*cough* Origins *cough*), Jackman will forever be known as one of the most iconic casting choices in the history of the superhero genre.

And those are 10 (technically 11 since I paired McAvoy and Fassbender together) of my personal favorite casting choices in the superhero film genre. Thanks for following along and be sure to sound off in the comments below with some of your favorite superhero casting choices, especially if they’re ones that I didn’t mention here.

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: Season 3 'Review'

Are You Inhuman?

(WARNING: SPOILERS)

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: Season 2 (2014-15) Review

(WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD)

I’m forever going to be disappointed by the fact that ‘Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.’ didn’t get the attention it deserved when it first debuted in September 2013. I guess you can say that it was just due to overly high expectations being that this was the first time that the Marvel Cinematic Universe had taken a step into the superhero TV series market, a market that, obviously, they had no prior experience with. The bottom line, though, is that overhyping anything (movies, TV shows, boxing matches, etc…) is never a good thing and quite frankly that is why I think the show didn’t get a lot of positive buzz early on. But being a fan from the get-go, I stuck with it in the hopes that the show would be able to prove its biggest critics wrong. Thank god then for ‘Captain America: The Winter Soldier’. Not only was it one of the MCU’s best films to date, but it also gave this show the much-needed boost that it needed with its big twist revolving around HYDRA’s takeover of S.H.I.E.L.D.. That of course carried over to ‘Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.’ as the characters now found themselves in a very dangerous situation unsure of who to trust and without many of their fancy S.H.I.E.L.D. resources to help them. While I will always defend the first half of Season 1 as being better than most people gave it credit for, suffice it to say that the show really got going after the big HYDRA reveal and thanks to it, we S.H.I.E.L.D. fans were graced with another season of this great show.

So now with Season 2 of ‘Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.’, the stakes are obviously much higher for newly appointed director of S.H.I.E.L.D., Phil Coulson, and his team. Not only do they have to deal with the remaining forces of HYDRA that are still out there, but now they must operate while they’re fugitives of the government due to the fact that, at the end of ‘Winter Soldier’, all of the organization’s secrets were leaked to the public by Captain America and his team in their attack against HYDRA. But as Coulson and his team soon find out, there’s a lot more for them to deal with this season than just HYDRA. Not only do they soon come into conflict with a different faction of S.H.I.E.L.D. that is heavily opposed to Coulson’s methods but also a new race of beings with special powers known as ‘the Inhumans’. These Inhumans are primed to get their own film adaptation in the MCU in 2019. But thanks to this series, people like me who were unfamiliar with this group (similar to how most people were probably not familiar with ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ when their film adaptation was first announced) are given a proper introduction four years early. It may seem like a lot for one show to handle in just a single season, but thanks to the great writing, well-rounded characters, and phenomenal cast, Season 2 of ‘Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.’ effectively allows this series to finally take its rightful place as a true force to be reckoned with amongst the current crop of superhero TV series. 

At the end of Season 1, after defeating the organization known as Project Centipede and their leader, ex-S.H.I.E.L.D. turned HYDRA agent John Garrett, Agent Phil Coulson (Clark Gregg) was promoted to the role of Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. by Nick Fury and tasked with rebuilding the organization following its fall into disarray after the events of ‘Winter Soldier’. As Season 2 begins, Coulson and his team; Melinda May (Ming-Na Wen), Skye (Chloe Bennet), Leo Fitz (Iain De Caestecker), Jemma Simmons (Elizabeth Henstridge), Antoine Triplett (B.J. Britt) and new members Lance Hunter (Nick Blood) and Bobbi Morse (Adrianne Palicki) begin to hunt down the remaining forces of HYDRA. While this is going on, Coulson, who has been compulsively carving alien symbols as a result of the GH-325 drug that was used to resurrect him after he was killed by Loki in the first ‘Avengers’, discovers that these symbols are actually a map to a mysterious city. Not wanting HYDRA to find it first, Coulson and his team begin to search for it in order to uncover its secrets. But once they do, the situation is forever changed when Skye suddenly gains new powers as a result of a mysterious object known as ‘the Diviner’. As the revelation of these new powers start to test the relationships between her and her teammates, she soon gets involved with the group of beings, known as the Inhumans, who are also given special powers like her. But soon their peaceful way of life is put into jeopardy when S.H.I.E.L.D. discovers their secret safe haven.

Now that the odds are very much against Coulson and his team, the stakes are definitely much higher than they were back in Season 1. Simply put, a lot of things happen during this season; HYDRA, Inhumans, ‘the real S.H.I.E.L.D.’, etc. It may seem like a lot for just one season but the show does a really nice job at balancing all of these storylines out while still maintaining enough focus on its main characters. And with the introduction of the Inhumans, a whole new fascinating side to the Marvel Cinematic Universe is revealed, with Skye, who is revealed to be the character ‘Daisy Johnson’ (AKA Quake) from the comics, being impacted the most out of any character on the show. Since the first season, Skye has always been one of my favorite characters and this revelation really helps her character grow even more as she tries to come to terms with her newfound powers. As this series has gone on, I’ve realized that one of the best elements of the show has been the relationship between Skye and Coulson, which has a very noticeable ‘father-daughter’ feel to it thanks to Gregg and Bennet’s great chemistry. Though this does make things a little more complicated with the introduction of Skye’s real parents; her father, mad doctor Cal (Kyle MacLachlan), and her mother, fellow Inhuman Jiaying (Dichen Lachman). The whole storyline with Cal in particular is really one of the best parts of the season, as MacLachlan really shines in the role of Skye’s crazed father while at the same time also making us feel sorry for him at times given the fact that he just wants to be with his family again.

One of the other great things about this show is that there are many times where it has this` ‘morally gray’ vibe to it. One of the key themes of the series is how at times we question if S.H.I.E.L.D. is doing the right thing, especially now that the whole ‘HYDRA took over S.H.I.E.L.D.’ reveal has come into play. Not only that, but there are many instances where the main characters begin to question their teammates’ motives. Skye’s transformation and the introduction of what its members refer to as ‘the ‘real’ S.H.I.E.L.D.’ are obviously the major examples of this but while those two situations are primarily based around Coulson and Skye, that doesn’t mean that they’re the only ones who get attention in this show. As I noted last season, the original six leads were all developed incredibly well with a great ensemble cast to play them. And this season continues that streak, as every main member of the group gets their own chance to shine. This includes a crucial episode that finally revealed the secret behind May’s past (and why she got the nickname ‘The Calvary’) and the numerous occasions where we, the audience, were hit with the feels as Fitz struggles to overcome the injuries that he was stricken with at the end of Season 1 thanks to Grant Ward (Brett Dalton), his former teammate who was revealed to be an agent of HYDRA. And oh yeah, we can’t forget Ward, who’s still a factor in all of this out with his agenda. 

The new additions to the cast are also excellent. The new additions to the main cast, Nick Blood and Adrianne Palicki, pretty much immediately make a great first impression. While Hunter’s true allegiances were put into question in the first few episodes, thankfully that doubt was put to rest and he officially joined the team. And like Gregg, Bennet, and many other Whedon regulars before him, Blood easily becomes well-versed in the Whedon-esque style of dialogue, resulting in him getting a lot of the best lines in the show. As for Palicki, she immediately makes one hell of a first impression in her debut episode in the role of the badass Bobbi Morse AKA Mockingbird. As I noted a few days ago in my Spoiler Post for ‘Age of Ultron’, this is just further proof that Marvel has actually done a really excellent job with their female leads, especially the ones on their TV shows. It’s also good to see that, compared to DC after the whole fiasco with the canceled ‘Wonder Woman’ series, Marvel has given Palicki much better treatment as far as her role in ‘Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.’ is concerned. This season also gave us a number of memorable ‘S.H.I.E.L.D. adversaries’, including Whedon vet Reed Diamond as Dr. Daniel Whitehall, MacLachlan and Lachman, as noted earlier, as Skye’s parents, and Edward James Olmos as Robert Gonzales, one of the heads of ‘the real S.H.I.E.L.D.’.

Big changes came to ‘Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.’ following the release of ‘Captain America: The Winter Soldier’ and that has helped the series quite a lot. Story-wise, the whole ‘HYDRA’ twist gave the series the boost that it needed to stand toe to toe with the other big superhero TV series currently on right now, namely CW’s one-two punch of ‘Arrow’ and ‘Flash’. To put it simply, quite a lot of things happened this season. We were introduced to the Inhumans, Skye was revealed to be one of them, and the characters’ relationships were put to the test in the increasingly morally gray world that is the ‘post-Winter Soldier’ Marvel Cinematic Universe. And based on how Season 2 ends, it’s safe to say that Season 3 is going to be even bigger, with Ward taking control of HYDRA for ‘closure’ (AKA revenge) against S.H.I.E.L.D. and the reveal that a bunch of crystals containing the substance known as the Terrigen Mist, which mutates anyone who is an Inhuman (and kills anyone who isn’t), has been leaked into the ocean, has been consumed by fish, and has finally been transferred into fish oil pills. Oh yeah and let’s not forget to mention the beast of a cliffhanger at the very end of the finale when Simmons is sucked into the mysterious Kree weapon that S.H.I.E.L.D. had found that could’ve been used to destroy the Inhumans. Seriously, can Season 3 come any sooner?

Final Season Rating: 5/5!

And now, just like I did last season, here are my Top 5 favorite episodes of the season but of course, first let’s start with the Honorable Mentions…

SHADOWS

Season 2 got off to a really nice start with the premiere episode, ‘Shadows’, which effectively showcases how much things have changed for Coulson and his team since we last saw them at the end of Season 1, with Coulson now faced with the task of trying to rebuild S.H.I.E.L.D. after the whole HYDRA fiasco. But the most interesting thing about this episode is that, for the first episode of the new season, it didn’t really end on a high note for the protagonists. The bulk of the episode has them going after a mysterious object known as the Obelisk but even though they do acquire it, it is then immediately taken from them by Carl ‘Crusher’ Creel, a man who has the ability to absorb the properties of whatever he touches and who also kills a few S.H.I.E.L.D. agents in the process, including Agent Hartley who’s played by Lucy Lawless in a very brief ‘cameo’ (she does return later on in a flashback in the episode ‘One Door Closes’). This episode also illustrates the fact that now, as the title suggests, S.H.I.E.L.D. must act ‘in shadows’ now that they can’t rely on the government to help them anymore. All in all, this episode perfectly highlights both the heightened stakes and the darker turns to come out of this second season.

A HEN IN THE WOLF HOUSE

Early on in the season, Simmons had gone undercover at HYDRA but in this episode, her cover is at risk of being blown when HYDRA learns about the situation, while not immediately realizing that she is the mole within their system. Simmons tries to maintain her cover but attracts the suspicion of agent Bobbi Morse. Thankfully, Morse is revealed to also be a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent working as a mole in HYDRA and helps Simmons escape from HYDRA’s forces once they learn that she’s the mole. This episode is one of the best primarily thanks to Morse’s bad-ass introduction. And as noted earlier, it’s nice to see that Adrianne Palicki got a much more substantial role as far as superhero TV series are concerned after the fiasco surrounding the unaired ‘Wonder Woman’ pilot she starred in.

AFTERSHOCKS

‘Aftershocks’ was the first episode of the 2015 run of the series, following the ‘Agent Carter’ mini-series, and was coming off of an episode where, to put it quite simply, a lot of s*** went down. One of those events was the tragic passing of Tripp and his death is felt throughout this episode, especially when the team starts to argue with each other over the situation. But of course the other big part of this episode is Skye’s initial dealings with the powers she acquired while down in the secret Alien city. When Fitz discovers this, he keeps her newfound abilities secret from the rest of the team, especially after Simmons remarks that people like Raina (Ruth Negga), who was also ‘changed’ by the Terrigen Mist along with Skye, should be ‘put down’. Speaking of Raina, we also see her struggle with her new mutation which gives her a thorn/spike-like appearance (and yes, there is a ‘Sonic the Hedgehog’ reference in a later episode). I’d also like to point out that this may actually be the most violent episode of the series to date as we do see blood spatter when Raina kills a few S.H.I.E.L.D. agents. All in all, you really felt the weight of all that happened in the last episode here, and that’s why it’s another stand-out episode from this season while continuing to build up the debut of the Inhumans.

WHO YOUR REALLY ARE

And that was followed by another solid episode in the form of ‘Who You Really Are’, which featured a cameo by Lady Sif (Jaimie Alexander), who suddenly arrives on Earth suffering from amnesia. The amnesia is so bad that she doesn’t even remember who Thor is. But anyway, in this episode, S.H.I.E.L.D. aids Sif in tracking down a Kree who is hunting down whoever was recently affected by the Terrigen Mist; he’s also the one responsible for Sif’s amnesia. Of course, as we all know, that person just so happens to be Skye, whose powers are finally revealed to the team sans Fitz due to him learning about it in the last episode. She is nearly killed by the Kree but he is defeated by Morse. This, however, changes things as now the rest of the team start to become fearful in regards to her new abilities. The relationship between Fitz and Simmons is also strained due to Fitz not telling Simmons the truth though as noted earlier, given the fact that in the last episode she said that she believed that people like that should be put down, can you blame him?

FACE MY ENEMY

One of the best earlier episodes of the season, ‘Face My Enemy’ has Coulson and his team going undercover at a fundraising event in order to find a painting that has the same alien symbols that Coulson has been carving engraved on it. Sort of a ‘Mission Impossible/Avengers’ (not those Avengers, for the record; the British TV series ‘The Avengers’) style plot, the episode started off with some fun banter between Coulson and May, including one of the rare times May is seen laughing, which she immediately follows up with by telling Coulson “her face hurts”. But the best part of the episode is the final fight between May and Agent 33, who had taken on May’s voice and appearance with the help of special S.H.I.E.L.D. technology. Simply put, it’s a fight between Ming Na and Ming Na and it’s one of the best-shot action sequences of not just the season, but the whole series. This is the first of three episodes this season directed by Kevin Tancharoen, brother of series co-creator Maurissa Tancharoen and spoilers, all 3 of his episodes are in this psuedo-Top 10 list of the best 'AoS' episodes from Season 2

And now, here are my Top 5 favorite episodes from Season 2... 

5. ONE OF US

Also directed by Kevin Tancharoen, this episode belonged to Kyle MacLachlan as Cal, in which he recruits a group of ‘Gifted’ individuals to take on S.H.I.E.L.D.. As noted earlier, his crazed nature results in some of the best moments of the season while at the same time also making us feel sorry for him at times due to him wanting to re-connect with Skye. It all culminates in a pretty cool final battle at a football stadium in what is revealed to be Coulson’s hometown of Manitowoc, Wisconsin. This episode also serves as the introduction of May’s ex-husband Andrew Garner (Blair Underwood), who is brought in to assess Skye’s new powers and although he warns Coulson that Skye should leave S.H.I.E.L.D., Coulson decides to go against his suggestion. Also there’s this…

4. THE DIRTY HALF DOZEN

This episode, the third of which Kevin Tancharoen directed, succeeds in being both incredibly nostalgic for fans of the series as well as being fairly awkward at times. The nostalgic factor comes from the fact that in this episode, Coulson enlists his original team, including Ward, for a mission to free Mike Peterson (AKA Deathlok) and Inhuman Lincoln Campbell (Luke Mitchell) from HYDRA’s custody. The awkward part of this, as you might have guessed, comes from the fact that, you know, Ward betrayed the team. The scene where he tries to apologize to the team for all that he did is the pinnacle of how awkward this situation gets. I mean while there is, for some reason, a part of me that kind of wants things to go back to the way they were for Coulson’s team, it’s hard to excuse Ward for all that he’s done since the episode ‘Turn, Turn, Turn’. It’s so messed up that Simmons, in a rather disturbing move, actually tries to kill Ward but ends up killing HYDRA agent Bakshi instead when the latter sacrifices himself to save Ward. Being the final episode before ‘Avengers: Age of Ultron’ was released here in North America, the episode ends on a nice set-up for the film as Coulson gives Maria Hill the location of HYDRA leader Baron von Strucker’s secret base so that the Avengers can go stop him.

3. WHAT THEY BECOME

This was the first ‘big’ episode of the season, as quite a lot happened in this episode, which revolved around Coulson and his team trying to reach the secret alien city before HYDRA. To start things off, Skye is finally reintroduced to her real father and we learn the true identities of both of them. His name is Calvin Zabo (AKA ‘Mister Hyde’ from the comics) and we learn that Skye’s real name is Daisy Johnson (AKA ‘Quake’ from the comics). This then leads to Skye going down into the alien city where she, along with Raina, is transformed by the Terrigen Mist that came from the Obelisk everyone had been after during the first half of the season. The finale in which this occurs is one of the most epic moments of the entire season, especially the part when Skye erupts out of the cocoon she had become encased in with her new earthquake powers. Unfortunately, this episode also ends on a sad note as Tripp, who had tried to save Skye when she and Raina started to become encased in cocoons, dies as a result of coming into contact with the Terrigen Mist. It’s even sadder because Tripp was quite frankly one of the coolest/bad-ass characters in the show, having made quite a nice impression after first debuting in Season 1. I was hoping that this season he would be promoted to the position of ‘series regular’ but of course, this is a Whedon production so you know that not everyone is going to get out of this alive. As the final episode of the season’s 2014 run, it definitely left us fans with one hell of a cliffhanger. At least we had ‘Agent Carter’ to hold us over until the series returned in March.

2. MELINDA

Easily one of the most emotional episodes of the entire season is ‘Melinda’, in which we finally learn the truth about what happened years earlier in Bahrain where she earned the nickname ‘The Calvary’, which Skye also learns about from her mother Jiaying. After single-handedly storming a building full of bad guys, May fought a member of the Inhumans who had been stealing Terrigen crystals for her daughter, who in turn had her mother hurt others to feed on their pain. May is then forced to kill not only the mother, but also the daughter as well. As this series has gone on, we the audience have been slowly learning more and more about what really happened to May in Bahrain that had forever changed her into the stone-cold bad-ass that she is today. And with this emotional gut-punch of an episode, now we know why.

1.     S.O.S.: PARTS 1 AND 2

And finally we have what is, in my opinion, not only the best episode of this season but also one of the best TV season finales that I’ve ever seen: the two-parter ‘S.O.S.’. This season has been building up to an inevitable war between S.H.I.E.L.D. and the Inhumans. It finally gets started when Jiaying fools everyone into thinking that she had been shot by agent Gonzales when in reality she killed Gonzales and ‘framed’ him for ‘trying’ to kill her. The ruse is so initially effective that even Skye believes it at first. But, after witnessing her mother kill Raina, who had tried to convince Skye of her mother’s true motives, Skye finally learns the truth and, along with Coulson and his team, try to stop Jiaying and the Inhumans from unleashing the Terrigen Mist upon the world, which would kill anyone who isn’t Inhuman. This finale has it all; great writing, exceptional character development, awesome action sequences, as well as plenty of very emotional moments, mostly courtesy of Cal, who is forced to come to terms with the fact that his wife must be stopped. And he does just that, killing her when she attempts to kill Skye. At the end of it all, S.H.I.E.L.D. wipes his memory allowing him to finally be at peace in his life. And given some of the big developments that occur at the end of this episode, from Ward basically taking over HYDRA to Simmons getting absorbed by the mysterious Kree weapon, it’s clear that Season 3 is going to be big. But as for Season 2, ‘S.O.S.’ ends this great second season of this great show on the best note. And that is why it is the best episode of Season 2 of ‘Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.’.

Also, Fitz has the best line of the whole episode…

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: Season 1 Review/Final Sum-Up

(WARNING: SPOILERS (!) for both ‘Captain America: The Winter Soldier’ and ‘Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.’ ahead!!)

After 22 episodes, the first season of Marvel’s ‘Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.’ has finally come to an end and boy what a run it has been. In just one season, this spinoff of the Marvel Cinematic Universe was able to establish itself within the continuity of the films and provide an intriguing look into the world through the eyes of normal people, without the need to have the series be centered around a superhero… but then again, that may be the reason why, early on, this show experienced a bit of a struggle critically. It did get fairly good reviews from critics, but it seems as if most audiences weren’t too thrilled by it and from what I kept hearing about online, the word ‘disappointing’ was brought up quite a bit for the first few episodes. But, as the season progressed, those rather negative reviews began to disappear and this show really started to get good once ‘Captain America: The Winter Soldier’ hit theaters, a film that really left quite an impact on both the whole universe and, more importantly, S.H.I.E.L.D. This of course played a huge part in the last few episodes of the show though in the end, I will always defend the first half of this season as being far better than what many were initially saying about it.

First off, I have to address the following sad truth; just like ‘Star Wars Episode I’ and ‘The Dark Knight Rises’, this show was WAY too overhyped and as I’ve noted before in the past, overhyping anything will result in it never turning out as well as we all want it to be. I will admit that I too was really anticipating the show, but this was more a case of me not knowing what we would be getting from this show. We knew that it would revolve around Agent Coulson (Clark Gregg), returning after apparently dying at the hands of Loki in ‘The Avengers’, and a team of agents as they investigated all of the strange occurrences that went on following the ‘Battle of New York’ but we really didn’t know how this show would handle that scenario and for what it’s worth… I found myself really enjoying the show on a whole. I really liked the idea of a show that explored an established universe further and that we would be able to spend more time in this universe than we would normally get from a two-hour film and while it would be nice to see one of the superheroes from the movies appear from time to time, the show would be able to work if the characters were compelling enough to follow.

But on that note that was sort of the problem that a lot of people apparently had with the show; that it didn’t really feel like it was taking place in the same world as the MCU films and that, aside from Coulson, the other characters were rather bland… well, that’s where I highly disagree because the six main characters in this show were the main reason why I loved it so much. Why would I even be watching this show if I hadn’t cared about the characters so much? To quote Coulson from Episode 14 (T.A.H.I.T.I), they were a ‘family’ and that is why I found them all to be very compelling characters because they had such a great ‘familial bond’. In my review of the pilot episode, I mainly focused on Clark Gregg and Chloe Bennet as the standouts of the cast and over the course of the season, I really liked the connection that Coulson and Skye had, sort of like a ‘father-daughter’ bond, which would make sense considering that the main reason why Skye joined S.H.I.E.L.D. so that she could look for her parents (and it’ll be interesting to see who they are because, in the penultimate episode of the season, it was revealed by one of the main antagonists Raina (Ruth Negga) that Skye’s parents were ‘monsters’ and in the finale Raina visits a man who is apparently Skye’s father). But of course like with pretty much every Whedon production, the whole cast is fantastic with each member standing out in their own unique way. That family dynamic was so strong that when a key twist happened revealing the true nature of one of the characters, it was genuinely surprising and also gut-wrenching at the same time.

This twist occurred in Episode 17, ‘Turn, Turn, Turn’, the first episode following the release of ‘Captain America: The Winter Soldier’, the film where we learned that the organization HYDRA had infiltrated S.H.I.E.L.D., and by the end of the film, S.H.I.E.L.D. was in disarray. In this episode of the show, Coulson and the team learn about this and by the end of it, Coulson sums it up perfectly by saying that their next goal is to ‘survive’, because they know that HYDRA is now a major threat once again. Throughout the season, the team has been investigating into the identity of a mysterious figure known as ‘the Clairvoyant’ who has been seeing ‘everything’ and in this episode, that character was revealed to be John Garrett (Bill Paxton, an excellent addition to the cast for the second half of the season), a S.H.I.E.L.D. revealed to be an agent for HYDRA. While he is taken in custody at the end of the episode, we learn that Agent Ward was also a HYDRA mole as he frees Garrett, setting the stage for the rest of the season. I’ve heard a lot of people say that Ward was a ‘dull’ character up until this point and while I disagree with that (I feel that Brett Dalton was very charismatic in the role), this was a great turn of events and helped establish a great character arc for Ward, who was only arrested in the final episode so I’ll be interested to see what happens after that for him and if he will still play a part in the show.

I will admit that in the first few episodes, some of the six main leads weren’t really given much to do, specifically Fitz and Simmons. While Coulson, May, Ward, and Skye were all given solid screen time  and character development for the first five episodes or so, Fitz and Simmons were just really stuck in the background just doing their jobs and nothing else. Thankfully, that changed with Episodes 6 and 7 (‘F.Z.Z.T.’ and ‘The Hub’ respectively) where the two of them really shined and by episode 8 ‘The Well’ I had become completely invested in all six members of the team and I think that it was that episode that really got me invested in the show as a whole as well… even though this was still around the time when most people weren’t too fond of the show. So when did the show itself start to get really good? Well, I think it was right around the time ‘Captain America: The Winter Soldier’ came out, ‘Turn, Turn, Turn’ to be exact, the first episode in the series that really felt like a continuation of the films and giving us a really well-written episode where Coulson and his team deal with the fact that HYDRA has infiltrated S.H.I.E.L.D. and having it end with us learning that one of the six characters that we had grown so attached to was actually with the bad guys. This made for one of the best hours of television this past year.

But no matter what, I will still stand by the first few episodes of this season, when most people were saying that the show was either disappointing or that, to be frank, it just sucked. I just feel that the show was being unfairly criticized for not living up to the lofty expectations that we were all setting for it. Sure, it would’ve been nice to have seen a few more superheroes from time to time, but to me this show is a great example of how you can do a show within a pre-established universe, and a superhero universe at that, and not have it focus on certain characters if you have great writing and I feel that this show fit the bill for that. I didn’t mind the whole idea of them doing a ‘baddie of the week’ thing for the first few episodes and I wasn’t annoyed by them having to frequently reference the films because it did kind of have to do so anyway. After all, this show doesn’t have as big of a budget as the films so we can’t have something as big as ‘The Avengers’ every week (I’m also saying this in response to the numerous criticisms about the show’s visual effects that I kept seeing early on in the season… I thought the visual effects were actually pretty good for a show of this magnitude). It seems like they’re moving away from that, which they certainly did in the second half of this season, but I won’t mind too much if these kinds of episodes still occur from time to time down the road.

I’m really glad to see that this show has really attracted much more positive reactions in recent episodes. But, at the same time, I’m also rather bummed that it did take a long time for that to happen because this is one of those cases, like with another Marvel property, ‘Iron Man 3’, where I feel like this show was better than what everybody was saying about it. Sure, I’m not going to say this show is ‘as good’ as ‘The Avengers’ or any of the MCU films but it really doesn’t have to be. It serves its purpose by running parallel to the films but for also exploring this universe not through the eyes of someone like Iron Man or Captain America but from regular people like everyone’s favorite agent of S.H.I.E.L.D., Phil Coulson, and the team of agents that he leads to ‘protect the ordinary from the extraordinary’. This was really the only show these last few months that I watched on a regular basis (sorry fans of ‘Arrow’, but I have no interest in that show at this time) and I’m really excited to see that it has been renewed for a second season (along with another Marvel series, ‘Agent Carter’, that I’m also really interested in seeing as well). I can’t wait to see what happens next on this show and I’m hoping that it will gain a much bigger fan base next season so that it won’t end up like the last few shows that Joss Whedon has produced, like ‘Firefly’ or ‘Dollhouse’; prematurely canceled…

And now, I close this out with my Top 5 personal favorite episodes from Season 1… but first, some honorable mentions…

‘PILOT’

While I was very positive towards the pilot episode of the show, directed by Joss Whedon, it misses out on being in the Top 5 because, like with a lot of other great shows, while it gets the ball rolling, some of the later episodes were just better than this one. However, I still enjoy the pilot episode very much as it introduces us to the team, has plenty of funny moments (like when Ward is injected with the ‘truth serum’ that apparently wasn’t real as we learn two episodes later in ‘The Asset’), and paves the way for a few intriguing character mysteries, most importantly how Coulson survived his death in ‘Avengers’. It did what pilot episodes are supposed to do… set the stage for what will come in later episodes.

‘F.Z.Z.T.’

Earlier I mentioned that in the first few episodes of the show, Fitz and Simmons really didn’t get much to do and that changed with this episode (as well as the next one ‘The Hub’ which isn’t an Honorable Mention or in my Top 5) where both of them really shined, especially Simmons, who in this episode ends up getting infected by a virus that has been killing people that came from a Chitauri helmet recovered from the ‘Battle of New York’. We really see the connection that Simmons has with Fitz, who risks his own life to help his friend before she ends up being a victim of the virus as well. Both Iain De Caestecker and Elizabeth Henstridge did phenomenal jobs in this episode, which at the time I proclaimed to be the best episode yet… though some even better episodes soon came afterwards.

‘REPAIRS’

It’s safe to say that Agent Melinda May (Ming-Na Wen) has been one of the most popular new characters on this show, and I can see why. Ming-Na gives the character a real badass but also stoic persona that makes you interested in finding out what happened to her a while back that led to her initially not wanting to go back into the field back in Episode 1 (and heck, even why she’s known as ‘The Calvary’). This episode gave us our first clue into her past as the team investigates a series of explosions that are linked to a girl named Hannah, though we learn that they were actually caused by one of her co-workers, who was actually trying to protect her. Definitely one of the best episodes of the first half of this season, ‘Repairs’ was a very good episode giving us insight into one of the most popular characters on the show though it does feel like there’s more to May than what we learned from this episode.

‘END OF THE BEGINNING’

The final episode that aired before the release of ‘Captain America 2’, this episode was the first time where the writers really hinted at the darker things that were occurring in the Marvel Cinematic Universe as Coulson, his team, and their allies begin searching for the Clairvoyant. This episode has a lot of great character moments, some interesting reveals (like how May was in contact with Nick Fury because he had her keeping watch over Coulson following his resurrection), and a pretty effective and creepy cameo from Brad Dourif as a man who was suspected to be the Clairvoyant… until we learn that the Clairvoyant was actually amongst them the whole time and was even an Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. It ends on a great cliffhanger as the team finds themselves in a situation where they have absolutely no idea what’s going on… until the next episode, of course.

Top 5 Favorite Episodes

5. THE WELL (Episode 8)

No, you didn’t read that wrong, one of my favorite episodes of this season was episode 8, ‘The Well’, which was promoted as being a tie-in to the then recently released ‘Thor: The Dark World’… though, as the critics as this episode will no doubt point out, this didn’t really connect that much to the film. The episode revolved around Coulson’s team who are basically brought in to ‘clean up’ the mess after the final battle of ‘Thor 2’, and they come across a mysterious Asgardian staff that gives its user super strength but also fuels them with rage… yeah, I don’t recall anything like that being mentioned or shown in ‘Thor 2’… but anyway, despite the fact that this episode didn’t really tie-in to the movie that much, I really enjoyed this episode for other reasons. As I mentioned earlier, it was at this point in the season when I truly became invested in the six main characters and I felt that this episode offered a solid story arc for Ward as we began to delve into his troubled past… which came into play yet again in a later episode, ‘Ragtag’. Overall, this was a nice little character-driven episode with some great direction from ‘Star Trek’ alum Jonathan Frakes.

Plus, considering how Ward was acting like an angry Bruce Banner at points, I couldn’t resist making this joke via Twitter…

4. T.R.A.C.K.S. (Episode 13)

Here we had a pretty darn good episode where the team boards a train as part of their investigation of the Clairvoyant. There were a few aspects of this episode that I really liked; I liked how it continuously returned to a certain moment, giving us the full picture of the situation that Coulson’s team was getting into as all of them were split up into teams (plus we had a nice little cameo from good old Stan Lee… that’s always nice). The episode also ended on a pretty shocking cliffhanger as Skye ends up getting shot twice by one of the bad guys, Ian Quinn, and is left for dead by him until Coulson and the rest of the team find her. This leads into the next episode, T.A.H.I.T.I, where the stakes were pretty high as they were trying to find a way to save Skye which ended up with them giving her the same drug that S.H.I.E.L.D. used on Coulson when he was near death. Plus, as we learned from the last episode ‘Seeds’, there’s more to Skye than meets the eye in that she’s actually an ‘0-8-4’, an object of unknown origin similar to the device that the team found in Episode 2, fittingly titled ‘0-8-4’. Overall, ‘T.R.A.C.K.S.’ was another solid episode that had us on the edge of our seats as it ended up until the next episode aired a few weeks later.

3. NOTHING PERSONAL (Episode 20)

I’ve heard a lot of people say that the weakest part of ‘The Avengers’ was the character Maria Hill (played by Cobie Smulders). While I’m fine with Smulders in the role and her role in the film as a whole, I can sort of see what everyone’s talking about as it sort of feels like this character was possibly one of the last additions made to the film and ended up getting lost amongst everything else that was going on in that film. But recently Smulders has really gotten more comfortable in the role via her next appearances within the MCU, especially in ‘Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.’. She has a great moment in the pilot where she remarks about Thor’s arms after Ward questions whether Thor is actually a god. She makes a return to the series in ‘Nothing Personal’ and has another great moment in the second half of this episode when she pulls a ‘verbal smack down’ on Ward (at this point, Coulson and the rest of the team have learned that he’s with HYDRA), allowing Coulson to sneak onto the plane so that he can rescue Skye. An even bigger moment in this episode is when Coulson learns that he was in charge of the T.A.H.I.T.I. operation that brought him back to life. Overall, this episode was full of great reveals, some great scenes between Ward and Skye, and possibly Cobie Smulders’ stand-out appearance as Maria Hill.

2. THE ONLY LIGHT IN THE DARKNESS (Episode 19)

This episode takes the cake for some of the most heartbreaking moments we’ve witnessed this season. In this episode, we finally meet Coulson’s cellist ex-girlfriend who was first hinted at in ‘Avengers’, Audrey Nathan (played by Whedon regular Amy Acker) as Coulson, Fitz, Simmons, and Agent Antoine Triplett (B.J. Britt; hopefully he becomes a regular next season) travel to Portland, Oregon to save Audrey from a man named Marcus Daniels (known as ‘Blackout’ in the comics) who obsesses over her. The material involving Coulson and Audrey’s relationship is the highlight of the episode and is some really, really sad stuff as Audrey tells Simmons about what happened when she learned about Coulson’s ‘death’, saying that now she feels like he’s ‘watching over her’… and the sad irony is that Coulson is leading the mission to protect her and she doesn’t know about it. It gets even more heart-wrenching after Coulson and the team defeat Daniels. Audrey gets knocked out and before they leave, Coulson comforts her, again without her knowing he’s alive. Seriously, this was a sad episode but also one full of some fun MCU references (including references to ‘Winter Soldier’ and Bruce Banner (heck, Simmons even makes a ‘Doctor Who’ reference at one point)). I hope they bring back Audrey in future episodes, not only because Amy Acker was fantastic in the role, but I’m hoping that Coulson will eventually get the chance to reveal to her that he’s alive. The writers owe us that much after continuously pulling our heartstrings during this episode.

1. TURN, TURN, TURN (Episode 17)

Yeah, you can’t really argue against this one. ‘Turn, Turn, Turn’ was the best episode of the season and as many of the early critics of the show noted, this episode was when the show finally started to get really good and of course, while I’ll defend that the first half of the season was better than it was credited as, this was definitely the game-changer episode of this season, perfectly tying into ‘Captain America: The Winter Soldier’. Now that HYDRA has taken over S.H.I.E.L.D., this episode follows the group that definitely has the biggest connection to S.H.I.E.L.D., Coulson’s team, as they try to survive after learning this. Not only that, but this episode has some great surprising moments, including when Garrett was revealed to be the Clairvoyant and, most importantly, when Ward reveals his true colors. This was a fantastic hour of television in every way.

Final Season Rating: 4.5/5