How Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. can be a success

ABC's new Avengers spinoff has the potential to offer a whole new perspective on the Marvel Universe

Agent Coulson
(Image credit: Facebook.com/AgentsofShield)

Earlier this week, ABC unleashed the first full-length trailer for this fall's much talked about Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., offering our first significant glimpse at how Marvel plans to adapt its multibillion-dollar superhero franchise for the small screen. With a storyline set after the earth-shattering events of The Avengers, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. is resurrecting Agent Coulson — Clark Gregg's fan favorite character, who was killed off in The Avengers — as the leader of a group of lower-level S.H.I.E.L.D. agents in a newly superheroic world.

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. is one of the buzziest premieres of the upcoming fall season, and with good reason. Avengers director Joss Whedon — who created some of TV's most cultishly beloved TV shows of the past two decades, including Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Firefly, and Dollhouse — is developing and executive producing the series. And a weekly TV series has the potential to bring Marvel's lesser-known heroes, who aren't likely to get their own standalone films a la Iron Man or Thor, into the fold.

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Matt is an arts journalist and freelance writer based in Washington, D.C. He has written about film, music, and pop culture for publications including Washington City Paper, The American Interest, Slant Magazine, DCist, and others. He is a member of the Washington D.C. Film Critics Association.