Review: Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

 

Image courtesy of ABC Television.

Image courtesy of ABC Television.

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. is a television series on ABC based on the Marvel Comics organization S.H.I.E.L.D.. The series is set in the Marvel Universe, which also includes movies like The Avengers, Thor, Captain America, and the Iron Man series. It revolves around the character of Phil Coulson, with Clark Gregg reprising the role from Iron Man and The Avengers, and cameos in most of the other superhero flicks.

Agent Coulson creates a small team to deal with strange new cases, encompassing everything from an alien disease to the rise of a terrorist movement. In each case, the team tests their cooperation and ingenuity as they work together figuring out newly emerging superhuman individuals in the world. The team is comprised of an ace pilot and weapons expert, a black ops specialist, a civilian recruit who is a computer hacker and member of a hacktivist group, an agent who specializes in engineering weapons technology, and an agent who specializes in life sciences (both human and alien).

The series is in its first season and, like most shows attempting to set up a complex universe and plot, the early episodes didn’t do much to draw the viewer in. However, as the show progresses it’s steadily picking up pace and developing characters to the point that you actually care about what happens to them. As far as the actors go, they range from okay to good with no one’s performance holding the show back or pushing it forward very much. The plots for each individual episode aren’t that exceptional and are at times predictable, but the subplot in the series revolving around mystery of how Agent Coulson is alive, seeing as his character died in The Avengers, is suspenseful, and is one the series’ best aspects. It’s humor separates it from shows like Heroes and Touch, making it more appealing

Though the series’ target audience is fans of the Marvel movies and comics, you don’t need to be a fanboy/girl to watch. All and all, Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. is good show with loads of potential. Grade B+

–Shannon Murphy, The Patriot Press

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