A NEW DIRECTION FOR [SHIELD.]
With the arrival of September we will be heading into a frenzy of new fall programming on all local networks. In those shows, we have around six shows that are inspired by comic books. While Arrow and Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. are returning for a second season, we will also have the pleasure of viewing the Arrow spin-off show The Flash, a series titled Gotham focusing on the city and villains before Batman came into existence, the master of the dark arts Constantine and lastly a show focused on Agent Carter from the Captain America franchise. While I am currently still trying to catch up in the Arrow franchise, I do enjoy Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and also am very looking forward to what direction the second season will take.
I understand there was quite a negative backlash towards the show in the first season and to some degree I understand where it came from. Expectation were skyrocketing as everyone found out that there was going to be a TV show with characters from the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Adding to the hype, we were going to see the revival of everyone’s favorite agent Phil Coulson. One could see that the show did market itself as showing regular people in the world of Iron Man, Thor and Captain America yet we never felt a true impact of those films without a few special crossovers, where the one focusing on Thor only glanced at the events of the movie. Still, most of the show was truly building up to the fall of SHIELD, which made one questions if there truly was a necessity for the show to even exist. With the ending showing us that the show will rebuild SHIELD from scratch. With whatever they are building too, here is my list of things I am hoping for in season 2.
A SHIELD Tour-Guide
The first season had two problems to face when constructing their series. First of all, SHIELD has already been established since the first Iron Man film, yet we as viewers never truly understood their structure. It was something that personally bothered me over the course of the franchise, as SHIELD was never fully established. At one point they secured and secure research, while on the other they were a military type organization. The second issue was that they couldn’t truly explore SHIELD as it was going to be torn down by the time Captain America: The Winter Soldier is released. In a way they showed us bits and pieces of their original structure, for example the Hub, the Fridge and the SHIELD Academy, but it was quite limited how much they could truly reveal. With season 2 SHIELD will be rebuilt from scratch, so we have the possibility to learn how it will function and what structure exists. I want to see their new base and get to learn how everything operates. Slowly introduce new characters that take specific functions in the organization. Not only will we understand how the organization works, but we can also further develop a bigger cast of characters. It offers many new possibilities for the show to explore.
From Past to Present
With the recent released image showing two of the Howling Commandos as well as Agent Carter making an appearance in season 1, I hope to see more of these flashbacks as a part of this season. If they manage to integrate flashbacks in an interesting way the show could use the past as a way to develop SHIELD on the basics before HYDRA took control of the organization. Furthermore, go further into the legacy agent status, allowing us to meet other descendants of our favorite Howling Commandos. Furthermore, it would be nice to see how much it has changed since its inception in the 60s.
Where is HYDRA?
With HYDRA being a public figure and enemy of the world, it certainly would be interesting to see what happened to the organization. With various cells being sacrificed after the events of Winter Soldier, it is not entirely clear how HYDRA will continue its operations. In a way, they could be doing the same thing as SHIELD and slowly rebuilding its ranks. This could even lead to build up the similarity between the organizations as both are in a similar situation, but handle it differently.
A New World
Here is an interesting twist, as the first season originally stated that a new world has begun since the events of New York City. In a way that change has actually only now truly started as everything has to start from scratch since the fall of SHIELD. It would be interesting to see how the world has truly changed. For example, how has the power shifted since SHIELD is no more, especially with the army taking over a much bigger role, especially with them hunting down Coulson and his band of misfits. All people with special powers are now released into the world and must be brought back into custody, but this could raise question is that necessary? While yes, we will see Crusher Creel, or the Absorbing Man, being featured in the first episode, but he doesn’t necessarily have to be introduced as a villain. Blurring the lines on what authority this new SHIELD has would be an interesting twist on what we have seen so far. Coulson’s team is also on the run, so they are the last people in the world that should be allowed to simply lock up people. Furthermore, where are they going to put them? The Fridge is gone and we do not know of any other existing prison.
While a plethora of new characters our joining our misfits this season, yet disappointingly only one character has been upgraded to regular and he is entirely new this season. With that I do hope we see this cast grow with each season as the organization grows beyond the team that initially got to know. Not that I find them all interesting, it just seems fitting with what this show is trying to achieve. There is one thing I really hope to see and it is the return of older cast members alongside the introduction of new ones. Especially would hope for the return of Mike Peterson, or Deathlok as he had turned into by the end. There is still a lot to uncover on his character, as well as finalizing his design to something that feels more like a cyborg. Also it would be interesting to explore what happened to Ian Quinn and Raina, who left with Dr. Franklin Hall, who has yet to become Graviton. It seems like the series had a two season structure, so it seemed like many elements were set-ups for later storylines, but this was the one most people were looking forward to happening. Speaking of unregistered gifted. It would be great to see all characters introduced in season 1 to further explore their abilities and creating long running enemies for our ragtag team. It would also be interesting to see the return of the cellist, who sadly only had a glorified cameo in episode 19. It would also be nice to see the return of Dr. Streiten as a regular member and putting a spotlight on villains as regulars, besides Ward. I could go on and on about this subject, but they seemed to have been building up to something, so waiting for it to truly pay off.
Will all these elements come to pass? Only a few more days left to see if my hopes come true, but the first few images seem to be promising quite an interesting first episode for the second season. Do you have any personal wishes for season 2? Leave a comment below!
Also a shotout to everyone who commented on my last article "To Market an Ant-Man". Love reading your opinions on the matter, but due to moving I was sadly not able to leave a comment myself! Looking forward to more interesting opinions on this!