Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Isn’t A Marvel ‘Easter Egg Hunt,’ Joss Whedon Says

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Isn’t A Marvel ‘Easter Egg Hunt,’ Joss Whedon Says

At ABC’s Upfront last week, IGN spoke to Whedon about Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D. to get a few comments about the return of Agent Phil Coulson, the character J. August Richards plays in the pilot and what the show will be week to week. Hit the jump to Check out more!

By JasonBourneCBM - May 24, 2013 09:05 AM EST
Filed Under: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
Source: IGN



In a recent interview with IGN, Joss Whedon explains what Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D is going to be showcasing every week. IGN started the interview off with questions about the revived Agent Coulson:

IGN TV: Coulson’s back, but I’m assuming it won’t be that simple.

Joss Whedon: Not simple, you’re right.

IGN: So will we find out in the first episode, “this is why he’s back”, or will it be more us figuring it out as we go along?

Whedon: All I’ll say is, it ain’t a fanwank. It’s not one of those things we gloss over.

From there IGN then went on to talk about the mysterious character that J. August Richards will be portraying in the Pilot episode...

IGN: Your fellow executive produce, Jeffrey Bell, told me that J. August Richards’ character is not Luke Cage. Is it someone we’d be surprised by?

Whedon: You know, he’s just a guy. I mean, the whole point of this show is, they’re just guys. They’re not The Avengers, they’re not the fancy ones. They’re the people that got sort of hit in the blowback of this super-world. So he’s kind of an everyman. He appears to be a very fierce everyman!

This sounds like this is an all new character that Joss Whedon has created and is going to introduce to the MCU.

To end the interveiw IGN asked if the team that Coulson will be leading will be traveling the world and if we can expect any cameos and Easter egss for the series...

IGN: It looks like it’s going to be sort of a small splinter group of S.H.I.E.L.D. that Coulson is leading. Will they be traveling a lot week to week?

Whedon: Yeah, we really want to hit the idea that S.H.I.E.L.D. is a global organization, both in terms of what the show means and also just in terms of the visual palette of it. We want to be exciting and different every week. So yeah, they’ll be on the road a good deal.

IGN: Fans can’t resist asking, “What superheroes will show up from the comics?” I’ve seen you say you want to be careful though, to somewhat divvy that out and not load up the show with that sort of thing, right?

Whedon: It’s not what the show is about. The show is about the six people who are in the show. And {every} week we’ll meet somebody that they have to deal with. Some of those people will be very sympathetic, some of them will be evil, some will be from the Marvel canon, some will reference it -- but it’s not an Easter egg hunt.. It really is just about the lives of these people as they’re dealing with this super-world.

Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. will air on Tuesdays at 8/7c on ABC this fall!



Clark Gregg reprises his role of Agent Phil Coulson from Marvel’s feature films as he assembles a small, highly select group of Agents from the worldwide law-enforcement organization known as S.H.I.E.L.D. Together they investigate the new, the strange, and the unknown across the globe, protecting the ordinary from the extraordinary. Coulson’s team consists of Agent Grant Ward (Brett Dalton), highly trained in combat and espionage, Agent Melinda May (Ming-Na Wen) expert pilot and martial artist, Agent Leo Fitz (Iain De Caestecker); brilliant engineer and Agent Jemma Simmons (Elizabeth Henstridge) genius bio-chemist. Joining them on their journey into mystery is new recruit and computer hacker Skye (Chloe Bennet). From Executive Producers Joss Whedon (“Marvel’s The Avengers,” ”Buffy the Vampire Slayer”); Jed Whedon & Maurissa Tancharoen, “Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.” pilot co-writers (“Dollhouse,” “Dr.Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog”); Jeffrey Bell (“Angel,” “Alias”); and Jeph Loeb (“Smallville”) comes Marvel’s first TV series. “Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.” is produced by ABC Studios and Marvel Television.
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ruadh
ruadh - 5/24/2013, 9:21 AM
I maintain that Coulson's return is something that will be a mystery for them to explain over the first season.
ruadh
ruadh - 5/24/2013, 9:30 AM
They will have some Marvel characters appear on the show.
WaffeX
WaffeX - 5/24/2013, 9:45 AM
A Marvel TV-Show without Marvel Characters... why?

I want a Moon Knight, Heroes for Hire, Cloak & Dagger and Daredevil TV Show.
Donekin
Donekin - 5/24/2013, 9:55 AM
IGN: Something has to happen.
Joss: No no no, you're not getting it. Nothing happens. Nothing! It's a show about nothing.
marvel72
marvel72 - 5/24/2013, 9:56 AM
introduce daredevil,taskmaster & the punisher & i'll be happy.
PsyGuy
PsyGuy - 5/24/2013, 10:02 AM
Ugh... why the hell not?

I really want to see Carol Danvers start off as a SHIELD agent and tie into the movie. That'd be so awesome.
inkslinger616
inkslinger616 - 5/24/2013, 11:06 AM
But...but...there will be easter eggs right?
DukeAcureds
DukeAcureds - 5/24/2013, 11:34 AM
They should use this show to introduce Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch as mutants and the children of Magneto.
Remember, Marvel has the TV rights to EVERY SINGLE CHARACTER! They can even get actors that played them in movies made by other studios to reprise their roles, as they did in Ultimate Spider-Man, with JK Simmons as JJJ.
NoAssemblyReqd
NoAssemblyReqd - 5/24/2013, 11:37 AM
If one out of every seven or eight episodes deals with a character or organization (or even a known story arc) from the comics, I'll be happy. It would get really boring, really fast if every episode turned out to be set-up for a character or plotline that was already more fully explored in another media.

In other words, throw the geeks a bone every once in a while, but do something new more often, mmmmkay?
ndwwrestler2
ndwwrestler2 - 5/24/2013, 11:49 AM
There will be some Marvel characters appearing I believe, but the show is called S.H.I.E.L.D not Marvel Heroes.

If you start regularly using heroes then it's no longer about S.H.I.E.L.D which would defeat the purpose of the series.
Gunslinger
Gunslinger - 5/24/2013, 11:57 AM
Even if it was just about the main characters, Whedon would know how to pull it. Just think of Firefly (and Dollhouse, which unfortunately took too long to unfold). It was the character interaction and fleshing out that made me think he would be perfect for the Avengers. Whedon is good with ensemble casts. Obviously, as this is SHIELD, it's a huge sandbox and there's a lot if elements from the Marvel universe that can be used to enrich the show's universe.

Still, you need to learn to walk before you can run. Character development will and should come first (that doesn't mean no easter eggs, just means the focus of the series won't be on that). Once that's done, the series will blossom and more aspects of the Marvel Universe can be used to further the story.
ParisSun
ParisSun - 5/24/2013, 12:00 PM
If they try to make this Marvel lite this will fail badly.

Why on earth would you try to make a show based on Marvel comics organization and not take advantage of the awesome characters in that universe?

Big mistake if they are doing that. How would this be any different from Mutant X, Heroes or No Ordinary Family?
WruceBayne
WruceBayne - 5/24/2013, 12:08 PM
@batz
Your absolutely right. You have a bunch of Marvel characters that are a bunch of nobody's with the exact same powers as the most popular ones. Why not use those? I guess it could be one of those "I put my on stamp on this" kind of situation.
carbonWHITE
carbonWHITE - 5/24/2013, 12:32 PM
Did shield have anything to do with the Secret Avengers in the comics?
Abary
Abary - 5/24/2013, 12:40 PM
I posted this last night but it was deleted for some reason.
fortycals
fortycals - 5/24/2013, 12:43 PM
Think about it like buffy. The show will focus on the scooby gang. Sure there will have to be bad guys, heroes and everything inbetween, but the focus is the scooby gang. That's all he is saying. He is not saying there won't ever be, just that the agents are the focus. The longer it stays on the air the more of the Marvelverse we will see. It like a slow burn.

Also one reason there will be new characters instead of just having marvel cannon characters, is so fanboys won't have a fit, when they change said character to fit the story they are trying to tell. Also some of those characters are d list for a reason.

Luigi
Luigi - 5/24/2013, 12:51 PM
I don't get the thing about Luke Cage. How is this unknown guy more of an every man than Luke Cage if they both have powers. And why have they released everybody's name besides his?
Durf
Durf - 5/24/2013, 1:36 PM
Wow, reading comprehension is terrible on this site. He didn't say there would be NO actual Marvel characters, in fact he said the opposite. "Some will be from Marvel cannon, some will reference it..." See, there will be Marvel characters in the show! Now stop whining.

For the whiners:
Bodwulf
Bodwulf - 5/24/2013, 1:51 PM
I like Easter egg hunting in movies. :(
EastcoastAvenger
EastcoastAvenger - 5/24/2013, 5:35 PM
Say it ain't so.... Please don't give us season after season of Smallville like "Freaks of the week". Oh, and I like easter eggs. Their fun.
WaywardChilde
WaywardChilde - 5/24/2013, 6:17 PM
Why on earth would Disney and marvel studios let J. August be Luke Cage when A. He isn't proven to a bankable movie Star, and B. They cleary want to make a Luke Cage movie at some point.

Once Marvel Studios suss out which characters even b characters have big screen potential and which are better suited for the small screen, I'm sure we'll see more and more b characters make their way to S.H.I.E.L.D.
superpooper
superpooper - 5/24/2013, 7:53 PM
Whedon is starting to scare me. Marvel is scaring me. Less jokes please.
loki668
loki668 - 5/25/2013, 12:29 AM
Coulson is alive because they cloned him from a sliver of nipple that they retrieved off of Loki's spear. Even though they had the rest of his body, they thought that this would be cooler.

By the way, "Sliver of Nipple" sounds like the name of a thrashcore band.
Luminus
Luminus - 5/25/2013, 1:28 AM
@batz11: +20. I suppose it has to do with simplicity. A made up character doesn't come with decades of back story that you have to research and adhere to.
PeterParker1991
PeterParker1991 - 5/25/2013, 8:07 AM
Watch Coulson turn out to be a Skrull.. and on a side note, Whedon is "weak" for making up a new character out of zillions in the MCU. Just say its Luke Cage. Jeez
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