Speaking to
TV Guide, the Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D bosses (Jed Whedon and Maurissa Tancharoe) discussed various topics, including the future of the show, how they planned the season finale, and whether there will be any more cameos in the upcoming episodes. Below are the relevant excerpts, but be sure to click the source link to read the full interview.
When asked how they planned the season finale without knowing whether the show would get a second season, Tancharoen responded,
"You'll see that with all the things we've introduced this season, we're going to be tying up most of those things, as well as teeing up a few new things for Season 2. Some things will absolutely carry over." Whedon added,
"We're very much teeing up Season 2. We're optimistic that we'll have a chance to tell more stories, so we're leaning into the idea. We're not wrapping it all up in a little bow." As you can see, they are very confident that the show will get renewed. However, asked whether they planned two different endings just in case, they said no, assuring,
(Whedon:) "We think there's a lot more story there, so we're going to leave some open doors. We're not going to close everything off. If they don't give us a second season... (
Tancharoen:) We'll do a Kickstarter project to do a special movie or something." So, worst case scenario is the show doesn't get renewed and they have to make a movie to finish the series. For the sake of closure for the fans I'm sure Marvel could figure something out in this regard.
Moving on to discussions of plot, the two were asked whether Victoria Hand is the Clairvoyant - as some fans speculated after the most recent episode - to which they responded,
(Tancharoen:) "I think it's become clear that not all is as it seems to be on the show. She certainly appears to be the bad guy."
(Jed Whedon:) "We'll find out more about exactly what her agenda is and why she's doing the terrible things she's doing very soon. We liked the character very much. She's one of the cooler Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., so when we brought her in, we had big plans for her. Her motivations, while they are evil, we'll learn more about them and about her side of things." From these comments it sounds like her motivations are complex. Fans of the comics will know that the character is known to be ruthless (often taking an "ends justifies the means" approach), although not necessarily evil, so there may be more to her actions in episodes 16 and 17 than meets the eye.
Lastly, when asked about the possibility of more big-name cameos this season (in the vein of Maria Hill or Nick Fury's apperances early on) Whedon replied,
"There will be some faces popping up." Tancharoen
added,
"You will be happy to see these faces pop up toward the end of the season." Asked specifically if Director Fury would be making another appearance, Tancharoen replied teasingly,
"It's the Marvel universe; anything can happen. Can you believe I just said that?"
So, what do you guys think? Would you like to see a movie if a second season doesn't go ahead? What do you think Victoria Hand's real motivation is? And, which characters do you think will get cameos in the upcoming episodes? Sound off in the comment section below!