When it was revealed that Joss Whedon would be involved with a S.H.I.E.L.D. TV show, we couldn't be happier. After the success of The Avengers, a show with the creative control of Whedon would be great. What surprised me was seeing comments suggesting or hoping that perhaps Sam Jackson would be headed to the small screen to continue his role as Nick Fury. That can't happen.

We can't expect to see the actors from the movie taking time out of their busy schedules to reprise their movie roles. Many of the Avengers actors are currently working on the sequels involving their characters or they're trying to fit in filming other projects so they don't get typecast as a comic book character.

Who will we be seeing? It appears we'll have a bunch of new agents that will be taking the spotlight in the television show. TV Line managed to get a character sheet with descriptions on the characters.

SKYE | This late-20s woman sounds like a dream: fun, smart, caring and confident – with an ability to get the upper hand by using her wit and charm.

AGENT GRANT WARD | Quite the physical specimen and “cool under fire,” he sometimes botches interpersonal relations. He’s a quiet one with a bit of a temper, but he’s the kind of guy that grows on you.

AGENT ALTHEA RICE | Also known as “The Calvary,” this hard-core soldier has crazy skills when it comes to weapons and being a pilot. But her experiences have left her very quiet and a little damaged.

AGENT LEO FITZ and AGENT JEMMA SIMMONS | These two came through training together and still choose to spend most of their time in each other’s company. Their sibling-like relationship is reinforced by their shared nerd tendencies – she deals with biology and chemistry, he’s a whiz at the technical side of weaponry.

These aren't characters or agents from the comics. In order to keep the costs of the show down, it makes sense that we won't be seeing the big names from the Cinematic Universe.

This doesn't necessarily rule out other characters from popping in. Perhaps if ABC could negotiate it properly, maybe Sam Jackson could be persuaded to pop in. Maybe Cobie Smulders could appear occasionally as Maria Hill as she's no stranger to television.

Getting other 'big names' would depend on the success of the show. When it's ratings sweeps time, the networks usually try to bring out the big guns. We'd have to see what the show is capable of and what direction it takes.

I dont care about any of these characters.

This seems by far the most sensible way to make it a good show, too. Character development is so important to Whedon shows, and I'd hate for there to be a pre-determined mold for the characters to fit into.

This also kinda answers the question "why we would care" about the show. Turns out it's probably gonna be mostly for the same reason you care about any show - you connect with and invest in the characters.

I want Buffy back! Give me the eighth season Joss!

i'll watch it, but it needs an edge it it's gonna be more than a cop show on a helicarrier

@sethysquare: You don't care about any of these characters... yet.

I approve of the use of new blood tbh, gives a free hand in the writing and kills stupid knee jerk fanboy reactions. Mostly.

@TheThe said:

I want Buffy back! Give me the eighth season Joss!

then read season 8. mind you id rather just go to season 9 instead since it seems to be much better written than 8 so far.

And this is being run by ABC and not Fox, so im giving my thumbs up in hopes ABE won't be like stupid ass fox and cancel the show after 12 episodes.

i hope this wont go the route of wheddon's other awesome shows on fox.

@Trodorne said:

@TheThe said:

I want Buffy back! Give me the eighth season Joss!

then read season 8. mind you id rather just go to season 9 instead since it seems to be much better written than 8 so far.

And this is being run by ABC and not Fox, so im giving my thumbs up in hopes ABE won't be like stupid ass fox and cancel the show after 12 episodes.

I mean on TV screen. Season 7 final episode was too epic. But thank you, i'm gonna read it this week;). As for the S.H.I.E.L.D, i'll give it a try but G.I-ish and secret services shows are not usually my cup of tea.

I like the idea of creating some entirely new characters for the show, after all Coulson was an original to the movies and his popularity skyrocketed to the point that the had to bring him into the actual comics.

Its obviously way to early to make any definitive good/bad judgement on this news, but seeing as its Whedon and his success w/ Buffy in television and Avengers on the silver screen he's earned the benefit of the doubt IMO.

My question is what about S.H.I.E.L.D. characters like Quartermain, Jimmy Woo, and even Sharon Carter? Is there a possibility of more recognizable characters being in the show?

@vesavius said:

@sethysquare: You don't care about any of these characters... yet.

I approve of the use of new blood tbh, gives a free hand in the writing and kills stupid knee jerk fanboy reactions. Mostly.

hmmmmmm..............

I guess I could watch it. But nothing much to be excited about. TBH, I'm not a huge fan of spy/cop drama. I took forever to even finish Person of Interest which IMO is the best spy/cop drama. But nevertheless, I'll much rather watch Arrow and Wonder Woman. Guess this show is a possible DVR.

Are any of these characters ones from the bonus short on the Avengers Blu-ray? That seemed like a mini pilot for the show in itself.

People need to keep in mind that the one-two sentence descriptions of characters that studios put out for a show are simply to give potential actors an idea of what the role is they're auditioning for. Go read any of the early character descriptions for your favorite shows and they'll all sound stereotypical, if not down right terrible.

We already knew this was going to be a SHIELD show, so these characters are literally of no surprise. What actually matters to us are the actors they get to play these roles.

I'm hoping Whedon pulls from his vault of actors and uses Enver Gjokaj from Dollhouse. He was also the secondary cop in Avengers, but no one will notice, right? Anyway, he's a phenomenal actor and can play anything you give him. I'd love to seem him on screen again, especially in a Whedon show.

@sethysquare said:

I dont care about any of these characters.

Same. Can't believe I'm saying this but i doubt I'll even watch this show. Pretty much have zero interest.

Kinda wish Maria Hill was a character since How I Met Your Mother is ending

@sethysquare: Really thats such a shocker , I thought you would love these people , i can't tell you just how disappointed i am truly

@vesavius: THANK YOU , that just what i was thinking but didn't have the words , am still grinning at star trek , they were so many fan boys probably sitting in the theaters taking notes on what they were gonna go on the internet and rant about and then they find out its alternate reality still makes me so happy that the writer found \such a smart way to make them shut the F**k up , and am glad there doing the same thing for this show

if you say you dont care about theses characters or the show then you are not a Marvel fan

I trust Joss Whedon that this show will be amazing

@sethysquare said:

I dont care about any of these characters.

echoed

not even Maria Hill or Sharon Carter?! i kinda feel this will be boring..

here's hoping we'll see lots of familiar whedonverse faces.

and maybe there will be characters we grow to love who will be slain without warning :(

RIP: Wash, Shepherd, Penny, Tara, Anya, Giles, Topher, Ballard, Doyle, Wessley, Cordelia, and Coulson. and Joyce, not that great a character but a heartbreaking episode

I really cannot wait for this show, its going to be pretty awesome.

@Falconer said:

People need to keep in mind that the one-two sentence descriptions of characters that studios put out for a show are simply to give potential actors an idea of what the role is they're auditioning for. Go read any of the early character descriptions for your favorite shows and they'll all sound stereotypical, if not down right terrible.

We already knew this was going to be a SHIELD show, so these characters are literally of no surprise. What actually matters to us are the actors they get to play these roles.

I'm hoping Whedon pulls from his vault of actors and uses Enver Gjokaj from Dollhouse. He was also the secondary cop in Avengers, but no one will notice, right? Anyway, he's a phenomenal actor and can play anything you give him. I'd love to seem him on screen again, especially in a Whedon show.

I believe people were expecting actual superheroes. But seeing that this is just a show about unknown characters in Shield, the anticipation will be dropped by half.

I think they should put in recognised characters like Sharon Carter etc. (unless shes in Captain America 2?). Either way I'm in England so will get this 1-2 years after it starts and on a channel I can't get.

I wouldn't put my money on these being the characters actual names. Some of these could actually be Marvel characters they just don't want people to know who they will be yet. Even the descriptions might not be the whole story.

I'll give it a shot. It's set in the MCU and that means that superheroes gotta be in it. Maybe it'll fill the gaps between the Avengers and Phase 2.

@Gambit1024 said:

I'll give it a shot. It's set in the MCU and that means that superheroes gotta be in it. Maybe it'll fill the gaps between the Avengers and Phase 2.

I want Buffy back! Give me the eighth season Joss!

I dont care about any of these characters.

Love all the comments that say "I don't care about these characters." Of course you don't, they're new characters (or possibly little-known comics characters disguised with different names, I suppose) and all we know of them are these little blurbs. Nobody ever spontaneously liked a character without reading or watching something with that character in it. Really, this information doesn't change anything; we knew we were getting a SHIELD series with new characters, and given Whedon's history and the show's context, these are just about exactly the archetypes you would expect to see in the lead roles.

@Mycroftian said:

Love all the comments that say "I don't care about these characters." Of course you don't, they're new characters (or possibly little-known comics characters disguised with different names, I suppose) and all we know of them are these little blurbs. Nobody ever spontaneously liked a character without reading or watching something with that character in it. Really, this information doesn't change anything; we knew we were getting a SHIELD series with new characters, and given Whedon's history and the show's context, these are just about exactly the archetypes you would expect to see in the lead roles.

Which is exactly why we don't care.

Who wants to watch a TV about new characters when we could've had The Punisher, Hulk, Mockingbird and AKA Jessica Jones. I'll take any one of those over this show.

Well, that was a disappointment. I'm not saying that the show will be bad, but I was hoping for the release of some big names. Ah well, if Whedon has an active hand in it, I'm sure it will be great.

@sethysquare: That's a miserable attitude. The biggest problem with comics/TV/movies today is a lack of new things. Working with new characters in an established universe like this is something pretty unique, and it's depressing to see everyone upset that we're not getting a focus on a character we've already seen before. The existence of this show does not mean that we're never going to see those characters adapted for movies or television. It does mean that we're going to get a potentially very unique series that provides a very different perspective from the movies. Why not be excited about that?

EDIT: I should clarify. I can understand people not being immediately hyped the way they would if they announced that the show was about Daredevil/Hulk/Punisher/whathaveyou, but a lot of reactions seem to slide past "not hyped" and into "rarg this is dumb" territory.

Joss Whedon has yet to let me down so I'm going to be enthusiastically waiting for this. :)

Well...I'll give it a shot, but I'm not really impressed so far.

@Mycroftian said:

@sethysquare: That's a miserable attitude. The biggest problem with comics/TV/movies today is a lack of new things. Working with new characters in an established universe like this is something pretty unique, and it's depressing to see everyone upset that we're not getting a focus on a character we've already seen before. The existence of this show does not mean that we're never going to see those characters adapted for movies or television. It does mean that we're going to get a potentially very unique series that provides a very different perspective from the movies. Why not be excited about that?

Its not a miserable attitude. New characters in comics are fine because they add depth.

An adaptation of a comic book that turned out to be adapting completely new characters is a real bummer. Its like watching WB adapt Metropolis, but without Superman. Instead, we'll get metropolis journalist that are not lois or jimmy, going around doing journalism.

Or maybe Gotham City police, but this time, without detective jim gordon or maggie sawyer.

Sure, the existence of this show does not mean that we're not going to see those characters get adapted for movies or TV. But hey, give me a gotham city police without jim gordon or maggie sawyer or any of those established GCPD, I wouldn't be interested. Sure, it may be good, but until then, its going to be one of those new tv shows that don't really excite us comic book fans.

Would you be interested in a GCPD show without any of the GCPD we know in the comics?

Interesting. Tuning in for the first ep at least.

cameo by Eric O'Grady please

If it is half as good as Firefly, it'd be worth worth watching.

@sethysquare said:

@Mycroftian said:

Love all the comments that say "I don't care about these characters." Of course you don't, they're new characters (or possibly little-known comics characters disguised with different names, I suppose) and all we know of them are these little blurbs. Nobody ever spontaneously liked a character without reading or watching something with that character in it. Really, this information doesn't change anything; we knew we were getting a SHIELD series with new characters, and given Whedon's history and the show's context, these are just about exactly the archetypes you would expect to see in the lead roles.

Which is exactly why we don't care.

Who wants to watch a TV about new characters when we could've had The Punisher, Hulk, Mockingbird and AKA Jessica Jones. I'll take any one of those over this show.

I am pretty sure Marvel took a look at what DC was pumping out on TV and decided that original content is better than adaptation. I feel that any show that was superhero-based may be too costly or simply not engaging week to week. Punisher and Jessica Jones may be too violent and dark for ABC. Hulk would probably be no good since I am sure Ruffalo would not do TV. And I feel Mockingbird has an equal chance of appearing on this show as Dum Dum Dougan or Maria Hill.

Original Content gives creators more room to play with the world. If they did an adaptation of an established character or title, there would be more pressure to stay "true" to the source material. I like the fact that Joss Whedon essentially gets to do whatever he wants with the everyday SHIELD Agent. We haven't really seen that kind of story from the comics and I would like to see the angle he takes this show.

If you don't care about the characters... fine. Characters are nothing without story anyway.

no no, you guys are missing it: By making up a whole new team, it means HIGH potential to add in non-SHIELD heroes to the show.

Think about it... spend the money on Sam Jackson to be in a TV series from week to week

or

Have a cast of no names who fight Baron Zemo one week and team up w/ Iron Fist and Luke Cage the next?

Now... will that happen? Maybe or maybe not, but the point is its possible by going this route. I'm the most cynical person ever and even I am optimistic here. The SHIELD show is a gateway to break open the entire Marvel U into TV and film. I don't understand the assumption that this show, which clearly takes place in the cinematic universe, isn't going to have superheroes drop in from week to week.

Yawn!!! I was hoping to see some more super heroes, this sucks!!!

@TheThe: There is an official 8th. Its a comic book approved and sometimes written by Joss .without spoiling too much hear are some highlights. Dawn becomes a giant, Andrew builds a fully functioning Iron man costume. and I won't say who but,somebody gets there very own spaceship complete with crew.

Show's gonna be just fine.

i trust this to be cancelled

I am less excited for this show than I had been. I was really hoping for Jessica Drew or John Walker, or someone you know won't appear in the movies, or would need huge fan support to get in the movies.

I dont have any feelings for these characters though, they're nobodies :/ If this is attached marvel i better see some heroes and familiar names

I guess this way they can introduce new SHEILD characters to appear in the comics

Not surprised than Whedon is using more women, let's hope a pilot comes to flesh out these descriptions

So no Agent Jimmy Woo? No Luke Cage? No Jessica Jones? No Quake?

I'm betting they're not using actual recognizable SHIELD agents just in case they want to use them for one of the movies and don't want them to conflict (same reason they never used Bruce Wayne in Smallville). I like Whedon and the concept of SHIELD enough to give this a shot, though.