Heroes for hire
A group of not-so-superheroes investigate the new, strange and unknown in Marvel’s Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D. on e.tv screens.
Agent Coulson (centre) and his agents are tackling superhero-sized problems. Season 1 Tuesdays (from 6 September) e.tv (*194) 20:30
Marvel Comics has put a surprising twist on the “superhero saves the day” storylines from their comic books and movies. With their firstever TV series Marvel’s Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D. (2013- current), they’re proving that you don’t have to be a superhero to be a hero. Thanks to the events of their mega successful 2012 Marvel’s The Avengers movie, society is now aware of gods, monsters and aliens and a specialised team of agents is formed to protect mankind against these threats. “Our series deals with the little guy,” explains show creator Joss Whedon, who also produced The Avengers movie. “Where superhero films are all about people with super powers, our show is about a bunch of people who don’t have powers.” And fans are loving the sci-fi show’s premise – season 4 starts in the US this month.
ALIENS AMONG US
The duty of forming the team rests on the shoulders of S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent Phil Coulson (Clark Gregg), whom we saw dying in the Avengers film. But there is a twist: director Nick Fury (Samuel L Jackson, who has guest cameos in the series) had him resurrected using fancy technology and alien blood. Fury was asked by his bosses to build a fresh S.H.I.E.L.D. team to fight against evil and for now, Agent Coulson’s unaware that he is alive because of aliens…
MEET THE TEAM
Besides team leader Coulson, the rest of the elite S.H.I.E.L.D. members are: Melinda May (Ming-Na Wen) is a weapons expert and skilled pilot. Thanks to her knowledge of combat and arms, she’s earned the nickname “The Cavalry”, which she hates. May pilots The Bus, aka the flying headquarters of S.H.I.E.L.D. Plus, Melinda has a say in who joins the team. Jemma Simmons (Elizabeth Henstridge) is the youngest on the team and she’s also the cleverest. Jemma is a scientist and genius biochemist who has a big role when it comes to aliens and dissecting things. And what Agent Coulson doesn’t know is that Melinda has secretly asked Jemma to “repair” him in case anything goes wrong with his newly resurrected body. Leo Fitz (Iain De Caestecker) can be socially awkward but he’s a genius-level engineer, especially with weapons technology. Teamed with Jemma, Leo makes up the science team and they have a brother-sister kind of relationship… until episode 21 (24 January 2017), when things change… Daisy “Skye” Johnson (Chloe Bennet) is a superstar computer hacker who worked for conspiracy hacktivist group The Rising Tide. Skye’s origin is shrouded in mystery (for now). Grant Ward (Brett Dalton) is a Black Ops specialist and a dark figure who shows no emotion. He’s sly as a fox but he’s actually a wolf in sheep’s clothing, with a huge secret being revealed in episode 17 (26 December).
And then there’s Lola, Coulson’s beloved red 1962 Chevrolet Corvette that’s been upgraded and modified thanks to Howard Stark’s technology. Although not an official team member, Coulson loves his ride to the point where “don’t touch Lola!” is one of his frequent catchphrases in the series.
THE BAD GUYS
Coulson’s beloved Lola. The S.H.I.E.L.D. team have their hands full in season 1 with multiple threats, the biggest of which is evil organisation Hydra, who’ve infiltrated every secret agency across the globe in their quest for world domination. One of Hydra’s schemes is Project Centipede, which makes up a big part of episode 1, plus they’re building an army of superpowered soldiers. Their leader is the mysterious Clairvoyant, whom the team hunt throughout the season.