Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
Season 5 logo shown in "Option Two".
Also known as	'Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.'
Created by	Maurissa Tancharoen Jed Whedon Joss Whedon
Based on	the Marvel Comics by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby
Written by	Iden Baghdadchi Jeffrey Bell George Kitson Matt Owens Maurissa Tancharoen Jed Whedon Joss Whedon
Directed by	Jesse Bochco Garry A. Brown Clark Gregg Jennifer Lynch Jed Whedon Joss Whedon
Starring	Clark Gregg Ming-Na Wen Brett Dalton Chloe Bennet Iain De Caestecker Elizabeth Henstridge
No. of seasons	6
No. of episodes	114
Production
Executive producers	Jeffrey Bell Jim Chory Alan Fine Stan Lee Jeph Loeb Joe Quesada Maurissa Tancharoen Jed Whedon Joss Whedon
Producers	Garry A. Brown Chris Cheramie Samantha Thomas
Director of photography	David Boyd
Editors	Joshua Charson Paul Trejo

Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., or simply Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., is an American television series created for ABC by Joss Whedon, Jed Whedon, and Maurissa Tancharoen, based on the Marvel Comics organization S.H.I.E.L.D. (Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement, and Logistics Division), a fictional peacekeeping and spy agency in a world of superheroes. It is set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), sharing continuity with the films and other television series of the franchise. The series is produced by ABC Studios, Marvel Television, and Mutant Enemy Productions, with Jed Whedon, Tancharoen, and Jeffrey Bell serving as showrunners.

The series revolves around the character of Phil Coulson, with Clark Gregg reprising his role from the film series, and his team of S.H.I.E.L.D. agents, who must deal with various unusual cases and enemies, including Hydra and the Inhumans. Joss Whedon began developing a S.H.I.E.L.D. pilot following the success of his film Marvel's The Avengers, and Gregg was confirmed to reprise his role in October 2012. The series was officially picked up by ABC in May 2013, and also stars Ming-Na Wen, Brett Dalton, Chloe Bennet, Iain De Caestecker and Elizabeth Henstridge, with Nick Blood, Adrianne Palicki, Henry Simmons, Luke Mitchell, John Hannah, and Natalia Cordova-Buckley joining in later seasons. Prosthetic makeup is created with Glenn Hetrick's Optic Nerve Studios, while Legacy Effects contributes other practical effects. The visual effects for the series are created by FuseFX, and have been nominated for multiple awards. Several episodes directly crossover with films or other television series set in the MCU, while other characters from MCU films and Marvel One-Shots also appear throughout the series.

The first season originally aired from September 24, 2013, to May 13, 2014, while the second season aired from September 23, 2014, to May 12, 2015. A third season premiered on September 29, 2015, concluding on May 17, 2016, and the fourth season premiered on September 20, 2016, and concluded on May 16, 2017. A fifth season of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. premiered on December 1, 2017 and is scheduled to conclude on May 18, 2018. After starting the first season with high ratings but mixed reviews, the ratings began to drop while reviews improved. This led to much lower but more consistent ratings, as well as more consistently positive reviews in the subsequent seasons.

Several characters created for the series have since been introduced to the comic universe and other media. A spin-off series, centered on Blood and Palicki's characters Lance Hunter and Bobbi Morse and titled Marvel's Most Wanted, received a pilot order in August 2015, but it was ultimately passed on in May 2016. An online digital series, Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: Slingshot, centered on Elena "Yo-Yo" Rodriguez, was launched in December 2016 on ABC.com.

Series overview

Main articles: Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Season 1, Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Season 2, Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Season 3, Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Season 4, and Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Season 5

The first season sees S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent Phil Coulson putting together a small team of S.H.I.E.L.D. agents to handle strange new cases. They investigate Project Centipede and its leader, "The Clairvoyant", eventually uncovering that the organization is backed by Hydra, which has infiltrated S.H.I.E.L.D. In the second season, following the destruction of S.H.I.E.L.D., now-Director Coulson and his team look to restore trust from the government and public while dealing with Hydra, a faction of anti-superhuman S.H.I.E.L.D. agents, and the newly revealed Inhumans (who possess special abilities).

During the third season, Coulson begins a secret mission to assemble the Secret Warriors, a team of Inhumans, as Hydra restores its ancient Inhuman leader Hive to power. After the defeat of Hive and with Hydra destroyed, S.H.I.E.L.D. is made a legitimate organization once again with the signing of the Sokovia Accords. In the fourth season, Coulson returns to being a field agent, due to the world believing he is dead, and is tasked with tracking down more enhanced people including Robbie Reyes / Ghost Rider. In addition, Agent Leo Fitz and Holden Radcliffe complete their work on the Life Model Decoy project as well as the development of the Framework. The fifth season sees Coulson and members of his team mysteriously abducted to a space station run by the Kree in the year 2091, where they must try and save the remnants of humanity while figuring out how to get home.

Cast and characters

• Clark Gregg as