Despite getting off to a rocky start during Season 1, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Season 2 has been considered by many to be an enormous improvement. From fighting HYDRA to introducing the Inhumans to dealing with an attack from a separate S.H.I.E.L.D. organization, it’s been one shocking development after another. Amidst all the Marvel movies coming out each year, the series has managed to carve out its own space in the MCU, and now ABC may be looking to expand this space with a spinoff to arrive sometime next season.
According to Entertainment Weekly, ABC is developing a spinoff with executive producer Jeffrey Bell and Paul Zbyszewski, both of whom work on Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. While no story details have been divulged, the article does say that story elements from upcoming episodes of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. will be used to lay the groundwork for this spinoff. But don’t expect the project to get a backdoor pilot within the flagship series itself. If ordered, this spinoff would be Marvel’s third network TV project, following Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and the limited series Agent Carter, the latter of which hasn’t earned a Season 2 order yet.
Spoilers from Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Season 2 are ahead.
Since no characters from Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. were mentioned as possible jump-off points for the spinoff, it’s hard to get a read on what this project might be like. ABC might decide to give fans another spy show, or perhaps they’ll follow in the footsteps of the Marvel movies and Netflix programming by creating a full-fledged superhero series. As far as who could star, several candidates spring to mind.
One of the new additions that has been well-received this season is Bobbi Morse, a.k.a. Mockingbird, played by Adrianne Palicki. Proving herself to be a badass fighter and fascinating character, it might be interesting to see her move away from the spy game and move closer to her superhero roots from the comics. Another possibility could be using J. August Richards’ Deathlok, a cyborg powerhouse that is currently working with Phil Coulson, as the protagonist. That would finally give audiences a super-powered lead on Marvel network television. Other than Skye on Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., of course, but she didn’t obtain her Inhuman powers until the episode “What They Become.”
Marvel already has competition in the superhero TV spinoff department. Earlier this year, it was revealed that there is a spinoff in development for DC shows Arrow and The Flash which will feature familiar characters like The Atom, Captain Cold, along with new characters Hawkgirl and Rip Hunter. Obviously Marvel and DC have different goals on what they want their programming to accomplish, but with DC potentially giving us a superhero/supervillain team-up show, Marvel’s spinoff is going to need to have its own unique “wow” factor if it doesn't want to fail to impress.
