Marvel’s forays into the world of television have done some amazing things for the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Although never quite as bombastic or iconic as their big screen counterparts, the Marvel TV shows have done a great job of providing in-depth context for the events that occur within the universe. Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D effectively showed the widespread effects of Captain America: The Winter Soldier, and – according to Clark Gregg – the show may indeed to do the same for the Star Spangled Avenger’s next solo film.
During an interview with EW at New York Comic Con, Agent Coulson himself opened up about how Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D could tie into Civil War. He said:
Civil War has always been about the registration of superheroes and people with powers. I suspect what we’re doing will connect with that in some way. What I like about what Marvel has done with our show is we explore a broader part of what’s going on in that stuff. Sometimes it connects in a big way. For instance with Winter Soldier, you’re seeing more hours of that dynamic, of suddenly realizing seeing people you’ve worked your whole life for are part of this evil organization trying to kill you, that personal betrayal we get to play out for hours more.
As Civil War revolves around concern over the unchecked powers of superhumans, it appears that this season of AoS could easily tie into that narrative. Coulson and his team have begun to contend with random people gaining powers as a result of Terragenesis – which creates Inhumans – and the result of such an influx of dangerous people could lead the government to search for a way to regulate these new potential threats. Opinions on how to handle these people could even create a schism within his team that mirrors what we will see between Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr) and Cap’s (Chris Evans) teams during the film itself.
That being said, AoS is still its own entity and will likely not find itself beholden to the narrative of Civil War. While the film revolves around the conflict of registering people with superhuman abilities, a great deal of it will also involve the more personal drama between Steve Rogers and Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan) as well as the looming threat posed by Baron Zemo (Daniel Bruhl) – things that the show does not necessarily need to delve into in order to work. So while AoS may run parallel to the events of Civil War, don't expect Coulson to pop up on the big screen any time soon. Check out the entire interview below.
The link between Marvel’s films and television properties have proved to be one of its greatest strengths – as well as a major difference between them and competitor DC, who has thus far segregated their films and TV shows. Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D airs Tuesdays on ABC, and Captain America: Civil War will hit theaters on May 6, 2016.
