Superheroes are all the rage nowadays, and Marvel has had a fun thing going on ABC with Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. for the past four TV seasons. Unfortunately, the ratings in Season 4 just haven't been great, and fans have been worried for months about whether or not it could possibly return for Season 5. Thankfully, we finally have word that Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. will indeed be back.
Don't worry, everybody. I made sure that this is real news in the real world and not a digital framework built by an antagonistic android before I started writing. Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. has been picked up for a fifth season, and we can all stop worrying, uncross our fingers, and release those breaths we've been holding. THR reports that ABC hopes the lower the series' budget for the fifth season, and that's frankly fine with me. Who needs fancy special effects? I'll take more S.H.I.E.L.D. in whatever state I can get it. The news of the renewal first broke courtesy of S.H.I.E.L.D. visual effects supervisor Mark Kolpack on Twitter, although the tweet has since been deleted.
The confirmation comes on the heels of reports that Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s odds of renewal were pretty decent, but nothing was set in stone as of only a few days ago. It seems that S.H.I.E.L.D. is indeed a valuable enough commodity as a Marvel outlet on primetime to warrant the order for a brand new batch of episodes. Of course, we don't yet know how many episodes have been ordered for Season 5, but I'm willing to bet that it will be at least enough to get S.H.I.E.L.D. to the milestone 100th episode. By the end of Season 4, we'll be at 88 episodes. If S.H.I.E.L.D. gets its regular order for 22 episodes in Season 5, we'll be well over 100 episodes.
A big question now is who will be left standing to return for Season 5. Our merry band of agents is in a great deal of danger at the moment, with A.I.D.A. on a rampage and an angry Russian looking to kill Inhumans and their allies. If ABC wants to cut costs for Season 5, it's possible that some of those costs could come in the form of actors' salaries. It definitely might not bode well for Ghost Rider and his pricy special effects.
The Season 4 finale of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. airs on Tuesday, May 16 at 10 p.m. ET on ABC. Stay tuned to CinemaBlend for the latest in TV news, and don't forget to check out our summer TV premiere schedule to discover all your viewing options now and in the coming weeks. Be sure to drop by our rundowns for cable/streaming and broadcast TV renewals and cancellations as well. Our TV season finale schedule can give you all you need to know about your shows ending.
