Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. has seemed on the cusp of cancellation during the last several seasons as ratings dwindled and the show made the potentially disastrous switch to Friday nights, but the future is bright for the MCU's original TV show. After the somewhat surprising renewal for Season 6, ABC went ahead and shockingly handed down a renewal for Season 7 well before Season 6 even premiered. Now, star Clark Gregg has revealed that he knows the probable end date of S.H.I.E.L.D., saying this:
That's the word I've heard. The announcement I read was, two more seasons, six and seven.
Although Clark Gregg couldn't definitively say that the show is done for good at the end of Season 7, his comments to Den of Geek are a decent indication of what's to come. Admittedly, Gregg and members of the cast were mistaken before when it came to the end of the show, but given that ABC and Marvel are planning far enough ahead to order Seasons 6 and 7, I would say the odds are pretty good that the plan is to wrap things up after Season 7.
Would that really be the worst thing in the world? If the folks at S.H.I.E.L.D. are able to know way in advance when the show is ending, then that gives them the chance to wrap things up exactly as they desire, and that's not a chance that cancelled Marvel series like Iron Fist, Luke Cage, and Daredevil had before getting the axe from Netflix.
Jessica Jones may be able to tie things up since that show was cancelled before its latest season aired, but its fellows on Netflix didn't get that chance. S.H.I.E.L.D. having a set ending with Season 7 could be a good thing. Maybe some characters could even get a happily-ever-after! I'm not the only one pulling for Fitzsimmons getting their cottage in Perthshire at some point, right?
The S.H.I.E.L.D. writers may have been prepared for a possible cancellation after Season 5, but two seasons to set the stage for a grand finale? Sign me up! I do wonder at this point if Marvel and Disney are deliberately moving away from broadcast network TV shows after S.H.I.E.L.D. wraps up. The show about female heroes that had been in the works for ABC isn't happening, and big plans are in motion for Disney+ series with major ties to the MCU.
Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige promises close ties that should definitely excite fans of the larger MCU. After all, S.H.I.E.L.D. is the Marvel show with the biggest ties to the MCU, and those have been relatively minimal. The MCU is moving forward, and it likely will likely look very different after the events of Avengers: Endgame in April than it did prior to Infinity War. Maybe the era of S.H.I.E.L.D. is coming to a natural end.
Of course, S.H.I.E.L.D. itself is poised to enter a new era itself. All signs point toward the original Phil Coulson having died between the end of Season 5 and beginning of Season 6, and Clark Gregg will be playing a new character who looks just like good old Phil but seems a whole lot more sinister. Gregg may have already debunked a big theory; only time will tell for sure.
Find out who exactly Clark Gregg is playing in S.H.I.E.L.D. in Season 6 when it finally premieres in May. You can see him back in the MCU sooner, however, when he hits the big screen in Captain Marvel, which premieres March 8. For some TV options to help pass the next few months until S.H.I.E.L.D. returns, swing by our midseason TV premiere schedule.
