British superheroes heading for Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.?

The 2013 cast of Marvel's Agents of SHIELD

The 2013 cast of Marvel’s Agents of SHIELD

With US network ABC announcing Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. has been given a full-season order this week, speculation is raging over which super heroes might appear on the show, following a cameo by Nick Fury (played by Samuel L. Jackson) in Episode One.

Screened in the UK on Channel 4, it’s been suggested the Marvel Studios-produced show, overseen by Joss (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Serenity) Whedon might see some British guests – which is not much a stretch given that two of the series regulars, scientists Jemma Simmons (Elizabeth Henstridge) and Leo Fitz (Iain De Caestecker), represent England and Scotland respectively.

“Despite being set primarily (as you might expect) in America the series does have a British presence,” notes Mark Roberts over on the Marvel UK-focused blog It Came from Darkmoor.  “At this stage it’s hard to say what actual ‘superheroes’ we’ll see featuring in the series, mind. The likelihood of anything more than a cameo appearance by the likes of Captain America, Iron Man or Thor is slim.”

But Mark recently picked up on an intriguing tease from Clark Gregg, who plays Agent Coulsen on the show (and also featured in the Avengers film). Over on his official Twitter account earlier this month, somebody raised the question of whether we might be seeing any British heroes showing up in the series.

He answered as follows:

Of course, this could just be a case of an actor keeping fans happy, but the use of a lesser-known Marvel uperhero – played by an actor who isn’t perhaps going to command a film star fee and break the show’s TV budget – makes good sense, and would certainly boost interest in the show for its UK audience.

So who might it be? Captain Britain? Motormouth? Or, as Mark suggests, could we see the introduction of MI13 into the Marvel TV and Movie universe?

“Or maybe Union Jack,” Mark opines. “He has, after all, already appeared in a fashion. While not costumed, JJ Field played James Montgomery Falsworth (the original Union Jack) in the Captain America movie, a prisoner of war who joined forces with Steve Rogers’ unit. There have been three incarnations of Union Jack over the years. Three different time periods. It’s plausible.”

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. features Agent Coulsen of Iron Man and Avengers movie fame running a team of agents investigating mysteries and terrorism around the globe, Coulsen himself resurrected mysteriously after events in the Avengers film. (My guess is his consciousness has been downloaded into a robot and he may yet turn out to be the Vision).

In the US, the show opened as TV’s highest rated drama debut in nearly four years and ranks as the number one new show of the 2013-14 season among adults 18 to 49.

Channel 4’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Page



Categories: Other Worlds, Television

Tags: , , , , , , , ,

1 reply

  1. I’m still not sold on AoS. I’m three episodes in and I’m hovering around Defcon: Meh! More Superheroes/villains (British or otherwise) would certainly improve things.

Discover more from downthetubes.net

Subscribe now to keep reading and get access to the full archive.

Continue reading