Marvels Agents of Shield was cultivated around Agent Phil
Coulson, with the mystery of his return from the dead. The show also serves one
primary directive; to carry on the mythology of the world of Marvel. Season one
exists after the events of Iron man 3 to the concluding events of Captain
America: Winter Soldier. In between
these two films Thor: Dark World debuted, and Episode 8 titled ‘The Well’,
picks up on the aftermath of that story, with Shield arriving in London collecting
and containing any and all alien or Asgardian artifacts in the prevention of
them falling into the wrong hands.
Similar to Damage Control a Shield salvage team as seen in the opening
sequence of Spiderman –Homecoming with star Tyne Daly. ‘The Well’, would tell of an additional story
of an Asgardian residing here on earth hiding amongst humans.
In comics, Shield began with its first introductory 12 page story
on August 1965, in issue #135 of Strange Tales. Based on the ideas of Stan Lee
and illustrations of Jack Kirby, The first pages introduces us to an LMD – Life
Model Decoy, Former Army Sergeant Nick Fury was being cast for one in the opening.
He and his howling commandos were entering the world of espionage to battle the
fascist terrorists called Hydra. The
final pages of that first issue saw Fury and an agent fleeing a Hydra attack
with Lola. The same vehicle we are
introduced to in the Pilot of Agents of Shield, as the personal property of
Phil Colson, the car that also flies.
The comic book series was a reflection of the times, America
was in the midst of the Cold War with Russia.
The same year of the comic making its Debut, Television network NBC
began airing its new series the Man from U.N.C.L.E.; it is believed that this is
where Stan Lee was inspired to give shield its acronym . Back then the name
stood for Supreme Headquarters of International Espionage Law-Enforcement
Division. In November of 1965,
Thunderball was released in theatres, it was the 5th James Bond
Movie to hit theatres, so it’s not too difficult to imagine the world of spies
and covert operations would be very much in the lexicon of an accepting general
audience. The popularity of the comic gave Nick Fury and the agents of Shield
its own self titled series on June 1968. Where familiar characters like Jasper
Sitwell and Dum Dum Dugan can now be seen making cameo appearances in Season
one Agents of Shield.
In the Peggy Carter flashbacks including the return episode
of season 2, we see Dum Dum Dugan, and in a couple of episodes between episodes
7 to 16 we are introduced to Jasper Sitwell; Sitwell made his first on screen appearance
with the Marvel-One Shot item 47. The mission to accessing and identifying threats in this world among gods, aliens and enhance
humans continues in season one, Phil Coulson and fans learn how he came back
after being killed by Loki, and the truth and history of that discovery still
has miles of unraveling to go.
Episodes 8 though 16 brings another Asgardian story with
Lady Sif, and the miles of unraveling hits a Agatha Christie twist on a Train ride, just before the reveal of the source of Coulson return is given to us. His
escape from death gives us even more questions as their plane flies back to the
HUB; one of shields secret headquarters during the wake of Captain America:
Winter Soldier. The remarkable structure
of the storytelling makes each individual episode compelling both in dialogue,
bringing those moments of humor and levity in an otherwise serious toned
situation. The conflicts and resolutions of episodic television exists, but the
long game of it all heading towards something very big and very particular
is felt and the clues and the characters we meet along the way all have a
contribution to that end game.
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