Avengers: Infinity War not only wreaked havoc on the Marvel Cinematic Universe - it also inadvertently damaged Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. as well. Although Marvel’s flagship series on ABC didn’t deal with Thanos’ finger snap and the ramifications of killing half of all life in the MCU, S.H.I.E.L.D. having to tie into Avengers 3 was the only blight on its otherwise stellar fifth season.
When the show began at the dawn of the MCU’s Phase 2 in 2013, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. was a bridge between Marvel movies and TV, but that initial synergy didn’t last long. It quickly became apparent that the biggest characters from The Avengers like Iron Man and Captain America would not appear in the series. After Nick Fury’s two guest spots in season 1, along with Maria Hill and Lady Sif, top names from the films appearing on the show stopped cold. But S.H.I.E.L.D. still clung to the prestige of its ties to the movies, boasting that “it’s all connected,” despite the series obviously being treated as a red-headed stepchild of the MCU.
After Captain America: The Winter Soldier changed Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. to reflect Hydra’s takeover of the spy organization, to their credit, showrunners Jed Whedon and Maurissa Tancharoen spent the next few seasons playing down movie references and focused on building an intricate mythology. They redefined S.H.I.E.L.D. and Hydra, introduced the Inhumans, and essentially rewrote the history of the MCU. Unsurprisingly, the series - which had a shaky first season as a pale shadow of the films - rapidly improved, got bolder, and took more chances. S.H.I.E.L.D. transformed from a show about spies into one that delved into space travel, with Jemma Simmons getting trapped on an alien world in season 3, the supernatural with Ghost Rider, and virtual reality with the Framework story in season 4. season 5 topped those episodes by going full sci-fi. It was their most experimental - and arguably its best- season.
However, the biggest event in MCU history, Infinity War, had to be addressed, and how S.H.I.E.L.D. did it was awkward, to say the least. Here’s how Thanos ended up hurting season 5.
This Page: Infinity War Hurt S.H.I.E.L.D. Season 5
Page 2: Why Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Should Stand On Its Own
The First Half Of Season 5 Was S.H.I.E.L.D. At Its Best
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. season 5 roared out of the gate and excitingly turned everything upside down. Kidnapped by a group called the True Believers, Phil Coulson’s team of agents discovered they time traveled to the year 2091. Both the series and the fans were energized by the surprising new situation that Phil Coulson, Melinda May, Daisy Johnson, Jemma Simmons, Alphonso “Mack” Mackenzie, and Yo-Yo Rodriguez found themselves in. In this post-apocalyptic future, the human survivors were ruled by the Kree in a space station called the Lighthouse, and the central mysteries of the season were how the Earth was destroyed - and by whom? - and whether our heroes could prevent this future from taking place.
The first half of season 5 was constantly surprising. Intriguing new villains like the Kree overseer Kasius and his assassin/lover Sinara were introduced, as were lovable new heroes like Flint, a young Inhuman, and Deke, who turned out to be the grandson of Jemma Simmons and Leopold Fitz. Speaking of Fitz, he soon joined his friends in the future in a remarkable flashback episode that brought back Lance Hunter. Quake, who was believed to have caused the Earth’s demise, was unhappy with her new nickname ‘The Destroyer of Worlds’. Finally, after causing a revolution in the Lighthouse, the Agents made it back to 2018. This pod of stories was unlike anything S.H.I.E.L.D. had attempted before and it proved the series’s ability to adapt to any genre while still delivering gripping stories that focused on their beloved characters.
…Until Infinity War Nearly Ruined The Second Half
When the Agents made it back to present day, with Deke in tow, the second half of the season kept hitting highs. A new teenage villain named Ruby came into the picture, along with her mother General Hale. The series reintroduced Hydra in a big way, with a compelling flashback episode showing Hydra’s training academy. The manifestation of a Fear Dimension let the series toy with supernatural horror while Fitz’s evil Hydra doppelganger reemerged and revealed his capacity to become a supervillain. Best of all, Fitz and Simmons finally married in the 100th episode, with Deathlok attending the wedding, which surprisingly went off without a hitch. Then Infinity War happened.
Avengers 3 was the biggest event in MCU history and it’s understandable Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. had to address it. But Infinity War was awkwardly shoehorned into the season’s story. Rather than the Kree being the aliens who would be the impetus for Earth’s destruction, which was the obvious solution that had been set up since the beginning, Thanos became the real villain of the season, though the Mad Titan would never appear on the series.
Fans learned Hydra initiated a bizarre protection scheme with an alien cabal called the Confederacy; the aliens claimed (falsely) they would defend the Earth from Thanos in exchange for Gravitonium. Meanwhile, the mystery of whether Ruby or Quake was the Destroyer of Worlds was cast aside, with General Glenn Talbot infusing himself with Gravitonium to become the villainous Graviton. Talbot amusingly boasted he should fight in Infinity War and could beat Thanos, which no fan believed would ever happen.
The final episodes of season 5 took place during Infinity War, with the Agents weathering their own alien invasion concurrent to the Children of Thanos’ attacks. This put S.H.I.E.L.D. in a terrible position where the super-spies of the MCU had no idea who Thanos was and only referenced the events of Infinity War from television newscasts.
Ultimately, S.H.I.E.L.D. just ended up ignoring Infinity War’s ending anyway. Because S.H.I.E.L.D. is so separated from the mainline MCU, the TV heroes can’t participate in the universe-shattering movie, but the show still had to pivot so that the complex tale they wove all season long was now caused by the villain of the movie they can have no part in. Ultimately, the series didn’t need Thanos and making fear of the Great Titan the cause of the events of season 5 makes Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. look unimportant in the big picture since this unfulfilling tie-in to Infinity War can’t have any of the payoff.
Page 2: Why Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Should Stand On Its Own
Marvel Movies Don’t Care About Marvel TV
Since it’s inception, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. has been saddled by the unfair, one-sided relationship Marvel Television has with Marvel Studios. This is because, in 2015, Marvel Studios’ President Kevin Feige separated the film division from Marvel Entertainment’s umbrella so that the movies are now overseen by Disney. This created an even greater chasm between the films and Marvel Television than there already was. Essentially, the movies are regarded as the most important entity; the TV series must adjust to what happens in the movies, but not vice versa. They’re all the same MCU but the globally popular and record-breaking film franchise doesn’t acknowledge the existence of their television and streaming cousins. It’s S.H.I.E.L.D. that has been paying the heaviest price for this Marvel schism.
While the Netflix shows like The Defenders and other TV series like Runaways are part of the MCU but only tangentially reference the movies, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. has a harder time maintaining that separation because it was born from the Phase 1 films. Phil Coulson himself was a film character transplanted to lead the TV series. Agents was originally a companion to the films, but for years, the series has operated in a thankless void where nothing they do matters to the film franchise they originated from. This was glaringly apparent in season 5 when S.H.I.E.L.D.’s story centered around the Earth being destroyed and none of the movies mention this in any way; meanwhile, S.H.I.E.L.D. had to work Infinity War’s plot into its own, even when it hurt their season rather than helped it.
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Is Better Off As Its Own MCU
It’s time Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. cut its cord to the movies. The MCU has changed a great deal since S.H.I.E.L.D. premiered, and at this point in the show’s run, many fans of the Marvel movies don’t keep up with the show and are even surprised it’s still on the air. Whereas during season 1, fans were interested in the novelty of movie characters appearing, the series has since earned its own devoted fanbase. Its audience much smaller than the films’ but S.H.I.E.L.D.’s fans are loyal to the show regardless of what happens on the big screen. Agents’ die-hard and vocal fandom are totally invested in the characters and have also grown used to the idea that the show won’t be referenced in the movies. For instance, no S.H.I.E.L.D. fan was truly surprised that Nick Fury called Captain Marvel for help at the end of Infinity War and not his old buddy Coulson.
To their credit, S.H.I.E.L.D. has also outgrown any dependence it might have had on the films. The series has earned its stripes and has carried the Marvel flag on ABC with honor and distinction, delivering excellent television all along the way. Perhaps their best bet going forward into season 6 and beyond is to behave as if they are the center of their own MCU and ignore the films, concentrating instead on continuing to expand their own unique mythology. This could be the step S.H.I.E.L.D. is taking by launching season 6 after Avengers 4, which frees it from dealing with the fallout of Thanos. References to the greater MCU is one thing, but the Netflix series don’t pivot based on what happens in the movies, and S.H.I.E.L.D. shouldn’t have to either.
The ideal scenario and the fans’ dream come true would be for season 6 to spark a greater integration between S.H.I.E.L.D. and the Phase 4 films, which is expected to be a new beginning for the MCU. However, there has been no indication Marvel Studios is going to cross over with Marvel TV. So if the intention isn’t for the Avengers to find out Coulson was alive for the last 5 years and for the films to give S.H.I.E.L.D. its due, then it makes no sense for the series to continue hoping for scraps from the feature films’ table. Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. is its own established brand that can stand apart and alone, while still being completely and proudly Marvel.
