Marvel’s Agents of SHIELD Brainstorm Session

Marvel’s Agents of SHIELD set us up for Avengers: Age of Ultron while not getting too bogged down by name-dropping or anything like that. And it teased a lot of different things that could potentially happen.

Overarching Questions

1. Okay, what was up with Joss Whedon’s tweet?

The picture is over there, in case you missed it. And he posted right after Coulson said, “Time to bring in the Avengers,” or whatever that made me scream. Joss Whedon has been quoted recently, saying that for all intents and purposes, Coulson is still dead in the movie universe, so the simplest explanation is that this is basically him telling us “Don’t get your hopes up for a Coulson cameo in Age of Ultron.”

But when he posts a timely thing like that, it gives us hope that maybe Coulson will be showing up in the big picture MCU sooner than we think. Mid-credits scene? Dare I hope?! At least give us something in Ant-Man.

2. What’s Ward’s play with Agent 33?

On that phone call to Coulson, asking him to take care of 33 and give her a second chance at being a SHIELD agent, he sounded sincere. Like he truly cares for her. Like he’s actually matured and found some sort of peace where he’s not so evil or whatever.

But that’s not the Grant Ward we’ve come to know over the last two seasons. He has to have an ulterior motive. 33 is just as susceptible as she’s always been. Ward has proved that he can successfully brainwash people (see: Bakshi). He has to be making a play against SHIELD. Anyone else with me?

3. What’s going on with Simmons?

I touched on her rage in my recap. Jemma Simmons has been a little ADD in her characterization this season. From being fearful of special people to pushing Fitz away to bringing Fitz back in to flat-out attempting to murder Ward to flat-out murdering another dude, it’s easy to see she’s all over the map.

Yes, she did make a promise to Ward that if she saw him again, she would kill him. But for most people, that’s just talk and bluster. For Simmons of all people to actually follow through…I have to wonder if she isn’t brainwashed by Hydra. Bobbi warned of it forever ago and we all kind of forgot about that. It would be an interesting twist. On the flip side, maybe her stint in Hydra just made her a better agent (which it has).

4. When did Fitz become the best character on the show?

Okay this is more my opinion than anything, but the Fitz sass has been at peak performing levels for the last half-dozen or so episodes and even the smallest amount of Iain De Caestecker in an episode makes it better. His character has made so many strides since the season premiere, it’s nice to see this new iteration of Fitz.

But seriously, the sass is wonderful:

“Mistakes were made.”
“By you.”
“People got hurt.”
“By you.”

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Weekly Avengers Cameo

Tony Stark. All he really needs to do is walk past Maria Hill in the background on her end of things, then poke his head back in because, “Uh, Coulson? I thought you were dead,” hits him straight on. I mean, she was sitting in Avengers tower on that phone call. Robert Downey Jr. doesn’t even need to say anything. Just make faces in the background and look outraged.

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Fun Theory I’m Making Up Right Now

Less of a fun theory and more of a “please make this a thing:” Grant Ward will become the Agents of SHIELD’s Magneto. I mean, he kind of already is, but let me explain. (Also, credit for this goes to a tweet from Yahoo Puck Daddy’s Greg Wyshynski that got me thinking about this)

Magneto is a wild card, a pretty solid frenemy, who is usually willing to help out Charles and the X-Men when it’s called upon him, and yet he’s always working his own angles. That sounds a heck of a lot like Grant Ward, and Ward’s character works so much better as a chaotic entity that shows up every now and then rather than the goody two-shoes stock good-looking agent. And since he’s a series regular, he’ll need to be on more often than others. Have a couple different multiple-episode arcs where he has to work alongside his old teammates. Show up in that potential Agents of SHIELD spinoff, too.

Or maybe I just want to see him and Coulson referring to each other as “old friend.”

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Weekly Webisode Idea

“Raina the Hedgehog.”

Someone in Afterlife leaves a trail of rings from Raina’s room all the way through the courtyard. To get her attention, they pelt her with the things through her bedroom window and try to make her wander around and pick up the rings. While the theme song to Sonic the Hedgehog plays.

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Since Age of Ultron comes out tomorrow, Friday, of course I’m seeing it tonight! I have a feeling we will have a better idea of what to expect in Tuesday’s episode after watching the movie. And when to expect that Hawkeye cameo I keep waiting impatiently for.

Marvel’s Agents of SHIELD Brainstorm Session – “The Dirty Half Dozen”

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