Agents of SHIELD: Everything you need to know before season 5

What is there to know before season 5 of Agents of SHIELD starts?

Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. is set to return on Friday, December 1st. The series will launch on ABC with a special two-hour premiere, kicking off at 8 p.m. EST. Later episodes will then move to the 9 p.m. timeslot that proved so successful with Season 4. That should allow the show to keep the darker tone that was loved by critics and fans alike.

Sadly, most fans are convinced this will be the last series. We recently learned that ABC didn’t actually want to renew S.H.I.E.L.D. for a fifth season at all, but was forced to by Disney. That’s left fans particularly curious as to why Disney would intervene for S.H.I.E.L.D., when they didn’t save Agent Carter.

The timing of the series’ release may be a clue. Even counting the fact that S.H.I.E.L.D. will have some mid-season breaks, repeating the popular ‘pod’ structure that worked for Season 4, it’s set to finish shortly after the theatrical release of Avengers: Infinity War. Given the show looks set to take our favorite agents into the cosmic, a tie-in seems very likely.

Even if that is the case, there’ll be more to this season than just space. There are a number of plot threads left dangling, ones that Marvel really need to resolve if S.H.I.E.L.D. is going to come to a satisfactory close. Let’s run through them!

Space: The Final Frontier

Season 4 came to a close with the team captured by a mysterious group. From there, the final scene jumped ahead an unspecified period of time, showing Coulson staring out of a window at an asteroid field. It was clear that the team was about to go into deep space, and fans initially assumed this season would explore the idea of S.W.O.R.D.. In the comics, S.W.O.R.D. is a rival organization to S.H.I.E.L.D., one that’s focused on protecting the world from alien threats.

Clark Gregg revealed that wasn’t the case. In fact, he wasn’t even sure Marvel had the rights to use S.W.O.R.D., a concept introduced in the X-Men comics! Then, at New York Comic Con, Marvel showed eager fans the first 20 minutes of Episode 1, “Orientation.” Although the clip didn’t reveal much, it did hint that the team haven’t just traveled into space. They may have been abducted into the far future as well, given that they’re considered “legends” by the group who so desperately want their help.

But don’t expect the Earth-bound plots to be over just yet. Like Season 4, this season is divided into ‘pods,’ smaller sections which each focus on a particular narrative. Meanwhile, the first 20 minutes revealed that one member of the S.H.I.E.L.D. team has been left behind. No doubt their adventures will continue.

The Inhumans and the Watchdogs

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. introduced us to the Inhumans back in Season 2, and that particular plot thread is sure to remain an important one. Back on Earth, in the present-day of the MCU, trace amounts of Terrigen have been released into the world’s water supply. These are triggering Inhuman mutations in anyone who has a dormant Inhuman gene, and fear and paranoia are spreading across the world. Many view these so-called “NuHumans” as the first wave in an alien invasion.

Enter the Watchdogs, a well-funded paramilitary group who seem loosely inspired by the X-Men’s ‘Friends of Humanity’ movement. The Watchdogs are led by Anton Ivanov, who calls himself the Superior, and they’re still active across the world. Worse, Season 4 saw Ivanov’s mind transplanted into an android body, and he now commands a small army of android duplicates. It’s also possible he still has access to Darkhold technology to create more Life Model Decoys, allowing the Superior to replace key political and military figures with his androids. The Watchdogs are a terrifyingly dangerous threat.

The first (and likely last) season of Marvel’s Inhumans brought the Royal Family of Attilan to Earth, and it’s possible this Inhuman group will cross over to Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.. Whether it does so or not though, Inhumans also dropped a tantalizing hint as to one potential plot thread for S.H.I.E.L.D.. The show revealed that sometimes Inhumans can undergo a process known as “secondary Terrigenesis,” reviving from death with additional mutations. The process is dangerous though, sometimes resulting in madness, addiction, or even death. And S.H.I.E.L.D. Season 4 already showed us one NuHuman undergoing secondary Terrigenesis, Vijay Nadeer, the ill-fated brother of a prejudiced U.S. Senator. Nadeer was shot by his sister, and his body was dumped in the Terrigen-laced water. There, he once again began generating an Inhuman cocoon, presumably mutating once again.

Coulson’s bargain with the Ghost Rider

Season 4 celebrated the theatrical release of Doctor Strange in style. It thrust everybody’s favorite secret agents into a supernatural alliance with Gabriel Luna’s Robbie Reyes, the new Ghost Rider. Although Luna proved a real fan-favorite, the CGI for the Rider was particularly expensive. As a result, the character only appeared in the first ‘pod’ and the tail-end of the last one. Fans are eager to see the Ghost Rider return.

The Season 4 finale saw Agent Coulson make a deal with the Spirit of Vengeance itself. He allowed Zarathos to inhabit his own body, and in return gave Zarathos a shot at Aida, a Darkforce-powered super-being. Although Zarathos then returned to Reyes, we were told that Coulson would pay a hefty price as part of this deal.

It’s safe to assume that the price will be tied to a mysterious “war in heaven” teased by Reyes. He spent part of Season 4 inhabiting another dimension, and there learned of his role in a cosmic conflict. It seems other dimensions are locked in a state of war between light and darkness.

"“The Earth is just one territory in a war that’s been going on forever.”"

It seems very likely that Coulson bargained his soul away, agreeing to step on to this mystic battlefield. We can certainly expect this theme to be picked up in Season 5, and it would be no surprise to see Ghost Rider ally with the S.H.I.E.L.D. team again.

A touch of (doomed?) romance

S.H.I.E.L.D. may be an action-adventure series, but Season 4 saw two romances blossom. The first was between Fitz and Simmons, the awkward couple who we’ve wanted to see get together since Season 1. The last season saw poor Fitz suffer terribly, his mind and memories warped by exposure to a twisted virtual reality. The first 20 minutes screened at NYCC revealed that things are only going to get worse. Simmons may be in deep space, but Fitz has been left behind!

And then there’s Coulson and May. The ultimate will-they-won’t-they couple, these two agents have clearly been attracted to one another for a long time. Season 4 saw Coulson finally take a shot at romance with May, only to learn she’d been replaced by an android duplicate. Will they now finally kick off a relationship?

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If Season 5 really is the end of the road for Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., we don’t want any plot threads left hanging. From the “war in heaven” to a cosmic battle for the fate of humanity, from interpersonal conflict to the Inhuman crisis, it’s time to see Marvel tie these loose ends together. Let’s make sure S.H.I.E.L.D. bow out in style!