Easily the most high profile new show coming to network TV this fall will be Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Joss Whedon is the co-creator and one of the executive producers on the series (and directed the pilot), along with Jed Whedon & Maurissa Tancharoen and Jeffrey Bell. Bell previously worked with Whedon on Angel, where Bell served as showrunner for the final two seasons.
At ABC's Upfront party last night, I spoke to Bell about Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. We talked about what the show will be week to week, the return of Agent Phil Coulson (Clark Gregg) and all the rumors concerning the mysterious character played by J. August Richards in the pilot. There's been a lot of speculation Richards is playing Marvel's Luke Cage, but it seems that is not the case after all. So let the speculation... continue!
IGN TV: So how would you describe this show week-to-week? What kind of adventures will S.H.I.E.L.D. be having?
Jeffrey Bell: Well, we’re kind of hoping we’ll do kind of like we did on Angel: every week different. I mean, spy, action, monsters, alien, sci-fi -- it’s ABC, so romance. But tonally, big Marvel, aspirational heroes trying to help people -- not dark or cynical -- but changing every week. Hopefully with a lot of humor.
IGN: And I’ve got to ask about J. August Richards…
Bell: Killed it! He’s so good. He’s so good, because we were looking for this character M-- I almost said his name. It’s not the one people are talking about.
[Editor's Note: Yes, it kind of sounded like Bell was about to say a name beginning with an M... but maybe he just made a strong "HMM" sound when he stopped himself! Ah, so much to ponder.]
IGN: He’s not! So I’m going to say Luke Cage, and you’re going to say...
Bell: I’m going to say that’s an interesting Marvel character, but no. But he came in and killed it. Honestly, we were looking for this part, and we just said, look, all our parts are open to all diversity. So the fact that we have a black dude who is awesome and it's J, was just because he was the best actor. It wasn’t like, “You know who…!”
J. August Richards in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
IGN: Should we assume it’s someone familiar if you read Marvel comics?
Bell: You know, not necessarily. I mean, we’re going to draw from it, but Marvel has its thing, and we’re also going to be expanding forward, and this world is different since The Avengers. So I think there will be people showing up, some from the Marvel Universe and some not. But to commit to anything more would be telling.
IGN: We know the focus is on people without powers. Will we see J, or other characters with powers, pretty frequently though?
Bell: J’s a guest star in it, and we talk about it like this: If you take all the Marvel movies, really only Captain America and the Hulk are the only real “superheroes” in all those movies. You’ve got an alien god, but in all those movies, there’s been, like, three [superheroes]. So if we trot out a superhero every week, it would be weird. But we’re saying the world is different and things are changing, so we will be finding other people -- so whether it’s science or whether it’s a result of [what happened in] New York or whether they're from somewhere else, we’re open to everything. Whatever makes cool stories.
IGN: Lastly, Coulson. I know you can’t say how he’s back, but is he changed at all? How has this experience affected him?
Bell: Great question! He’s great! Coulson is back, and that’s all I can say.
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