I’ve had a few hours to digest the first episode of Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (man I’m getting tired of typing that out), and thought I would put my thoughts out there. The West Coast is just about finishing up watching it and then the internet will be buzzing again soon. First off, the hype for this show was pretty freakin’ huge. Everybody knew about it and I think very few of us actually thought it would match that hype. Well, let me tell you, it matched it and exceeded it. Like a boss.
There was humor, drama, surprises and plenty of references to tie together Marvel’s movie and TV universes. Just off the top of my head, they referenced or showed: Iron Man (shown on a video monitor), Thor (showed hammer and was the subject of one of the best lines in the episode), Black Widow (a reference was made about her character), Extremis (another Iron Man reference and a major plot point to Iron Man 3), Doctor Erskine (inventor of the super soldier serum that gave Captain America his powers) and there were probably even more that I missed. Now, I don’t expect this level of integration every single week, but I’m sure it helped the average joe (i.e. not a comic book geek) feel like they knew what was going on. If you are expecting to see any of the Avengers on this show, then you are going to be sporting quite the frowny face. It ain’t happening.
What I hope we will see, is a hero/villain of the week story. I would also expect that this will be a great opportunity for Marvel to introduce second tier heroes and villains. Many people felt that J. August Richards was playing Luke Cage in the pilot. That rumor grew so much that eventually it was debunked. I will tell you right now, I would have no problem with them introducing Luke Cage on this show. Especially if it led to a Heroes for Hire television show. Dreaming, I know.
Anyways, I really can’t imagine anyone being disappointed with this first episode, outside of the people hoping to see the Avengers. It felt just how I wanted it to feel, it was visually a treat and they introduced just enough teasers to peak my geek. There was even a surprise twist that caught me off guard involving the character played by J. August Richards. My first initial reaction that I posted on Twitter still stands now: perfection.
