Agents of SHIELD: Clark Gregg and Ming-Na Wen discuss the series’ legacy

Culturess sat down with Agents of SHIELD stars Clark Gregg and Ming-Na Wen at an SDCC press round-table to discuss the series’ impending end, and the legacy it will leave behind.

It’s finally happening: Marvel’s Agents of SHIELD is officially coming to an end.

Of course, SHIELD is a show that has faced down potential cancellation several times, but seemed to keep coming back, no matter what the odds.

(Seriously did any of us think that SHIELD would outlive big, prestige Marvel series like Daredevil or Jessica Jones? Seven seasons is an amazing accomplishment and everyone involved – both on the show and in the fandom – should be very proud.)

But now that we know the show’s official end date, it’s time to start talking about what that ending might look like, and reflecting on the multi-season journey of this little Marvel show that could.

Culturess got the chance to catch up with Agents of SHIELD stars Clark Gregg and Ming-Na Wen, who play Phil Coulson/Sarge and Melinda May, during a press roundtable interview at San Diego Comic-Con. The duo not only seem to genuinely love working with – and, basically, being around – one another, but they truly value the legacy that SHIELD will leave behind.

“For me, I feel like it’s already happening,” Wen declared. ”Because this show is wrapped around such humanity and such heart. It’s affected a lot of our fans and they’ve been so incredibly supportive and they love us, so for that, I’m just hoping that is a legacy that continues on for generations.”

“It’s almost – the world has caught up with us a little bit,” Gregg chimed in, reflecting on how far the series has come.

“When this show came out of the gate, there wasn’t this kind of representation on television,” he explained. “So to go to cons after Season 1 and 2 together as a squad and see young girls of all different colors, genders…every kind of flavor of human. [And they’re] there dressed up as Quake, as Agent May – and now as Director Mackenzie and Yo-Yo. To have that silently just be part of what Shield is, is a world that’s just a little bit closer to what most of us are hoping the world will be like.”

But what can we expect in the series’ final season? Or even in the last handful of episodes in season 6?

Well, it sounds like we should expect the unexpected.

“The number one rule in screenwriting is you don’t do a double beat,” Gregg explained. “If you already did that, you gotta do something different. And certainly, they took a bold shot – they killed Coulson again. For good, it seems like, at the end of Season 5.”

“So there’s a very different set of stories coming, in a very different way that the team revolves around through the rest of Season 6, which is going to be a little mindblowing,” Gregg elaborated. “And then the whole Season 7, which is once again them tearing the whole thing down to the studs, with some of the same pieces.”

“It’s a very, very, very different Season 7 that we’re really excited about. It’s an ending that will work, based on a lot of story that we’ve shot and you guys haven’t seen yet.”

Well, that’s vague as heck, huh?

One of the hallmarks of Agents of Shield, particularly in its later seasons, is its ability to reinvent itself and tell increasingly outlandish stories in ways that makes sense. After all, the gang has been to space and time travel is a thing now.

Literally anything could happen before this show rolls its final credits. But one this is certain – it’s going to be a wild ride.

Agents of SHIELD airs Friday nights on ABC.