Best of the decade: What were the top 10 female-fronted sci-fi shows of the 2010s?
By Shaun Stacy
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (ABC), 2013-present
After a series of successful movies, resulting in what we know today as the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Marvel Studios decided to venture to the small screen with a spin-off series directly related to the events of The Avengers.
The show would focus on a team of spy operatives from S.H.I.E.L.D., the special interest government organization headed by Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson). It would start off with close ties to the greater MCU, but would eventually stand on its own, creating its own mythology while bringing comic-book characters such as Ghost Rider, Quake, and Mockingbird to life. The team regularly saved the world and universe from super-powered threats, becoming a family of misfits along the way.
The show probably has the most diverse cast we have seen yet in the MCU, featuring Asian-American superhero, Daisy Johnson, aka Quake, played by Chloe Bennet, as well as Latina superhero Elena Rodriguez, aka Yo-Yo, played by Natalia Cordova-Buckley.
The rest of the female members of the cast include ER alum Ming-Na Wen as Melinda “The Calvary” May and Elizabeth Henstridge, who plays Dr. Jemma Simmons, one half of the team’s super brain. These women kick ass while supporting each other; Melinda mentors Daisy when she is a new agent, Daisy and Elena bond over becoming Inhumans, and Jemma and Daisy become the best of friends in an opposites attract sort of way.