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4 major ways Agents of SHIELD set the standard for future Marvel television series

By Shaun Stacy

MARVEL AGENTS OF S.H.I.E.L.D. - ABC's "Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D." stars Chloe Bennet as Daisy Johnson, Elizabeth Henstridge as Jemma Simmons, Clark Gregg as Phil Coulson, Jeff Ward as Deke Shaw, Iain De Caestecker as Leo Fitz, Ming-Na Wen as Melinda May, Henry Simmons as Alphonso "Mack" MacKenzie, and Natalia Cordova-Buckley as Elena "Yo-Yo" Rodriguez. (ABC/Mitchell Haaseth)
MARVEL AGENTS OF S.H.I.E.L.D. - ABC's "Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D." stars Chloe Bennet as Daisy Johnson, Elizabeth Henstridge as Jemma Simmons, Clark Gregg as Phil Coulson, Jeff Ward as Deke Shaw, Iain De Caestecker as Leo Fitz, Ming-Na Wen as Melinda May, Henry Simmons as Alphonso "Mack" MacKenzie, and Natalia Cordova-Buckley as Elena "Yo-Yo" Rodriguez. (ABC/Mitchell Haaseth) /
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Innovative Storytelling

While the first season of Agents of SHIELD tended to rely heavily on its connection to the greater Marvel Cinematic Universe, with guest appearances by Nick Fury and Maria Hill, it eventually evolved to create its own mythology. Typically, shows (especially genre shows), can get a little stale beyond the first four or five seasons, but Agents of SHIELD found ways to push the narrative envelope without ever jumping the shark.

Over the years, the team faced multiple challenges, including betrayals, Inhuman villains, alien villains, time travel, and even cyber villains, all while making it seem believable and acting the hell out of it. However, the use of the Quantum Realm in the series finale was a great final touch on the show’s connection to the MCU.

All of the flashy action scenes are nice, and we’ll get to those, but the real stories that resonated the most were the emotional ones. Agents of SHIELD was a team comprised of members who eventually became a found family.

The team also found romantic love among each other, starting with the OG star-crossed lovers FitzSimmons, Coulson and May, Mack and Yo-Yo, and Daisy and Sousa. Each struggled with identity throughout the series as well, leaning on one another to get through everything from alien superpowers to the deaths of loved ones.

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