Image Credit: ABC
Marvel have escalated their superhero war with D.C by creating a television series, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D, however Tom Buxton is left unconvinced by the format.
If all Joss Whedon had to do with Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D was match the success of his past cult TV hits such as Buffy and Firefly, then the prospect would perhaps not seem so demanding.
Replicating Avengers Assemble’s success, however, is the real challenge here. Setting up a new narrative strand in such a rich and beloved universe was never going to be easy, although Agents at least gets off to an admirable start.
Episode 1, Pilot (4/5), succeeds in no small part thanks to the reintroduction of Avengers supporting stars Agent Coulson (Clark Gregg) and Agent Maria Hill (Cobie Smaulders). Agent Coulson adopts a less enigmatic and more authoritative role in his resurrected guise at the head of a new S.H.I.E.L.D team, the dynamic this creates grows in strength week by week.
Its successor, 0-8-4 (3/5), falters somewhat, the absence of Joss Whedon on scripting and directorial duties. This leaves viewers with an episode that seems intent on overlabouring nostalgic call-backs to the Marvel film franchise (although a cameo from Samuel L. Jackson never goes amiss!).
Thankfully, the show’s third episode The Asset (4/5) regains the momentum of its premiere, even if it thrusts the series into firm procedural territory.
Image Credit: ABC
Skye (Chloe Bennet) has finally become a more empathetic anti-hero for the viewer, her gradual arc of redemption is rightly played out in a slow and formative manner, in much the same vein as the ongoing mystery of Coulson’s rejuvenation.
Episode 4, Eye-Spy (3/5) investigates Coulson’s past, although its tone remains too similar to that of 0-8-4.
It does make clear, however, that Agents holds potential aplenty to excel in its upcoming missions, so long as it distances itself from what’s come before.
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