# Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.



## jonesy (May 13, 2013)

[video=youtube;ySsw-6aetys]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ySsw-6aetys[/video]


Is this happening after the Avengers in the timeline? Is Coulson officially back?


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## Umbran (May 13, 2013)

Yep.  Coulson's officially back.  The currently expected thing is that while Loki did run him through, they were able to save his life.  Nick Fury lied to the Avengers to motivate them to action.


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## Relique du Madde (May 14, 2013)

*Re: Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. teaser*

Is that supposed to be Luke Cage?


-Sent via a cybernetic device.


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## El Mahdi (May 14, 2013)

deleted


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## Nytmare (May 14, 2013)

I had been wondering if it was going to be that Coulson was a clone or something, or maybe had super powers himself.  I had actually been half worried that it was going to turn into an "I wonder how Coulson dies in this episode" kind of thing.


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## Umbran (May 14, 2013)

Relique du Madde said:


> Is that supposed to be Luke Cage?




Possible.  But, in the "bumper" - the segment at the start where they flip through a bunch of comics panels - is an image that hasn't been there before, of a hero called "Rage" from the New Warriors.  The two together make a case for it not being Luke Cage.


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## wingsandsword (May 15, 2013)

Nytmare said:


> I had been wondering if it was going to be that Coulson was a clone or something, or maybe had super powers himself.  I had actually been half worried that it was going to turn into an "I wonder how Coulson dies in this episode" kind of thing.




Well, it IS a TV version of Marvel Comics, where death is rather famously a revolving door.

Consider the revival of Agent Coulson (with his offscreen revival a variant on the "never found the body" type of recovery) the first "Comic Book Death" in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Personally, I'm looking forward to it and wondering if they'll use this to have encounters/adventures with a lot of second and third-string heroes and villains who might not warrant their own movies.


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## jonesy (May 15, 2013)

Here's a longer trailer:

[video=youtube;PerIAuv27SQ]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PerIAuv27SQ[/video]


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## tomBitonti (May 16, 2013)

I thought they did a pretty good job of leaving Coulson's fate ambiguous in the movie.  Certainly the Avengers were told that he had died, but having that be a lie didn't seem to be a stretch.

Actually, I'm not sure if his death was explicitly stated anywhere.  The medics had "called it", but does that necessarily mean a death?

Thx!

TomB


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## Morrus (May 16, 2013)

The lie was strongly hinted at when Fury's second-in-command (I forget her name) pointed out to him that he'd lied about how he got the baseball card. He replied that he'd done so to motivate the Avengers. The stronger hint there is that Coulson isn't dead.


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## Grumpy RPG Reviews (May 16, 2013)

I am going to buck the trend here and say I am not impressed. For one thing, bringing Coleson back strips his death of any meaning aside from a bad joke and cliche. Further, all the other characters are just tropes (father figure, hardass, nerd guy, rebel without a clue, Da Black Guy, Etc.). This is gonna be a paint by the numbers show.


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## Garick83 (May 16, 2013)

While I'm sure the show will be fun for a while, this seems to fit into the growing trend of whatever disney owns, get put into as many markets as fast as possible.  Disney princesses, Once Upon a Time, Marvel movies (Those movies I'm proud of.)  I bet the show will be a bridge gapper from movie to movie.  As for Coleson, don't alot of members of S.H.I.E.L.D tend to live forever, and come back from the dead regularly.  Fury, Dum Dum Dugan....Who knows maybe it will be good, maybe not, only time will tell....


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## Umbran (May 16, 2013)

Grumpy RPG Reviews said:


> Further, all the other characters are just tropes (father figure, hardass, nerd guy, rebel without a clue, Da Black Guy, Etc.). This is gonna be a paint by the numbers show.




You figure that somehow, at this stage, you're going to have a deep understanding of the characters and their motivations?  Before the show has ever aired?

Of course they're stated as tropes, right now.  Each character has been given a couple of sentences of description, total!  How deep do you figure they can get at this point?

If, when you actually see it, the show has little character depth or development, then you've got cause to gripe.  But when they're still at the trailer stage, I think this is a poorly supported criticism - kind of like a kid saying, "I won't like it!!!1!" before even trying a bite of it off the plate.


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## Nytmare (May 16, 2013)

Grumpy RPG Reviews said:


> Further, all the other characters are just tropes (father figure, hardass, nerd guy, rebel without a clue, Da Black Guy, Etc.).




Isn't that true of pretty much every story ever told?  Characters usually only get interesting once they grow beyond the archetypes.  Plus, at this point, I'd kinda rather have a TV show full of ankle deep characters expanding the Marvel Universe than no TV show.  If it stinks, I can ignore it, but at this point I don't have anything to fill that Super Hero sized hole in my heart.


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## Grumpy RPG Reviews (May 17, 2013)

Umbran said:


> ...before even trying a bite of it off the plate.




I am perfectly aware you are a moderator and defiant will justifiably get me banned, but please do not address me in such a patronizing and condescending manner again. I am not a child and attempts to coerce me as would would coerce a child are simply insulting.  

I do not need to eat bland and unappealing food to know it is unappealing and bland. Even if I were to watch it, I would only be accused of "never giving it a chance," and that would be held against me. 

The program need not be ground breaking, but the trailer makes the pilot look predictable to the point of boredom. I am uninterested. And mildly offended by the subtext show so far.


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## frankthedm (May 17, 2013)

Fodder and C-listers with a made for TV budget. I have to admit that is preferable to heavy hitters with a made for TV budget. If the show mows through characters like the Paranoia RPG this might even be interesting. 

But I'd be a lot more interested if Agent Coulson was the main character. It is a comic book universe, I'll accept Coulson being back. The new young agent for the _18-24 male audience to identify with main character_ does REEK of formulaic slavery to by the numbers media manufacturing.


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## Kaodi (May 17, 2013)

I have seen The Avengers twice and both times to me it seemed that all they meant was that Fury had massaged the truth by splattering Coulson's cards with blood (probably Coulson's actual blood) in order to give his death the extra punch to get Steve Rogers going. Never occurred to me that they might have meant Coulson was not dead.


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## Morrus (May 17, 2013)

*Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. teaser*



Kaodi said:


> I have seen The Avengers twice and both times to me it seemed that all they meant was that Fury had massaged the truth by splattering Coulson's cards with blood (probably Coulson's actual blood) in order to give his death the extra punch to get Steve Rogers going. Never occurred to me that they might have meant Coulson was not dead.




It was just a deliberate window left because Whedon was obviously in negotiations over the TV show at the time. That scene allowed them to go either way. It was a hint, not a statement, and deliberately so  - they didn't mean to state anything openly.


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## sabrinathecat (May 31, 2013)

meh.
Wait and see. Hello D&D and streaming.


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## Janx (May 31, 2013)

Nytmare said:


> Isn't that true of pretty much every story ever told?  Characters usually only get interesting once they grow beyond the archetypes.  Plus, at this point, I'd kinda rather have a TV show full of ankle deep characters expanding the Marvel Universe than no TV show.  If it stinks, I can ignore it, but at this point I don't have anything to fill that Super Hero sized hole in my heart.




I concur.  If you like chocolate, and all there is available is Hershey bars, then you might as well have some of those, because there ain't nothing else.

Or you can be an extremist and go without because it ain't good enough for your evolved tastes.  But people like that just end up with a hand full of crap because their wishing hand don't ever pay off.


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## JamesonCourage (Jun 1, 2013)

I had negative interest in it until I watched the longer trailer. Looks like it might be okay. Some things are turn-offs, but overall it looks a better than I thought by a good margin. We'll see.


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## SkidAce (Jun 1, 2013)

/off topic

I've always loved the phrase "negative" interest....

"That movie is playing on the southside?  I must head north!"

hehe.


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## Walking Dad (Jun 12, 2013)

Well, how could he have survived that...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Life_Model_Decoy

They were even in  _Nick Fury: Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D_.


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## MarkB (Jun 13, 2013)

Walking Dad said:


> Well, how could he have survived that...
> 
> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Life_Model_Decoy
> 
> They were even in  _Nick Fury: Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D_.




And they were a throwaway joke line in the Avengers movie, which suggests that they weren't actually real in that continuity.


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## Lord Mhoram (Jun 16, 2013)

MarkB said:


> And they were a throwaway joke line in the Avengers movie, which suggests that they weren't actually real in that continuity.




I read it just the opposite - basically "You have reached Tony Stark's answering machine." thus implying they were real.


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## MarkB (Jun 16, 2013)

Lord Mhoram said:


> I read it just the opposite - basically "You have reached Tony Stark's answering machine." thus implying they were real.




It was a video call so he couldn't claim it was an answering machine, and thus made up the "life model decoy" thing as a last-ditch excuse. It works as a gag precisely _because_ it's such an unbelievable excuse.


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## Lord Mhoram (Jun 16, 2013)

MarkB said:


> It was a video call so he couldn't claim it was an answering machine, and thus made up the "life model decoy" thing as a last-ditch excuse. It works as a gag precisely _because_ it's such an unbelievable excuse.




And I saw it as just the reverse - to me he expected the person on the other end to know what a life model decoy was.


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## jonesy (Jun 16, 2013)

Lord Mhoram said:


> And I saw it as just the reverse - to me he expected the person on the other end to know what a life model decoy was.



Yeah, that's what I thought too. The joke doesn't really work if the person he's talking to doesn't have a reference for it.


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## Richards (Jun 16, 2013)

That's how I took it - that Tony was referring to something Agent Coulson was already aware of as existing.

Johnathan


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## Bullgrit (Jun 18, 2013)

The Agent Coulson Loki "killed" better not have been a LMD. That would ruin the whole scene, the dialog and sacrifice that Coulson gave.

Also, I'm interested in this new show, but in the trailer there is one thing that bugs me. When Coulson shouts, "Never tell me something is impossible!" That seems kind of out of character for him. From what we've seen in the movies, (and a short on YouTube), Coulson is the ultimate cool head, never raises his voice or loses his composure.

Bullgrit


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## ThatGrumpyScotsman (Jun 18, 2013)

I wish he stayed dead. This has spoiled some of The Avengers for me.


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## Mistwell (Aug 12, 2013)

I HAZ SEENIT! The Pilot episode, that is. They showed it at D23 Disney Fan Expo, introduced by Jeph Loeb.

Non-Spoilers:

Acting is pretty good. A couple of mildly weaker characters, but overall I'd say the acting is solid, and there are enough veteran actors to carry this thing through for a long time.

Directing was good. This episode was directed by Joss Weadon, so no idea if directing will hold.

Writing was good. I was engaged, and wanted to see more.

It has good tie-in feel with the rest of the Marvel universe.

Now for the spoiler-stuff:

[sblock]First, maybe Coulson did *NOT *live? Maybe? (more on that later), and Cobie Smulders (How I Met Your Mother) returns as Agent Maria Hill. Ron Glass (Shepherd Book from Firefly) is an agent as well.

Lola, the car, is WAY cooler than you think from the commercials.

Massive tie-in to the other movies, as they pilot focuses on a "caterpillar" experiment being conducted by somebody (the big bad unknown) which injects all of Gamma radiation, Extremis and supersoldier serum into the test subject, giving them various abilities, until they explode like Extremis. Chitauri weaponry is also being sourced to this same unknown group.

And, the big spoiler...maybe Agent Coulsen DID die? It's unclear what happened. He's in this.  HE thinks he lived, and only died for 8 seconds, and eventually woke up from an induced coma in Tahiti. There is an implication from others in SHIELD that no, he's not been told what happened. Is he a clone? An android? Superpowered? Unclear, but part of the A story I think. [/sblock]

Overall, I liked it, and look forward to seeing more.

If anyone has any questions, I am happy to answer them.


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## Nytmare (Aug 12, 2013)

How did the effects look overall?

The cgi-ed dude jumping out of the window really has me worried about the overall quality of the effects.


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## Mistwell (Aug 12, 2013)

Nytmare said:


> How did the effects look overall?
> 
> The cgi-ed dude jumping out of the window really has me worried about the overall quality of the effects.




Effects looked good to me.


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## MBJwally (Sep 15, 2013)

Someone asked me why would anyone want to watch a superhero show without the super heroes and I couldn't think of a good reply..


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## Nytmare (Sep 15, 2013)

I heard an interesting tidbit recently, but I don't remember where it's from.  The plan by Marvel et al. is to broaden all of the Avenger offshoots from straight super hero movies to other genres with super hero tacked on.  

Thor is going to be super hero/high fantasy.  Captain America is going to be super hero/spy thriller.  I'm imagining that Agents of Shield will be super hero/whatever TV show JJ Abrams keeps on trying to make between Fringe and Alias.  I'm imagining that there will be a lot of daddy issues and collecting random pieces of ancient, forgotten technology to build a doomsday device that might accidentally save the world.


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## wingsandsword (Sep 16, 2013)

MBJwally said:


> Someone asked me why would anyone want to watch a superhero show without the super heroes and I couldn't think of a good reply..




Don't think of it as "a superhero show without the super heroes", because that's not what it is.

It's a spy/cop show set in a world that's changing, that can be seen as a superhero setting.

This is a world that is supposed to be pretty much our world, except with in the last 3 years or so:

A billionaire genius inventor has created a perfect clean energy source (but he keeps it to himself), and has also created suits of power armor that basically let him take on small armies by himself.

Has got hard confirmation that they are not alone in the universe, that there is other intelligent life, this life is incomprehensibly technologically advanced (to the point that the last time they came, they were hailed as gods), and that there are ones who are unquestionably hostile to Earth (Loki and the Chitauri) but also those who are helpful (Thor).  Top that with said hostile alien life engaging in open warfare in New York City which did several times more damage than 9/11.

Has had to deal with the effects of attempts to create a "super soldier" basically unleashing untold destruction on the world by creating near-invincible super-strong monstrosities.  (Hulk and the Abomination).

Ect.

Now imagine you're a spy or other senior government official in that world.  The world got awfully interesting awfully quick.  All kinds of things to investigate, all kinds of things to look around for.


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## fba827 (Sep 19, 2013)

in case it hasn't been mentioned yet (and apologies if it has since i haven't read this whole thread) but the premier is tuesday september 24 in the US.  Don't know about elsewhere.


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## Morrus (Sep 19, 2013)

fba827 said:


> in case it hasn't been mentioned yet (and apologies if it has since i haven't read this whole thread) but the premier is tuesday september 24 in the US.  Don't know about elsewhere.




27th for the UK. Anyone who spoils it for me will go on my special Doctor Who spoilers list.


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## Mistwell (Sep 19, 2013)

MBJwally said:


> Someone asked me why would anyone want to watch a superhero show without the super heroes and I couldn't think of a good reply..




There are superheroes.


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## Kramodlog (Sep 19, 2013)

It has been a while since I've been looking forward to watch a TV show. I hope this will live up to expectations.


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## calronmoonflower (Sep 20, 2013)

Isn't Batman a superhero story without a actual superhero? It is more than powers that makes a hero.


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## Kramodlog (Sep 20, 2013)

The powers make you super. Batman's is super rich, that is why he is a superhero.


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## Morrus (Sep 20, 2013)

calronmoonflower said:


> Isn't Batman a superhero story without a actual superhero? It is more than powers that makes a hero.




Superhero doesn't have to mean superpowered.  It's a genre hero description, not a technical power description.  But even so, Merriam-Webster defines the word as "a fictional hero having extraordinary or superhuman powers; also :  an exceptionally skillful or successful person".

So Batman's a superhero under either definition!


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## Felon (Sep 25, 2013)

calronmoonflower said:


> Isn't Batman a superhero story without a actual superhero? It is more than powers that makes a hero.




True, there's also a costume, codename, trademark abilities and/or paraphernalia. Basically, stuff more fascinating than these guys are likely to have going on. Could be good anyway though.

Watching that trailer, I can only think about how young this show is skewing. If Coulson weren't around this show could be on the WB.


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## Mistwell (Sep 25, 2013)

Felon said:


> True, there's also a costume, codename, trademark abilities and/or paraphernalia. Basically, stuff more fascinating than these guys are likely to have going on. Could be good anyway though.
> 
> Watching that trailer, I can only think about how young this show is skewing. If Coulson weren't around this show could be on the WB.




Uh, what? 

Clark Gregg is 51.  Ming-Na Wen is 49.  Colby Smuthers is 31.  Seems to skew 30-something, and not WB age range at all.


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## Olgar Shiverstone (Sep 25, 2013)

Blech.  I lost interest 15 minutes in.


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## Crothian (Sep 25, 2013)

I thought it was great!


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## Felon (Sep 25, 2013)

Mistwell said:


> Uh, what?
> Clark Gregg is 51.  Ming-Na Wen is 49.  Colby Smuthers is 31.  Seems to skew 30-something, and not WB





No need to act all dumbfounded. As I said, I watched the trailer. I didn't go do research on them. If that's what 49 is supposed to look like at a glance, I gotta get back in the market.


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## Hand of Evil (Sep 25, 2013)

Very bad time slot, it could not keep me from watching NCIS.  Have to see how it goes next week.  As far as Agent Coulson, I think you have to go back to The Silver age of Comics and look [wiki][/wiki], a tool of S.H.I.E.L.D.


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## Mistwell (Sep 25, 2013)

Felon said:


> No need to act all dumbfounded. As I said, I watched the teaser. I didn't go look up their biographies or anything. If that's what 49 is supposed to look like at a glance, I gotta get back in the market.




Yeah I thought the same thing about Ming-Na


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## Felon (Sep 25, 2013)

Anyway, it neither fell short of nor exceeded expectations. No compelling villains or "dark" characters, so there's no real sense of menace or betrayal, which are the ingredients that make a show like this most palatable. 

it didn't help that very little happened that wasn't already spoiled by the trailers. One-liners aren't terribly funny when hearing them for the thirtieth time. 

Then again, it would have to have been pretty darn bad to break my resolve not to watch it for a while.


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## Kramodlog (Sep 25, 2013)

Hopefully, it won't go into vilain of the week mode just yet.


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## Bullgrit (Sep 25, 2013)

Watched it last night with my whole family -- me, wife, two boys age 12 and 8. Found it decently good, not fantastic, not bad. I'll watch again. But it's just a first episode, just learning to walk. One thing my boys commented on, and I agree, it was hard to tell the women apart from each other. Four women all thin, attractive, with long straight dark hair.

Agent Coulson and Tahiti - From the various comments, I suspect Agent Coulson actually did die, but was brought back to life somehow.

Bullgrit


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## Ahnehnois (Sep 26, 2013)

Kind of disappointing, really. It had some entertainment value, but two things really bugged me. One, wow this show is really white (J August Richards is just a guest star). Two, in one episode they pulled their punches two times: one foreman who seemed to be killed in a fit of rage, and one character who seemed to be shot in the head. Both are apparently fine. I don't like being lead to believe the show will examine the negatives of having superpowers and then being let down. If you're going to go there, go there.

The best thing for me was the music.


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## tomBitonti (Sep 26, 2013)

Ahnehnois said:


> Kind of disappointing, really. It had some entertainment value, but two things really bugged me. One, wow this show is really white (J August Richards is just a guest star). Two, in one episode they pulled their punches two times: one foreman who seemed to be killed in a fit of rage, and one character who seemed to be shot in the head. Both are apparently fine. I don't like being lead to believe the show will examine the negatives of having superpowers and then being let down. If you're going to go there, go there.
> 
> The best thing for me was the music.




Ditto on the show being really white.  There seems to be very little cultural, racial, and economic diversity in the parts.  That the guest was black, and working class, and struggling, only amplifies the lack of diversity.  Not going to get into it, but the show seems to have positioned itself at the center of some very divisive social issues.  The show highlighting the lack of diversity through the lead off story seems to make this deliberate (which is strange to me).

Hard to say more within the ENWorld guidelines.  I did find the episode to be enjoyable.  The scope of jokes and of story points -- very quick -- seems to fit the shorter attention spans of modern audiences.

I'm willing to give the show more episodes to prove itself.  Nice that there are plot points that carry over into new episodes: 



Spoiler



Who is behind Centipede; what really happened with Coulson; what was Skye doing with the memory chip that she stashed away?  Also, is the tie-in to Iron Man III a correct understanding of the technology in use?



Thx!

TomB


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## Umbran (Sep 26, 2013)

It may seem very white - one actress is from Macau, another is Chinese-American - but they potentially have done well on the gender-balance.  We'll have to see as the characters develop, of course.  

With a cast of six, two of which may turn out to be kind of minor (the scientists, I fear, may never get really fleshed out, but we'll see) it is going to be difficult to be diverse in every possible way.



			
				tomBitonti said:
			
		

> That the guest was black, and working class, and struggling, only amplifies the lack of diversity.




Given Richards' monologue at the end, it seems more like that's a specific point being made than the normal mindless (or racist-pandering) lack of diversity seen in most shows today.  They know darned well what the team looks like, and made a point of that.  We'll have to see if it becomes a theme...


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## tomBitonti (Sep 26, 2013)

Umbran said:


> Given Richards' monologue at the end, it seems more like that's a specific point being made than the normal mindless (or racist-pandering) lack of diversity seen in most shows today.  They know darned well what the team looks like, and made a point of that.  We'll have to see if it becomes a theme...




That seeming self awareness is what made it all strange (to me, at least).  I get it that they are kind-of making a comment about their own lack of diversity.  But, they still have that lack of diversity.  I'm left trying to understand the point, hence the strangeness.

I do dig Ming-Na Wen (Macau) and Chloe Bennet (half Chinese).  Loved when Ming-Na showed her fighting skills on the balcony.  Appreciate that Ming-Na is a strong character.  The other two ladies seemed a bit ditsy.  Not sure how to take the scene where Skye is vamping it up to interrogate Dalton.  Didn't really get a good sense of the two techies, other than to be amused by their interaction.

Thx!

TomB


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## Ahnehnois (Sep 27, 2013)

Umbran said:


> With a cast of six, two of which may turn out to be kind of minor (the scientists, I fear, may never get really fleshed out, but we'll see) it is going to be difficult to be diverse in every possible way.



True, and the token minority characters that pop up sometimes aren't much better. One can't just fill in a bunch of demographic blanks when scripting/casting any show.

Then again, for the movies, they went so far as to change Nick Fury to being black.

I'd have felt better about it if the people they did cast stood out as amazing actors, frankly. Whedon's usually had a great eye for talent and a lot of actors from his shows have had big success afterwards, but I'm not feeling it with (most of) these supporting characters.


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## trappedslider (Sep 27, 2013)

Ahnehnois said:


> True, and the token minority characters that pop up sometimes aren't much better. One can't just fill in a bunch of demographic blanks when scripting/casting any show.
> 
> Then again, for the movies, they went so far as to change Nick Fury to being black.
> .




The movies are based in part on the Ultimate line of comics,where Nick is indeed black and done purposely on Jackson's likeness ot the the point where they had to let him play the role in the movies to use it.


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## Umbran (Sep 27, 2013)

trappedslider said:


> The movies are based in part on the Ultimate line of comics,where Nick is indeed black and done purposely on Jackson's likeness ot the the point where they had to let him play the role in the movies to use it.




Correct - there's been an African-American Nick Fury that looks like Samuel L Jackson for over a decade.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ultimate_Nick_Fury

It is not odd for them to use the Ultimate Fury here.  Most of the Marvel Cinematic Universe takes at least some influence from the Ultimate line.  The "Chitauri" from the Avengers movie, for example, are the Ultimates line version of the Skrull...


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## SkidAce (Sep 28, 2013)

I was hoping they would just use the Skrull.


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## Felon (Sep 28, 2013)

Ahnehnois said:


> Kind of disappointing, really. It had some entertainment value, but two things really bugged me. One, wow this show is really white (J August Richards is just a guest star). Two, in one episode they pulled their punches two times: one foreman who seemed to be killed in a fit of rage, and one character who seemed to be shot in the head. Both are apparently fine. I don't like being lead to believe the show will examine the negatives of having superpowers and then being let down. If you're going to go there, go there.



Bear in mind that they don't even "go there" in the movies, where they go to assiduous lengths to avoid depicting death onscreen. After that climax where Coulson saves the day with a salvo of schmaltzy rhetoric, I'd say we're in for a lot of unilateral optimism. 

As for the whole diversity thing, I can take it or leave it as long as it's not ham-fisted.


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## jonesy (Sep 29, 2013)

I'm betting that FitzSimmons is *Bioshock Infinite spoiler*.


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## darrell_uk (Sep 29, 2013)

As to the guy being shot in the head a not dieing; was I alone then in spotting the heavy handed foreshadowing when the techies are introduced? Discussing a non-lethal gun that may never work, which penetrates the outer layers of the skin but no more. ( To paraphrase.)


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## jonesy (Sep 29, 2013)

Howard Stark: "I did say a few years, did I not?"


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## Fast Learner (Sep 30, 2013)

I really enjoyed myself and had a hell of a time, as did my girlfriend. Disappointing to hear that it wasn't as great for everyone.


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## frankthedm (Sep 30, 2013)

Shame the super was just a one shot. I avoided most spoilers, so I missed the announcement that he was not The Hero For Hire. Kinda was hoping see a semi serious take on an every-man turned super dealing with desire to be a hero but still having bills to pay and wanting to enjoy a well to do lifestyle. It would have been a nice contrast with the Government funded agents or supers with bottomless bank accounts.


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## Umbran (Sep 30, 2013)

darrell_uk said:


> ...was I alone then in spotting the heavy handed foreshadowing when the techies are introduced? Discussing a non-lethal gun that may never work, which penetrates the outer layers of the skin but no more. ( To paraphrase.)




Nope, you were not alone.  



Spoiler



The techies discuss (and show) a gun that can disperse chemicals to the body.  They are then set to finding a cure, very sternly, by Coulson.  They then show a guy getting shot in the head, and the marksman is holding aforementioned techie gun, and has a happy techie standing next to him, where none was before.

They also show the gent who was shot, and the pellet is still sitting there on his forehead, rather than having a big hole and blood on the floor.



The interpretation there's pretty obvious.


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## Umbran (Sep 30, 2013)

frankthedm said:


> Kinda was hoping see a semi serious take on an every-man turned super dealing with desire to be a hero but still having bills to pay and wanting to enjoy a well to do lifestyle. It would have been a nice contrast with the Government funded agents or supers with bottomless bank accounts.




I suspect Luke Cage is being saved for a time when they feel it right - he's got a lot of potential, and they probably don't want to waste that on a failed attempt.


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## Janx (Sep 30, 2013)

Is it just me, or does the hacker girl they recruited seem an awful lot like eliza dushku?

We know Joss likes Eliza (Faith from Buffy, and whatsher name from Dollhouse), and Joss likes re-using his actors (Gunn from Angel was the Freak of the Week for this episode).

Obviously, it wasn't Eliza.  But it seems as if he likes that look.


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## Janx (Sep 30, 2013)

SkidAce said:


> I was hoping they would just use the Skrull.




I thought that was a Skrull at the very very end of the Avengers movie.  And it clearly wasn't the main dudes who attacked Earth under Loki's command.


If I recall, the Skrulls where the shape shifters.  So we can expect a Skrull invasion by replacement at some point in the series.


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## Bullgrit (Sep 30, 2013)

Janx said:
			
		

> I thought that was a Skrull at the very very end of the Avengers movie.



Thanos.

Bullgrit


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## Morrus (Sep 30, 2013)

Janx said:


> Is it just me, or does the hacker girl they recruited seem an awful lot like eliza dushku?
> 
> We know Joss likes Eliza (Faith from Buffy, and whatsher name from Dollhouse), and Joss likes re-using his actors (Gunn from Angel was the Freak of the Week for this episode).
> 
> Obviously, it wasn't Eliza.  But it seems as if he likes that look.




Only in the "US TV type of casting" kind of way.  The two don't really look alike.


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## Felon (Sep 30, 2013)

Janx said:


> I thought that was a Skrull at the very very end of the Avengers movie.  And it clearly wasn't the main dudes who attacked Earth under Loki's command.
> 
> 
> If I recall, the Skrulls where the shape shifters.  So we can expect a Skrull invasion by replacement at some point in the series.




It hurts me physically that you thought that was a skrull. That line about "courting death" that evoked an inhuman grin from Thanos was so deliciously perfect. Marvel films already had a superior commitment to portraying superheroes in a large-than-life context rather than the more subdued approach of the likes of Batman, X-Men ("would you prefer yellow spandex?"), and Fantastic Four (Galactus as some hazy cloud), but Thanos is an out-and-out full-blown cosmic menace. 

Admittedly, Rocket Raccoon may be taking it too far...


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## darrell_uk (Sep 30, 2013)

Umbran said:


> Nope, you were not alone.  ...
> 
> The interpretation there's pretty obvious.




Thought so. So why are people discussing the wimping out of him being killed?


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## Janx (Sep 30, 2013)

Felon said:


> It hurts me physically that you thought that was a skrull. That line about "courting death" that evoked an inhuman grin from Thanos was so deliciously perfect. Marvel films already had a superior commitment to portraying superheroes in a large-than-life context rather than the more subdued approach of the likes of Batman, X-Men ("would you prefer yellow spandex?"), and Fantastic Four (Galactus as some hazy cloud), but Thanos is an out-and-out full-blown cosmic menace.
> 
> Admittedly, Rocket Raccoon may be taking it too far...




I guess this should kill you then.

Who the heck is Thanos?

Not everybody followed Avengers comics, to know who every villain in the marvel universe is.

And the guy really does look like a purple Skrull.





It's the chin.


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## trappedslider (Sep 30, 2013)

Janx said:


> I guess this should kill you then.
> 
> Who the heck is Thanos?
> 
> ...




He isn't jsut an Avenger's villain but thats where he majorly appears http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thanos lol he and Deadpool have a thing for Death


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## Janx (Sep 30, 2013)

trappedslider said:


> He isn't jsut an Avenger's villain but thats where he majorly appears http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thanos lol he and Deadpool have a thing for Death




I was just yanking felon's chain.

I followed the X-titles when I read comics.  So I don't know everything about everybody else in Marvel (though i picked up a lot of trivia through osmosis to do well on the Marvel Ultimate Alliance series' trivia mini-games).


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## Rabulias (Oct 1, 2013)

Just FYI, the Skrulls are associated with the Fantastic Four and therefore the movie rights to them are currently in the hands of 20th Century Fox (along with the FF). This is why they used the Chitauri in _The Avengers_ film, and why we probably won't see the Skrulls in any Avengers film or TV show anytime soon.


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## Umbran (Oct 1, 2013)

Janx said:


> Who the heck is Thanos?




In short - A big badass cosmic threat.  He worships death, and is a "I wanna destroy the Universe" kind of guy.





> Not everybody followed Avengers comics, to know who every villain in the marvel universe is.




Corollary:  it is impossible for them to pick any villain that *everyone* knows.  



> And the guy really does look like a purple Skrull.




You can tell the difference by the ears.  Skrulls have big, pointy ears.  Thanos doesn't.  

In standard Marvel history - Thanos is actually an "Eternal". Five million years ago, an alien race known as the Celestials muddled in the development of life on many planets.  On Earth, they muddled with proto-humanity to make us sentient, and created the Eternals (who were intended to be protectors of Earth) and the Deviants (who are kind of a side effect, and not happy about it).  This same meddling left normal humans with the capacity for superpowers, leading to the supers-filled Earth of the comics.


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## Kramodlog (Oct 1, 2013)

Ain't Thanos a Titan and not an Eternal? Are Titans also Eternals? Cause it didn't look like the Eternals were Titans when Neil Gaiman did the reboot.


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## Janx (Oct 2, 2013)

Umbran said:


> In short - A big badass cosmic threat.  He worships death, and is a "I wanna destroy the Universe" kind of guy.
> 
> 
> 
> ...




Thanks!  That actually cleared it all up for me.


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## Fast Learner (Oct 2, 2013)

Janx said:


> Is it just me, or does the hacker girl they recruited seem an awful lot like eliza dushku?
> 
> We know Joss likes Eliza (Faith from Buffy, and whatsher name from Dollhouse), and Joss likes re-using his actors (Gunn from Angel was the Freak of the Week for this episode).
> 
> Obviously, it wasn't Eliza.  But it seems as if he likes that look.



My gf (who's only seen a couple of seasons of Buffy) said, "Isn't that the 'dark' slayer woman from Buffy?", so it's definitely not just you.


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## HardcoreDandDGirl (Oct 2, 2013)

Second episode was good, I will just say if any villains need a young woman to throw themselves at coleson to distract him, sign me up...   I do like that sky is still a bit of a wildcard. What did everyone else think?


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## Kramodlog (Oct 2, 2013)

HardcoreDandDGirl said:


> Second episode was good, I will just say if any villains need a young woman to throw themselves at coleson to distract him, sign me up...



Daddy issues?


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## HardcoreDandDGirl (Oct 2, 2013)

goldomark said:


> Daddy issues?



maybe... but whats the matter with thinking the character is hott...


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## NewJeffCT (Oct 2, 2013)

Fast Learner said:


> My gf (who's only seen a couple of seasons of Buffy) said, "Isn't that the 'dark' slayer woman from Buffy?", so it's definitely not just you.




Now that you mention it, they do look a bit alike:






Heck, Summer Glau would fit right into that group as well.


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## Mistwell (Oct 2, 2013)

My biggest complaint about the show is that Skye does not look like a hacker, nor does she look like someone who lives in a van.  But, ComicBookGirl19 sums up that complaint better than I can (and much harsher than I'd be):

[video=youtube_share;9zEUJ4nbnz4]http://youtu.be/9zEUJ4nbnz4[/video]


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## NewJeffCT (Oct 2, 2013)

I'd probably agree with comic book girl on Skye being dressed too nicely and being too well coiffed to be living out of a van.  Pretty hacker I might buy, but I'd have preferred to see her a little scruffier to start - maybe cleaned up more as she goes through the season, better kept hair, etc.


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## Dog Moon (Oct 2, 2013)

I definitely agree with her comment on commercials.  I HATE commercials.  I always record shows and then fast forward through the commercials.


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## Dog Moon (Oct 2, 2013)

Watching that video reminds me of Crazy Eddy from the TV series First Wave.  THAT'S how a paranoid hacker who lives in his van should be like.


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## Morrus (Oct 2, 2013)

I haven't watched a show live in years. The very idea seems odd to me! The only exception is Doctor Who. But the BBC doesn't have ad breaks.

Anyhow - back to the subject. Are her morals established? A super hacker like her could easily be rich; the occasional bank or stock market hack. So living in a van doesn't seem necessary unless she's a strongly moral character. Even then, she makes money somehow, right? Perhaps she can still afford to get her hair done every day.


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## Kramodlog (Oct 3, 2013)

Maybe she lives in a van do afford the hair care! It all makes sense now! The series can end.


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## HardcoreDandDGirl (Oct 3, 2013)

goldomark said:


> Maybe she lives in a van do afford the hair care! It all makes sense now! The series can end.



I have known people who lived out of RVs (not quite a van) that had brand new video games, cloths, and manicure... and went tanning to a tanning bed in the summer in Atlanta GA...


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## Kramodlog (Oct 3, 2013)

HardcoreDandDGirl said:


> I have known people who lived out of RVs (not quite a van) that had brand new video games, cloths, and manicure... and went tanning to a tanning bed in the summer in Atlanta GA...



I can afford hair care and a condo. Does this mean I could be a agent of shield with greater ranking than hacker girl?


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## HardcoreDandDGirl (Oct 3, 2013)

goldomark said:


> I can afford hair care and a condo. Does this mean I could be a agent of shield with greater ranking than hacker girl?




no, but if you can hack a government DoD or HLS with a laptop you got second hand...then you can get any job you want


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## Kramodlog (Oct 3, 2013)

Not necessarely, depends on your driven by ideology or princpales.


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