Now that Marvel’s Inhumans has come to an end over on ABC, the House of Ideas is beginning the marketing push for their flagship TV series. Launched in 2013, Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. has earned itself a reputation as the tie-in series. Season 4 saw the show move to a later timeslot, embracing a darker tone than anything we’ve ever seen before. It was a critical success, and Marvel hopes lightning will strike twice.
Season 5 is sticking with that later timeslot, although moving to a Friday night. It’s taking the team to the final frontier, and perhaps even beyond. At New York Comic Con, excited fans were allowed to watch the first 20 minutes of Episode 1, “Orientation.” It led many outlets to suspect the team has actually been taken into the distant future , to a time when they’re considered legends. But can they really save the day from an unknown alien threat?
Meanwhile, we know that the ill-fated romance between Fitz and Simmons is about to come under a whole new degree of pressure. The first 20 minutes revealed that Fitz has been left on Earth , presumably allowing the series to continue Earth-based plots such as the anti-Inhuman movement known as the Watchdogs. There are other intriguing plot threads dangling loose too, not least Coulson’s mysterious deal with Zarathos, the Spirit of Vengeance.
The #AgentsofSHIELD are here to save the world…once they figure out where in the world they are. pic.twitter.com/4b0WNwOSdZ
— Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (@AgentsofSHIELD) November 11, 2017
Fans are nervous about the show’s future, and most believe this will be the last season. Curiously, ABC didn’t actually want to renew Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. for Season 5 but was forced to under pressure from Disney . That’s led many fans to believe this season is set to cross over with next year’s Marvel blockbuster, Avengers: Infinity War . The late start for the season means it will be coming to a close right around the time Infinity War hits the box office.
A lot of the trailer’s footage seems to be from the first episode, and you’ll note that Marvel and ABC are carefully avoiding giving us even a hint of what’s going on. The trailer gives us our first glimpse of a mysterious masked man , sure to be a comic book character who’s been reinvented for the wider MCU. It also confirms the presence of the alien Kree, who no doubt will be deeply concerned to learn that there are Inhumans on Earth once again.
Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. will return on Friday, December 1 (8-10 p.m. EST), on the ABC Television Network. The first episode will be a two-hour premiere, launching our team into an adventure beyond anything they’ve experienced before.
[Featured Image by ABC/Marvel]