With Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. fast becoming the most anticipated new show of the fall 2013 season, there has been much speculation about what the show will be like and what we can expect to see. True to form, creator Joss Whedon has been tightlipped about the latest addition to the Marvel Cinematic Universe and we know little more about the show now than we did before it was officially picked up last month.
That said, S.H.I.E.L.D. is going to be a Joss Whedon show, and to those in certain circles (by which I mean certain fandoms), that alone means quite a lot. With four cult successes under his belt in Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, Firefly, and Dollhouse, fans know that when Whedon is involved, there are a few things you can always count on. For instance…
5. An Awesome Theme Song
Whedon has a knack for picking out theme songs that perfectly match the tone of the show. Buffy had a very guitar-heavy, pumped up theme that complimented Buffy’s own kick-ass nature. Angel, on the other hand, had a slightly sadder, stringed theme that struck a chord with the guilt and sadness Angel carried with him. Perhaps the most popular of Whedon’s theme songs, however, is the Firefly theme, “The Ballad of Serenity”. The lyrics and simplicity of the song really do hit on all of the show’s major themes, and with lines like “You can’t take the sky from me,” this is perhaps one of the most poetic genre theme songs.
S.H.I.E.L.D. will likely follow in the footsteps of Whedon’s previous shows and I am predicting an epic, rock and roll theme, something you could imagine Coulson blasting from Lola’s stereo. In addition, expect S.H.I.E.L.D. to have a character intro style song, one where each of the characters gets their own moment to shine. So, think more Buffy or Smallville, less Arrow or Supernatural. I’m sure we can expect the full soundtrack for S.H.I.E.L.D. to be pretty awesome (although it’s doubtful that we’ll see a full-on musical episode).
4. Strong Female Characters
Buffy Summers. River Tam. Echo. Whedon has done almost as much to define the action heroine as James Cameron. Each of his shows has featured strong women, and I mean that literally and figuratively. Where many genre shows have female characters who can only be called three-dimensional because of their cup size, Whedon goes above and beyond to make his ladies just as powerful and developed as any male character.
In many way, Whedon set a standard for the action heroine that shows like Battlestar Galactica, Lost Girls, and Defiance have taken to heart. One can only hope that we will see the same amount of girl power in S.H.I.E.L.D. (something some have doubts about, considering the lack of character development for Black Widow and Maria Hill in The Avengers). Still, if our brief introduction to Ming-Na Wen’s Melinda May in the trailer is anything to go by, I don’t think we have anything to worry about.
3. Witty Banter
Again, something we’ve come to expect from Whedon is clever dialogue and, yes, witty banter. Whether it’s Xander and Willow arguing over some irrelevant detail, Topher revealing his drawer of inappropriate starches, or really anything that comes out of Capt. Reynolds’ mouth, there seems to be no lack of Whedon-inspired memes. Even 10 or 15 years later, these quotes are still just as prevalent in the collective internet consciousness.
The teaser trailer for S.H.I.E.L.D. gave us a glimpse at a couple of clever lines, most memorably “Don’t touch Lola.” It seems fair to say that we’ll be treated to many more quotable lines come September.
2. Cameos
As we have noted before, Whedon has a wide stable of actors that he returns to time and again. As yet, we have not heard whether any of them will be appearing in S.H.I.E.L.D. (although Sean Maher and Nathan Fillion have all but confirmed that they won’t be in various interviews). Still, even the short-lived Firefly saw several Buffy and Angel alums popping up and I wouldn’t be surprised to see any of the ten actors we mentioned or any of the ones we didn’t on the show.
Personally, I’m still holding out for Fillion as Hank Pym, but I would settle for James Marsters as just about anything.
1. Death
Sad but true, death seems to always been just around the corner for Whedon’s characters. I won’t name all of them here, but up until Game of Thrones‘ Red Wedding, Whedon was responsible for some of the most memorable character deaths in any fandom.
Killing off characters is a great way to add tension to a show; it raises the stakes significantly when you know that no one is carrying a character shield (pun intended?). Even if Coulson is now mysteriously back from the grave, that doesn’t mean that any of the other characters are safe. Considering it only took Joss 11 episodes of Angel to kill of Doyle, it’s possible we won’t even have to wait very long before someone takes a dirt nap.
What other Whedon traits to do think we’ll see in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.?
