Noe Valladolid – Marvel Series 5

Noe is back with part 5 of his epic look at Marvel and the Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. You can get caught up on parts One, Two, Three, and Four  before jumping into today’s article.

Warner Bros. owns the library of DC characters and has a pretty solid following on television. If recent seasons had shown a weakness with the comic book to TV adaptations, it was in the casting. The DC shows were very male-centric. Women were supporting characters at best and ladies in distress at worst. Agents of Shield was a counterargument to that type of storytelling. In the comics, women have always held positions of power within S.H.I.E.L.D.. This was made very clear in the Marvel live action films. Agent Maria Hill had the admiration of Both Director Nick Fury and Coulson. She was very integral to the organization when it was active as well as after it was disbanded. The character was brought to life by Cobie Smulders. In animated form she was voiced by Kari Wührer.

Agent Hill had a presence in film but the television series belonged to Agent Melinda May, played by Disney Legend Ming-Na Wen. May was one of the best field operatives the group had ever trained. She ranked up there with Hawkeye and the Black Widow for being able to get the job done, in fact her nickname was “the Cavalry.” Agent May was responsible for overseeing Coulson and reporting directly to Fury. At least this was her task before S.H.I.E.L.D. was disbanded. Now she is helping Coulson try to rebuild S.H.I.E.L.D. in the second season.

Joss Whedon has long been credited for bringing powerful women to television. From Buffy the Vampire Slayer to Serenity, his shows had always included strong, independent female characters. Of course, he doesn’t see himself as a person who is pushing some sort of feminist agenda. If anything, he reminds his fans that the bigger question is why Hollywood doesn’t consistently include strong female or minority characters in film and TV. He and his brothers are simply writing for a sorely missed audience. This became obvious in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Melinda May is the veteran character but she is also a mentor. Agent Skye, played by Chloe Bennet, started off as a computer hacker but was taught hand-to-hand combat by Agent Ward (played by Brett Dalton) and marksmanship by May. Little by little Skye went from civilian to specialist over the course of two seasons. It was a realistic transformation for the character. It showed a sense of growth that many television shows lacked. The same could be said for Agent Simmons, the bio-chemist went from working in the lab to infiltrating HYDRA. The bubbly personality became cool and calculating over the course of two seasons. At this rate, they should be able to share the big screen with the more popular characters.

SHELD was not without its super-powered allies. The first season brought a movie heavyweight into the mix. Lady Sif, played by Jamie Alexander, was featured in Thor as one of the warriors from Asguard. She had gone to Earth in pursuit of an evil sorceress named Lorelei. Jamie did a great job at reprising her role. She had the same fighting prowess and sense of urgency that had followed her film debut. The appearance of Lady Sif also reminded audiences that the Avengers were not a one-time collaboration. S.H.I.E.L.D. had allies around the world and even across the cosmos that they could call upon.

After the events of Captain America 2, S.H.I.E.L.D. needed to rebuild and form new alliances. Without a headquarters, and while still being pursued by General Talbot, Director Coulson and his team had to keep on the move. HYDRA, on the other hand, could operate independently. Each S.H.I.E.L.D. outpost ran under the radar, disguised as a technology company using any one of a dozen fake fronts. HYDRA was rebuilding quickly, faster than S.H.I.E.L.D. at the start of season 2. They were recruiting all sorts of new talent and trying to secure meta-humans into their ranks. Coulson knew that the only way to stay a step ahead of them was by planting a mole. He selected Agent Simmons for the task. Her cover was that she voluntarily left SHIELD once they were disbanded and was looking for new work. She had done a reasonable job infiltrating the organization and gaining the trust of the higher-ups. In most television shows it was usually the men doing all of the spy work. This was where the casting in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. really worked in their favor. The female characters were all as capable as the male counterparts, if not more so. Yet having one mole working at HYDRA was only the beginning.

Marvel announced that they would bring in another familiar face from the comics. Adrianne Palicki would be playing Bobbi Morse. The HYDRA special agent was actually a double-agent, much like Agent Ward was when he infiltrated S.H.I.E.L.D.. As the saying goes,”turnabout is fair play.” What made the choice unique was that Adrianne was originally cast as DC’s Wonder Woman in the cancelled television series. It didn’t take Whedon long to bring over the actress and her fans. Whedon had not only managed to find a role for “Wonder Woman” on the AoS, he also gave a nod to one of the great female action stars: Lucy Lawless, made famous for her role as Xena: Warrior Princess, appeared in the first episode of season 2 as Isabelle Hartley. She was a short lived no-nonsense character. Hopefully her character might be revisited (in flashbacks) but if not it was okay. The series won’t be running out of strong female leads any time soon.

Of course people that don’t follow comics might not know what the big deal is about the character. Bobbi Morse is much more than a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent, she is part of a special forces group, exposing corruption from within and going on deep-cover assignments. Her code name is Mockingbird. She is an expert in hand-to-hand combat and skilled with weapons and firearms. In comic book circles she is considered the equivalent of Hawkeye. For those that liked to compare the characters against DC icons, she is like Black Canary or the Huntress to the Green Arrow. The announcement of Bobbi appearing in the AoS meant that her alter-ego might be seen as well. Fans were eager to see more characters from the comics and films turn up in the episodes. Why should the Avengers have all the fun after all?

Women have given Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. an unmistakable presence. Agent Coulson got audiences interested in the series but it was the strong female heroes, villains and supporting characters that kept them coming back. Agents of SHIELD didn’t dominate the ratings war but it is doing well and gaining new fans with each episode. By comparison, the Marvel films are certifiable blockbusters. It seemed that Marvel can do no wrong at the box office.

Yet there was one thing that Marvel could not seem to find much success in. When it came to video games Marvel could not gain any sort of following. The next entry in this series will look at how the movies did nothing to bolster the game market.

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