Joss Whedon spoke to TVLine about S.H.I.E.L.D. at the Streamy awards last night.
He gave us some insight into the S.H.I.E.L.D. series saying, “It’s not about murder, and it’s not about crime, and it’s not people looking into their own belly buttons. It’s about people who are trying to help each other, and that’s one of the things I loved about comic books. They had costumes and the villains were cool [but] they stood for something, and I like doing a show that does that.”
This is the first time we’ve had any real hint of what form the series will take and it will be interesting to see how people react. It is possible many fans assumed the show would take on the form of a crime series but it appears that may not be the case.
He goes on to say we shouldn’t expect to see a lot of familiar Marvel faces and that they want to “involve people in the characters that we’ve created for the show.” He does suggest there’s some discussion about the appearance of familiar faces (likely Maria Hill as we’ve already heard Cobie Smulders is in negotiations) should the series be picked up by ABC.
Read the full article on TVLine.
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I always love new interviews, but this isn’t exactly a revelation, given what we know about Joss’ work. Regardless of what show you pick, all of Joss’ work is about people helping others and finding a family. I daresay that found-family and shared humanity is the central theme of his entire body of work.
Any info about the show is like nerd catnip though!
Sounds like its taking a cue from Angel, which is always a good thing. Angel was all about people coming together to help each other as well as the helpless.
You know Angel isn’t the first thing I thought of when I read the description but you have a good point.
I have to confess I didn’t love Angel a whole lot (don’t shoot me!) but I believe that was due to the WAY in which I experienced it. I was unwell and basically marathoned the entire series. By the end of it I just felt so depressed … it was too much. Watching it over an extended period of time would have, I’m sure, left me with a completely different feeling.
I expect S.H.I.E.L.D. to be a lot more lighthearted than Angel was (generally speaking of course) but I guess only time will tell how similar they will be
I’m with borednihilist on this. Pretty much any Whedon show can be described as a bunch of people trying to help eachother. Actually, scratch that, most shows on TV are this. But hey, at least we do know it’s a premise that works. And nerd catnip feels nice.
I think Joss has a very specific way of portraying groups of friends/people (and a specific point for doing so), compared to any show you might pick to compare to his. He doesn’t shy away from showing the darker side of friendship, if you will – the tensions, fights, struggles due to differing viewpoints. He balances all those POVs masterfully in all his work, and I think that’s a very rare ability amongst even the best of storytellers.