Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. -- Marvel meets Joss Whedon meets...TV!

Look at the size of Adam Baldwin's melon!
http://www.imdb.com/media/rm588429056/nm0000284?ref_=nm_phs_md_4

'we need a shortcut'

<drives through field>

lol

Well, then: http://marvel.com/news/story/21476/disneys_marvel_and_netflix_join_forces_to_develop_historic_four_series_epic_plus_a_mini-series_event

If this succeeds it may render Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. superfluous to their long-term plans.

The Walt Disney Co. (NYSE: DIS) and Netflix Inc. (NASDAQ: NFLX) today announced an unprecedented deal for Marvel TV to bring multiple original series of live-action adventures of four of Marvel's most popular characters exclusively to the world's leading Internet TV Network beginning in 2015. This pioneering agreement calls for Marvel to develop four serialized programs leading to a mini-series programming event.
Led by a series focused on "Daredevil," followed by "Jessica Jones," "Iron Fist" and "Luke Cage," the epic will unfold over multiple years of original programming, taking Netflix members deep into the gritty world of heroes and villains of Hell's Kitchen, New York. Netflix has committed to a minimum of four, thirteen episodes series and a culminating Marvel's "The Defenders" mini-series event that reimagines a dream team of self-sacrificing, heroic characters.
Produced by Marvel Television in association with ABC Television Studios, this groundbreaking deal is Marvel’s most ambitious foray yet into live-action TV storytelling.
"This deal is unparalleled in its scope and size, and reinforces our commitment to deliver Marvel's brand, content and characters across all platforms of storytelling. Netflix offers an incredible platform for the kind of rich storytelling that is Marvel’s specialty," said Alan Fine, President of Marvel Entertainment. "This serialized epic expands the narrative possibilities of on-demand television and gives fans the flexibility to immerse themselves how and when they want in what's sure to be a thrilling and engaging adventure."

More on Marvel.com: http://marvel.com/news/story/21476/disneys_marvel_and_netflix_join_forces_to_develop_historic_four_series_epic_plus_a_mini-series_event#ixzz2jyGINQcy

Prob what Vin Diesel was talking to Disney about (I think it was Vin?) a few months ago

Too bad Terry Crews is already on a show because he is basically Luke Cage come to life

is hells kitchen still gritty

it got pretty bad when Daredevil built that giant castle thing and staffed it with undead ninjas

oh wait you mean irl

No, Luke Cage is gonna fight Gordon Ramsey.

gonna be a lot of interracial romance thought pieces about the jessica jones/luke cage dynamic and 85% of them will discuss scandal

has anyone EVER gotten daredevil right outside of the comic? the character seems impossible to pull off.

http://media.screened.com/uploads/0/587/237041-smithdd.jpg

xposting See, that's what they should have done all along. I know money is money, but if there's anything the zeitgeist-capturing cable dramas have shown, it's that people seem to appreciate a series that only run 10 or 13 episodes or whatever if it's really well done. Only in the US do we have these exhausting 30 ep runs or whatever it is. Make a handful of must-see episodes in a miniseries linked to a blockbuster series of movies and you've got yourself an event, one that also conveniently mirrors the crossover event model of comic books.

i would go with brubaker world for this whole thing

marvel must be so pissed that sony has so many of their most recognizable characters.. dgaf about iron fist.

Matt Fraction wrote a series of recent Iron Fist stories that are supposed to be amazing (haven't read them yet, they're on the list)

They're good Dan. Not as good as the Brubaker Daredevils but good; Fraction cowrites many of them with Brubaker. They're more heavily into lore and the idea of iron fists past and present and extradimensional. then they mix that in, unfortunately, with batman style "hey i've got a lotta money and not-for-profits" bullshit. i imagine they'll work off that storyline?

after Hawkeye and FF I'm basically a Fraction fanboy so I'll be getting to them

they're great, daredevil is boring

If (as appears to be the case) they're using the Bendis DD/Alias as the inspiration for this move, it stands the chance of being pretty damn awesome.

i'm fine with anything bendis-based really

Fraction/Brubaker Iron Fist is great - if you like Hawkguy it'll definitely appeal.

If (as appears to be the case) they're using the Bendis DD/Alias as the inspiration for this move, it stands the chance of being pretty damn awesome.

― Blood Ass IV: Blood Fling (Old Lunch), Thursday, November 7, 2013 1:48 PM

Cosigning this. I like the general tone that Bendis, Brubaker and Fraction have brought to spandex foolishness over the last 10 years, and the fact that DD/JJ/IF/Cage are going to be the protagonists of these is really exciting. My problem with the SHIELD series is that the tone feels off. The actors are playing is straight, but the writers are really mugging for the cameras too much.

I don't think Skye is playing it particularly straight

but aside from that I see your point

i've gone from impatiently waiting for comic book movies to fall out of fashion for good to pretty much completely supporting the marvel cinematic empire/being disappointed the SHIELD sucks

i'm not sure why

Bolt the door, Varg is loose! And he has access to Asgardian weaponry!

This week's episode was fun. Still not even close to being essential viewing, but it's getting fractionally better with each episode. Getting somewhat worried that the ''dark secret' quotient is rising every time we learn something new about a character's background, though. Does everyone on the team reallyneed to be tormented by their past?

head desking about this "did I fall asleep" reference to Dollhouse

When Coulson said that, my wife and I replied "For a little while" in perfect synchronization.

Does everyone on the team reallyneed to be tormented by their past?

You have seen Joss Whedon shows before?

With a few exceptions, nearly every Marvel hero is tormented by their past. That's kind of their thing.

trying to think of one who isn't... Kitty Pride? Wasp? a couple of the Young Avengers maybe?

Colossus. Banshee.
I guess cap lost bucky.

Banshee's wife died and he had a daughter he never knew about!

Captain America was frozen in ice for decades, it's one of his defining characteristics!

Didn't Colossus have a dead brother who turned out to be alive and evil?

yep, also his sister was kidnapped by demons and raised to be a queen in Hell

Cecilia Reyes wasn't tormented by her past; she was tormented by her present

I don't think Synch was tormented by his past...

Yeah, clearly it's a Marvel thing - it's just so obvious that every week they set aside 90 seconds to inelegantly seed another clue to some as-yet-unrevealed trauma. It's straight-up Claremont, I suppose.

All of the current marquee Avengers have angst-ridden pasts except mmmmmmaybe Thor and arguably Hulk (who IIRC didn't get angsty until he became the Hulk)? I don't know the extent of his Marvel backstory beyond his rivalry with Loki) Admittedly Cap's is "I'm a man out of time"-derived as opposed to being an enemy agent (Black Widow), a criminal (Hawkeye) or a self-serving alcoholic (Iron Man).

Yeah, Hulk itself has no demons - it is the demon. Thor, not very haunted. Fantastic Four, are they haunted by demons?

Thing was played as morose for a good long while because he hated how he looked but I don't think he (or any of the rest of the F4) had demons before the accdent

I think Reed felt some guilt about not being able to keep Doom from blowing his own face off.

Marvel recently added some experiences with antisemitism to Kitty Pryde's pre-X youth, didn't they?

Banshee's wife died and he had a daughter he never knew about!

Captain America was frozen in ice for decades, it's one of his defining characteristics!

Didn't Colossus have a dead brother who turned out to be alive and evil?

all this stuff isn't intrinsic to the character, it's development as they went!
and yeah, lots to blame claremont for

also moore, quite frankly

oh come on, you really can't blame Claremont for Scott Summers' orphaning, or Spiderman's Uncle Ben, or Hawkeye/Quicksilver/Scarlet Witch/insert random Avenger who started out as a villain here, or Hank Pym's descent into madness and abuse, etc etc etc etc; all of this stuff is intrinsic to the Marvel storytelling style and existed before either Claremont or Moore came onto the scene

pretending captain america pre-1960s was the same character as the modern one and the modern Marvel storytelling style is kind of disingenuous

superman's parents are dead, batman's parents are dead, tarzan's parents are dead... this isn't marvel, it's pulp history. marvel of the lee/ditko era (less so kirby i guess as his worldview was more about wide open vistas to the stars) was all about teen angst and there's been several multiyear periods where comics have wallowed in that mud. for people our age (looking right at you dan) claremont was the guy that did the most thought-balloony "but what if she finds out my TERRIBLE SECRET" bullshit that damaged the current gen writers

acting like i'm arguing with you about cap is kind of disingenuous btw

While we're on the subject of TERRIBLE SECRETS: Skye's going to find out SHIELD agents killed her parents, right?

Her father is Nick Fury iirc

He had her taken to an orphanage because he was sick and tired of these motherfuckin' babies on this motherfuckin' helicarrier

Man, I wish my name was Skye Fury. I'd be such a badass.