Joss Whedon Ticked Off Some Marvel Bigwigs By Creating Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D.
It always bothers me when Joss Whedon is referred to as being the chief creative force behind "Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.," and not just because of everything that's come out about his workplace misconduct and toxic behavior since 2017. While he did, in fact, develop the Marvel Television show with his brother Jed Whedon and sister-in-law Maurissa Tancharoen, it was the latter duo who sculpted the series into one of the best projects to emerge from the House of Ideas since the Marvel Cinematic Universe began its industry-changing run.
Of course, circa 2012, "Joss is Boss" was a tenant among Joss Whedon fans. Having already created the fan-favorite series "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" (a spinoff of his and director Fran Rubel Kuzui's 1992 film of the same name, which has slowly gained wider recognition for being the campy delight that it is) and cult space Western show "Firefly," the multi-hyphenate only fortified his genre credentials that year by helming the MCU's hugely popular "The Avengers." That basically gave Whedon carte blanche to do whatever he wanted in the Marvel universe, which included developing a show about the unsung agents at S.H.I.E.L.D. who keep the world safe whenever Earth's Mightiest Heroes aren't available.
The only problem? A then-upcoming film titled "Captain America: The Winter Soldier." As Marvel Studios head honcho Kevin Feige told BuzzFeed News in 2015:
"They had said early on, 'Hey, we're thinking about doing this show about the agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.' And Joss said, 'I think I might do this.' I said, 'That's cool. God bless you. But you should know that we're destroying S.H.I.E.L.D. in 'Winter Soldier.' You guys do whatever you want. But know that that's what we're going to do.'"
A Marvel TV show? How would that even work?
Back when "Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D." was getting up and going, nobody was really certain how closely (or not) the show would tie into whatever was happening in the MCU on the big screen. (We'll save the discussion of where the series fits into the MCU canon now for another day.) Whedon recalled to Buzzfeed News:
"There was a period where it got ... complicated. A lot of people who aren't connected with the show were like, 'Oh, yeah, you have to have this guest star, and you have to work around this.' Sometimes, it makes your head spin. I mean, it's hard enough when they're like, 'And by the way, in 'Iron Man 4,' he's going to be played by Linda Hunt as a human spider.' And you're like, 'Oh, OK! I guess I'll have to work that in.'"
That creative uncertainty and behind-the-scenes confusion fed into the first half of "Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D." season 1. It was never altogether clear what the show was trying to be. Was it a mission-of-the-week-style series about a group of plucky heroes protecting the world, or could it branch out into multi-episode storylines and arcs? Would MCU heavy-hitters like Nick Fury be showing up on a regular basis or should the series stand more on its own? Then there were the ungainly moments where the show would nod to events in recent MCU films, albeit on a network TV budget and without adding any real narrative substance to their plots.
It was almost as though the executive powers that be at Marvel Studios hadn't actually wanted Whedon and his collaborators to make the show ... because they didn't.
'They didn't actually want me to make it'
In a shocking twist, it turned out a sequel to its first of many billion-dollar superhero tentpoles was a much greater priority for the House of Ideas than an ABC series about a team of humble do-gooders. "They didn't actually want me to make it," Whedon explained. "It's like, 'Uh, Joss, we really wanted you to do ['Avengers: Age of Ultron']. Instead, you created a TV show, you moron.' 'I thought you wanted me to!' 'No, we just wanted you to make a movie.' 'Oh. My bad.'"
As he shifted his attention onto "Avengers: Age of Ultron," Whedon went from being (in his words) "absolutely 100% the driving force and totally hands-on" with "Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D." to basically cheering on his brother and Tancharoen from the side. This was also when the series found its footing. Rather than trying to be a snark-heavy show in the vein of Whedon's earlier work (an approach which, frankly, had already grown stale by that point), the series settled into its own groove as a more earnest story about working-class S.H.I.E.L.D. agents (only some of whom even have super-abilities) forming a family unit and forging their own identities. Just as notable, the female characters on "Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D." began to take on new dimensions and evolve beyond the archetypes typically found in Whedon's other shows.
None of this is to diminish Whedon's earlier contributions to the medium of television, which were absolutely groundbreaking for their time despite being tainted by his conduct behind-the-scenes (some of which plainly manifested itself in his work, even if it was harder to recognize back then). But "Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D." became a great show despite him, not because of him.
"Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D." can be streamed in its entirety on Disney+.