Marvel Used Reclaimed Toilet Water To Create Snow For A Foul Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D. Scene

"Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D." is one of the more underrated shows born out of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Its references to the movies coming out of Marvel Studios became few and far between across its tenure, therefore allowing the sci-fi adventure series to be its own thing. The first season of "S.H.I.E.L.D.", however, was heavily tied into the events of Phase 2, to the point that 2014's "Captain America: The Winter Soldier" pretty much blew up the series' premise. "Turn, Turn, Turn" delivered a bombshell when it was revealed that Agent Grant Ward (Brett Dalton), one of the show's main characters, was a traitorous operative for HYDRA. The following week's episode ("Providence") picked up from this huge shakeup with Agent Phil Coulson (Clark Gregg) taking what remains of his non-compromised crew to Canada in order to hide out in the titular secret base.

Prior to entering Providence, the S.H.I.E.L.D. crew is seen surrounded by a whole bunch of snow, but this was far from your ordinary fake snow. During a panel at New York Comic Con 2025, the cast revealed that the wintery fluff was actually made from reclaimed sewer water (via Entertainment Weekly). It meant that there was a grave misstep in turning the former toilet water into something that was actually breathable. "It smelled like poop," said Chloe Bennet. Gregg hilariously interjected with, "I don't want to find Patton Oswalt this much," which is in reference to the beloved comedian playing the hidden base's overseer.

To make matters worse, it was a pretty sweltering day when the "S.H.I.E.L.D." cast stood around in all of that foul-smelling repurposed sewer water. "This one day, it was so hot and they had to use sewer water to make this fake snow [...] And we're pretending to be cold and this poo water is on us," said Bennet. I wish I could say it didn't get worse, but there's a small scene where everyone has to duck and cover on the ground. Their faces were directly in it! I wouldn't be able to forget that odor, either.

While the recycled poop water was one of many ways "Providence" was a curse for the actors, the episode also proved to be a blessing of sorts for the show. The aftermath of "The Winter Soldier" forced "S.H.I.E.L.D." to rethink its entire identity. The ABC series initially positioned this ensemble to act as the cleanup crew for whatever mess the Avengers left behind, with the most blatant example being Malekith's destruction from "Thor: The Dark World." By the time we get to "Avengers: Age of Ultron," Earth's mightiest heroes have become pretty great at tracking down the secret cells of HYDRA agents on their own. S.H.I.E.L.D., however, got to further explore the entrenched treachery as it manifests in a whole bunch of wild ways that led to both the origins of HYDRA and an alternate digital reality where the organization has made evil copies of the main characters.

After being thrown off course, the series forged its own path up until its final episode in 2020, closing out a truly unexpected seven season run of television.

Every season of "Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D." is currently streaming on Disney+.