Joss Whedon developing Marvel SHIELD series for ABC

[OB12]

Alexis Bledel for Morse?

 

[DrCosmic]

Or just call her Spider-Woman. I don't see it being that big a problem if there's an initial Spider-Man association. Besides, they'd probably call her Jessica more often than any code name and we'll probably be introduced to her as this freaky super assassin terrorist lady way before we ever learn what her name is, so I doubt people well get that confused.

Well, yeah, that's what I was saying, if the audience goes on the journey with her and meets her as Jessica and then she simply becomes SW at some later time as part of the story, they can't naturally think she's a Spidey sidekick.

I also agree that she's pretty much a shoe in to be added to the show at some point.

 

[Dark Raven]

She's not going to have the big sleeves. Those were the silliest part of that costume.

They were there for a purpose, to hide the battle staves. They don't have to be huge, but they should be loose fitting to allow her to wear those staves under there, and because that was also something distinctive about her, otherwise she's just yet another agent in a jumpsuit.

 

[The Question]

They were there for a purpose, to hide the battle staves. They don't have to be huge, but they should be loose fitting to allow her to wear those staves under there, and because that was also something distinctive about her, otherwise she's just yet another agent in a jumpsuit.

She doesn't need to hide them. She just needs to strap them to her belt or her leg or something. I mean, if he was in civvies under cover that would make sense. But there's no need to hide weapons if you're just straight up dressed for a fight.

The big sleeved really don't serve a purpose, are more of a hinderance than a help, and look silly.

There are more subtle and interesting ways to make her visually distinctive, like use of color.

 

[Whiskey Tango]

I like Bobbi's newer outfit over the bigsleeved old one.

 

[marcvader]

That's cool but what's up with the yellow lensed granny glasses?

 

[The Question]

That's cool but what's up with the yellow lensed granny glasses?

It's he style, man.

 

[Dark Raven]

Don't like those glasses at all. They're not flattering on her. I prefer her Huntress-style mask she wore. What are those bolts/ studs on her uniform too? If she has full leggings she should have white boots, but if bare legs then dark boots. I don't really like dark boots with dark leggings for her. The white boots breaks it up more and will set her apart from the SHIELD agents and Black Widow.

 

[Pink Ranger]

Oh, I'm sure the show will have its standard Whedon spunky lady ass-kicker. I'm not an idiot; I know there's no way in hell Whedon can resist that. We even saw it in the movie with the disproportionately huge role the Black Widow had. But there are plenty of those to choose from in SHIELD's hallowed ranks besides Spider-Woman. Abigail Brand, for one, whom, if you'll recall, Whedon himself created.

But ultimately the typical Whedon principal heroine vacillates between spunky ass-kicker and willowy, vulnerable lost girl, and not sure if Jessica Drew fits that profile. Maybe Joss can take a female character without a high profile (i.e. Abby Brand) and shoehorn her into the "Buffy Tam" role.

 

[Dark Raven]

But ultimately the typical Whedon principal heroine vacillates between spunky ass-kicker and willowy, vulnerable lost girl, and not sure if Jessica Drew fits that profile. Maybe Joss can take a female character without a high profile (i.e. Abby Brand) and shoehorn her into the "Buffy Tam" role.

Jessica Drew did fit that profile when she first started out.

But the thing about characters like Abigail Brand is that she's not that well known. Part of the series would be seeing characters we've become very familiar with over the years appearing on screen rather than Joss Whedon originals. Otherwise if he just uses his own characters and invents new ones for this series, what distinguishes this from any of his other own created series other than being set in the MCU?

 

[Sawyer]

Jessica Drew did fit that profile when she first started out.

But the thing about characters like Abigail Brand is that she's not that well known. Part of the series would be seeing characters we've become very familiar with over the years appearing on screen rather than Joss Whedon originals. Otherwise if he just uses his own characters and invents new ones for this series, what distinguishes this from any of his other own created series other than being set in the MCU?

I disagree. I'd love to see plenty of Joss-invented characters as series leads.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

Jessica Drew did fit that profile when she first started out.

But the thing about characters like Abigail Brand is that she's not that well known. Part of the series would be seeing characters we've become very familiar with over the years appearing on screen rather than Joss Whedon originals. Otherwise if he just uses his own characters and invents new ones for this series, what distinguishes this from any of his other own created series other than being set in the MCU?

All of the other characters who will inevitably be plucked from the Marvel universe? There's nothing that says his main character has to be. Cameos and supporting roles would be enough to sell the idea that this takes place in the Marvel cinematic universe while still allowing Whedon relatively blank slates for his protagonists.

 

[Sawyer]

All of the other characters who will inevitably be plucked from the Marvel universe? There's nothing that says his main character has to be. Cameos and supporting roles would be enough to sell the idea that this takes place in the Marvel cinematic universe while still allowing Whedon relatively blank slates for his protagonists.

Exactly.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

I'm mostly joking about Brand, for the record. The smartest move seems like it would be to lure Cobie Smulders in full-time and make Hill the main character. She's got her comic baggage, but that pretty much boils down to "conflicts with Fury on SHIELD policy; not a fan of superheroes; bones Iron Man eventually." That can all stay in place and Whedon would still have plenty of room to explore her character.

 

[Dark Raven]

Well Cobie could be on there full time later on, but at the moment she's on HIMYM. Once that show ends (which could be at the end of this season or next) she's potentially free. I don't think she should be the main character though as Cobie's not really a strong enough lead.

 

[Pink Ranger]

Otherwise if he just uses his own characters and invents new ones for this series, what distinguishes this from any of his other own created series other than being set in the MCU?

This show will have viewers.





t: but actually not quite, because that's actually accurate

 

[Sawyer]

This show will have viewers.





t: but actually not quite, because that's actually accurate

Now you've crossed the line!

 

[The Question]

The main character will be a pre-existing Marvel character. Whedon's too much of a fanboy for that.

Now, it might be a Marvel character he created, like Brand, but it won't be new for the show.

 

[The Question]

I'm mostly joking about Brand, for the record. The smartest move seems like it would be to lure Cobie Smulders in full-time and make Hill the main character. She's got her comic baggage, but that pretty much boils down to "conflicts with Fury on SHIELD policy; not a fan of superheroes; bones Iron Man eventually." That can all stay in place and Whedon would still have plenty of room to explore her character.

I'd love to see a show where Hill plays a central role. She's kind of an awful person, she's like some kind of hyper patriotic uptight paranoid fascist who has an almost religious devotion to authority and doing things by the book, but in a way that would make for an interesting protagonist.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

I don't know if I'd characterize her as that extreme. I see her more as a patriot who believes in the rule of law to a fault, to the extent that she just can't get past the vigilante aspect of superheroes, no matter how much they help. From her perspective, they have no excuse because it would be so easy to just register with the government and keep on doing the helpful things they do with the proper oversight. So she has a pretty solid philosophical perspective; it just happens to run counter to most superheroes' and pretty much any comic fan's. It'd be fun to see her butt heads with the more forgiving SHIELD agents who like the heroes and look to them for support with no concern for their technical outlaw status.

 

[The Question]

I don't really see how that's much different from what I said besides being nicer. I mean, you even bring up what is essentially at the heart of my point about her being devoted to authority and doing things by the book. The reason she can't see why super heroes don't just sign up and become part of the system is because she's not willing to entertain the thought that the system might be deeply flawed.

 

[flickchick85]

The problem with having Maria Hill as a central character (other than Smulders' availability at the moment) is that we've already seen her role in SHIELD: She's Fury's right hand. So it would be weird to be suddenly seeing her operating in her own stories without constantly interacting with Fury all the time. I think it would be better to focus on a character in SHIELD that we've never seen (or seen very little of), so that nothing we see from them in the show feels contrived or contradictory to what we already know about them and their place in SHIELD's day-to-day operations. It's less limiting to the showrunners that way, imo.

 

[mr. peasant]

I'd love to see a show where Hill plays a central role. She's kind of an awful person, she's like some kind of hyper patriotic uptight paranoid fascist who has an almost religious devotion to authority and doing things by the book, but in a way that would make for an interesting protagonist.

I don't know if I'd characterize her as that extreme. I see her more as a patriot who believes in the rule of law to a fault, to the extent that she just can't get past the vigilante aspect of superheroes, no matter how much they help. From her perspective, they have no excuse because it would be so easy to just register with the government and keep on doing the helpful things they do with the proper oversight. So she has a pretty solid philosophical perspective; it just happens to run counter to most superheroes' and pretty much any comic fan's. It'd be fun to see her butt heads with the more forgiving SHIELD agents who like the heroes and look to them for support with no concern for their technical outlaw status.

Except, we have seen Hill already (in The Avengers). And what we've seen of the MCU version of Hill does not indicate such a personality. For the most part, she's fairly generic. More importantly, she appears to be supportive of Fury, his side project regarding the Avengers Initiative, and his leadership - enough to side with him over their bosses when it came to deploying nukes against the Chitauri.

That said, I do agree that it is entirely worthwhile to have a protagonist (out of the ensemble) who holds a contrarian view to Fury's pro-superhero stance on the metahuman situation; with the reason being one out of concern that they, the regular agents, would eventually get more and more sidelined if more metahumans come out of the woodwork.

 

[The Question]

Except, we have seen Hill already (in The Avengers). And what we've seen of the MCU version of Hill does not indicate such a personality. For the most part, she's fairly generic. More importantly, she appears to be supportive of Fury, his side project regarding the Avengers Initiative, and his leadership - enough to side with him over their bosses when it came to deploying nukes against the Chitauri.

A lot of her scenes were cut from the movie for time. In the deleted scenes she's criticizing Fury behind his back all the time and is wicked uptight and by the book about everything. But most of the scenes where she had the chance to do that also weren't necessary for the film so they got cut when they needed to make it shorter.

Also, like, being uptight and dogmatically patriotic doesn't mean you're going to be okay with your bosses making a split second, heat of the moment decision to murder 8 million American citizens. That's a pretty big stretch even for the most blindly loyal.

The problem with having Maria Hill as a central character (other than Smulders' availability at the moment) is that we've already seen her role in SHIELD: She's Fury's right hand. So it would be weird to be suddenly seeing her operating in her own stories without constantly interacting with Fury all the time. I think it would be better to focus on a character in SHIELD that we've never seen (or seen very little of), so that nothing we see from them in the show feels contrived or contradictory to what we already know about them and their place in SHIELD's day-to-day operations. It's less limiting to the showrunners that way, imo.

People get reassignments and new missions all the time.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

I don't really see how that's much different from what I said besides being nicer. I mean, you even bring up what is essentially at the heart of my point about her being devoted to authority and doing things by the book. The reason she can't see why super heroes don't just sign up and become part of the system is because she's not willing to entertain the thought that the system might be deeply flawed.

Well, yeah, that's why I said I don't see her in such extreme terms. I think she can see that the system is flawed, but she's likelier to characterize the flaws as human-centric rather than an endemic flaw in the system itself. The system works--if you've got the right people in play. We saw her abandon the system due to corruption when Osborn took over and she went on the run with Tony, so I don't think she's quite as married to the system or as myopically committed to the law-above-all-else as you make her sound.