Joss Whedon developing Marvel SHIELD series for ABC

[OB12]

Skye is Quake
Grant Ward will be Clay Quartermain
Althea Rice will be Carol Danvers known as "Warbird"
Leo Fitz and Jemma Simmons will probably be new or remixed characters, hard to say how the mix will come about.

I hope this is the case. I don't mind having a couple of newly created characters for this show, but I do want some of the regular cast to be characters that are established like Quartermain and Danvers. I also want to see Sitwell as a re-occurring character.

 

[Chewy]

I can see the point about placeholder names, but what is the point of putting out character descriptions that won't reflect the final characters? Just put out a general casting call and hand out the casting sides to people as they show up to audition.

The descriptions are likely accurate. They are fairly broad and there's a lot of room for interpretation from the actors.

I can think of a half dozen characters who could potentially fit each of those descriptions, except for the duo...

 

[DigificWriter]

While I can see the general point of using placeholder names, I don't get the feeling that this is what they're doing in this particular case; the names they've put forth seem fairly specific and matched fairly specifically to the character descriptions, at least to me.

 

[marcvader]

There's nothing to make me think these are placeholder names. These are the names and we'll just have to accept that they chose to use original characters so that they don't have to follow any preconceived notions or canon.

 

[Chewy]

There's nothing to make me think these are placeholder names. These are the names and we'll just have to accept that they chose to use original characters so that they don't have to follow any preconceived notions or canon.

And I would be fine with that, I was expecting most of the major cast to be original. I'm just not convinced it's the case, as casting studios very rarely put out the actual character names this early. It's even less likely they would for a big fanboy project like this.

 

[The Question]

I can see the point about placeholder names, but what is the point of putting out character descriptions that won't reflect the final characters? Just put out a general casting call and hand out the casting sides to people as they show up to audition.

Look at the descriptions. They're all extremely vague. We're not saying they don't reflect the final character, we're saying that each one could reflect almost any TV character within the same archetype. They're pretty useless for gauging what the show will be like. They are, however, very useful for getting a wide range of different actors' takes on the characters, which is what makes them really good casting sheets.

 

[flickchick85]

There's nothing to make me think these are placeholder names. These are the names and we'll just have to accept that they chose to use original characters so that they don't have to follow any preconceived notions or canon.

This is certainly a possibility, and I'd be fine with it. In fact, I'm pretty confident that's the case with a couple or most of the characters. Joss probably would want to create new characters since this show seems to be one of the few opportunities he'll have to do so over the next few years. But I'm not convinced ALL of those names are strictly new characters yet.


Also, regarding "Cavalry" vs "Calvary," I'd just like to point out that Joss DOES know the difference - he's even used it as a bit of wordplay before, with an episode title on Angel. The episode was entitled "Calvary," and in it, a character made a remark about some hypothetical "cavalry" coming to save the day, but really all that happened was a whole lot of horrible s*** went down, a major character was "sacrificed" by one of the main characters, etc. So he (and the other writers) used the confusion between those two words to intentionally mislead people, and make them think maybe someone was coming in to save our heroes, when all it did was go from bad to worse.

So I'm guessing "Althea" got that nickname because of her ability to bring on the pain and suffering, haha.

 

[The Question]

Maybe Calvary is just super catholic.

 

[flickchick85]

LOL, well that would be disappointing.

 

[Chewy]

Maybe it's a test, actresses who read for the role that mix the two up get weeded out

 

[flickchick85]

Maybe it's a test, actresses who read for the role that mix the two up get weeded out

What a horrible way to lose out on a potentially life-changing role, haha.

 

[mr. peasant]

This is certainly a possibility, and I'd be fine with it. In fact, I'm pretty confident that's the case with a couple or most of the characters. Joss probably would want to create new characters since this show seems to be one of the few opportunities he'll have to do so over the next few years. But I'm not convinced ALL of those names are strictly new characters yet.


Also, regarding "Cavalry" vs "Calvary," I'd just like to point out that Joss DOES know the difference - he's even used it as a bit of wordplay before, with an episode title on Angel. The episode was entitled "Calvary," and in it, a character made a remark about some hypothetical "cavalry" coming to save the day, but really all that happened was a whole lot of horrible s*** went down, a major character was "sacrificed" by one of the main characters, etc. So he (and the other writers) used the confusion between those two words to intentionally mislead people, and make them think maybe someone was coming in to save our heroes, when all it did was go from bad to worse.

Or... it could've just been a typo on the article author's part caused by a spell check fail as 'Cavalry' and 'Calvary' are both words.

One thing I have to ask though is the article's authenticity. I'm not hip to online journalism or the reliability of the various outlets. What I can say is that TV Line was the first to break the news (with all subsequent news outlets quoting from it) and its information is unsourced. How major a player is TV Line in the world of media journalism and how likely is it that they have such insider information?

 

[DigificWriter]

^ The site's owner and founder, Michael Auselio, used to work/write for TVGuide.com, so he's got connections and credentials within the TV industry.

 

[Specter313]

Ausiello also worked for Entertainment Weekly for awhile after leaving TVGuide. He was able to start up TV Line because of all his experience and connections in the industry he developed over the years of reporting. If there's one guy to go to for TV news, it's him.

 

[mr. peasant]

Cool. Good to know. Was just checking since single, unreferenced source rings all sorts of alarm bells in my head, if you know what I mean.

 

[flickchick85]

Or... it could've just been a typo on the article author's part caused by a spell check fail as 'Cavalry' and 'Calvary' are both words.

Certainly a possibility. I was just saying I wouldn't put it past Joss to have intended it, either.

 

[DrCosmic]

And it opens it up to the actress to come up with a cool reason to be named 'Calvary'

 

[mr. peasant]

And it opens it up to the actress to come up with a cool reason to be named 'Calvary'

Like maybe she's from Calgary, Alberta and speaks with a Transylvanian accent. t:

 

[mr. peasant]

This is only tangentially related to this thread at best but since this thread is dead and given the number of Joss-verse fans who frequent it, I figured it's probably relevant to your interests. As such, I give you Felicia Day geeking out with the three nerdiest people on the Internet. t:

Say goodbye to 3 hours of your life.



P.S.: Btw, Jesse Cox is awesome.

 

[Moridin]

This is only tangentially related to this thread at best but since this thread is dead and given the number of Joss-verse fans who frequent it, I figured it's probably relevant to your interests. As such, I give you Felicia Day geeking out with the three nerdiest people on the Internet. t:

Say goodbye to 3 hours of your life.



P.S.: Btw, Jesse Cox is awesome.

Ah, I forget they were going to have Day on, thanks for the link!

That intro is hilarious .

 

[pr0xyt0xin]

So Allison Brie, Emilia Clarke, television actresses in line to play a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent? I can dig it.

 

[Sawyer]

Coulson! Coulson! Coulson!

 

[Specter313]

Coulson confirmed for the show!

At today’s Marvel Television Presents panel at New York Comic Con, Head of TV Jeph Loeb announced that Clark Gregg will reprise his role as Agent Phil Coulson in the live-action pilot "Marvel's S.H.I.E.L.D."! Gregg previously played Coulson in Iron Man, Iron Man 2, Thor and Marvel's The Avengers, as well as Marvel One-Shots "The Consultant" and "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Thor's Hammer."

The actor made a surprise appearance at the panel to talk about his role as Principal Coulson on "Ultimate Spider-Man" before playing a special video from Marvel’s The Avengers director Joss Whedon and Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige, announcing Gregg's return to the role of Agent Coulson in the upcoming pilot. Whedon will also co-write the pilot to "Marvel’s S.H.I.E.L.D." with Jed Whedon and Maurissa Tancharoen.

"Marvel's S.H.I.E.L.D." will be Executive Produced by Joss Whedon, Jed Whedon, Maurissa Tancharoen, Jeffrey Bell and Jeph Loeb.

http://www.superherohype.com/news/articles/173173-nycc-clark-gregg-to-return-as-agent-coulson-on-tv

 

[Mister J]

His Name Is Phil!!!

 

[O'Haire]

Better not be flashbacks. I want the first scene to be them explaining how he's still alive. Don't care how crazy it is. Just having him back would be the best thing ever.