The first tease for Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. season 5 is here, thanks to a new poster highlighting this season's non-Earth setting. As fans have come to expect with S.H.I.E.L.D., season 4 ended on quite a cliffhanger. Following Coulson and his team destroying the Framework and defeating Aida (Mallory Jansen) once and for all, the crew was ready for whatever punishment was coming their way. But not even Coulson could predict what happened next.

While enjoying what they thought was their last meal in the real world before being arrested, shadowy men arrived and swept Coulson's team away. Where to is still not clear - all we do know is Coulson was overlooking an asteroid field in space, last time we saw him. Now, the first poster for S.H.I.E.L.D. season 5 further teases said space locale.

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EW exclusively debuted the Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. season 5 poster, itself mostly a tease to remind fans where the TV show last left off. No cast members are featured on the poster, and neither is a definitive return date included here. That said: if the S.H.I.E.L.D. logo is actually part of the team's mystery station, then season 5 may help expand S.H.I.E.L.D.'s reaches far beyond simply Earth.

Ever since the season four finale ended, fans have been trying to figure out just where exactly Coulson and his team are being kept - and perhaps even more importantly, who is keeping them there. A popular theory is that this all connected somehow to the Sentient World Observation and Response Deparment (or S.W.O.R.D. for short), though there are questions about whether Marvel even owns the TV rights to this organization.

If not and this is indeed a S.H.I.E.L.D. facility being shown in outer space, then part of season 5 may focus on establishing S.H.I.E.L.D.'s history defending Earth from other-worldly threats. The space setting may also set the stage for S.H.I.E.L.D. to crossover with either Avengers: Infinity War and/or Thor: Ragnarok during its fifth season, or even lay the foundation for how Nick Fury and S.H.I.E.L.D. become involved in the Kree/Skrull War in 2019's film release, Captain Marvel.

Whatever happens from here reaffirms S.H.I.E.L.D.'s ability to change things up as the show's creatives deem fit, in order to keep the series feeling fresh. Since this poster doesn't have a premiere date attached, it remains to be seen exactly when the new season begins (though we know it will start right after Inhumans season 1 finishes its run). Assuming that ABC doesn't decide to air multiple Inhumans episodes back-to-back in certain weeks, S.H.I.E.L.D. season 5 should get underway around mid-November. Until then, fans are free to speculate as they will about what comes next for Coulson and his family of agents.

NEXT: Lance Hunter Returning in S.H.I.E.L.D. Season 5

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. season 5 premieres on ABC later this year.

Source: EW