Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. showrunner Jeffrey Bell explains how the Captain America: The Winter Soldier twist was kept a secret. The season 1 reveal was a major shake up for the show, and Bell explains how they managed to keep things quiet.
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D is a superhero show that follows a team of agents and superheroes as they battle forces that threaten the planet. Over the past six seasons, the team has fought traitorous agents, sentient androids, and various aliens. S.H.I.E.L.D. was the first TV show based in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The team is led by Agent Phil Coulson (Clark Gregg), a character that was first introduced in the MCU films and played a key role in forming of the Avengers. As Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D ties into the MCU, the events of the films affect what happens in the show. This caused a major shakeup early in the show's run, halfway through the first season. Captain America: The Winter Soldier revealed that the terrorist organization Hydra had infiltrated S.H.I.E.L.D. This created a major rift in the team, as no one knew who to trust. It was then revealed that Agent Grant Ward (Brett Dalton) was working for Hydra.
Speaking on ABC's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. season 7 premiere after show, Bell said that keeping this twist a secret was one of his favorite moments from the show. During a virtual chat with the cast and producers, Bell explained how they kept it a secret. "We weren't allowed to say the H word, and we had red pages, and everything was top secret." Gregg was told about the twist first, as he was number one on the call sheet. The rest of the cast was brought in together and given scripts that showed the reveal. "Watching the reactions on the actors' faces was about as good as anything we ever did. It was spectacular... It was a great mic drop moment for the show."
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D airs its seventh and last season this summer. Season 6 ended with the team escaping the present and traveling to 1930s Manhattan, and sees the return of Agent Coulson as a life-model decoy, or LMD. It's been hinted that the team will travel to different time periods, as well as encounter characters from different Marvel media. It's already confirmed that Daniel Sousa from Agent Carter will be making an appearance this season.
The end of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D marks the end of an era for Marvel television. Disney seemingly wants to take a more streamlined approach to the MCU by keeping all of its shows on one platform, Disney+, and under the control of Marvel Studios. This meant the end of all preexisting Marvel shows, including Cloak and Dagger, Runaways and all of the Marvel/Netflix shows. However, unlike these shows that were cancelled, S.H.I.E.L.D is able to have a proper ending. Hopefully Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D will have a satisfying ending that allows fans to welcome the new MCU Disney+ shows with open arms.
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D season 7 airs Wednesdays at 10pm on ABC.
Source: ABC