Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. season 6 should continue in the show's recent cosmic vein. S.H.I.E.L.D. was recently renewed for an abbreviated sixth season, which will air in summer 2019, pushing the premiere back until after Avengers 4 hits theaters in May next year.

It's important to understand that, in the aftermath of Avengers 4, the Marvel Cinematic Universe will be entering a whole new period - one where Marvel visionary Kevin Feige has suggested the studio may be abandoning its traditional phased approach altogether. The first post-Phase 3 movie is the sequel to Spider-Man: Homecoming, and that was a deliberate choice on Marvel's part. As Feige asked, "What better person to hold your hand and lead you into the next incarnation of the MCU, in a grounded, realistic manner, than Peter Parker?" Now, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. will be entering the post-Phase 3 era as well, albeit on the small screen.

The showrunners of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. deliberately designed the season finale so it could serve as a close to the entire series. But in order to get a renewal, they clearly had a strong pitch for a sixth season, one that ABC decided to green light. And while the agents have had plenty of exciting Earthbound adventures, the next season should really continue to explore the cosmos.

The Future of the MCU is in Space

Until this year's Avengers: Infinity War, the cosmic and Earth-bound sides of the MCU had existed in a degree of isolation. Now, they've been brought together in a head-on collision, and the MCU will never be the same again. James Gunn is currently working on Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, which will release in 2020, and he's stressed that this film "will help to set up the next 10, 20 years of Marvel movies. It's going to really expand the cosmic universe." Gunn is an important figure in Marvel Studios, and he's working closely with Kevin Feige to establish "the next iteration of cosmic characters." The scripts are already in the works, with rumblings about both The Eternals and Nova.

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. began as a tie-in TV series, with the first two seasons featuring explicit tie-ins to Thor: The Dark WorldAvengers: Age of Ultron, and most notably Captain America: The Winter Soldier. Recent seasons have dialed back on the tie-ins, though, instead opting for a thematic link. When Marvel Studios introduced magic in Doctor StrangeAgents of S.H.I.E.L.D. featured Ghost Rider. In the build-up to Avengers: Infinity WarS.H.I.E.L.D. tackled a time-travel plot involving an alien Confederacy.

Given the future of the MCU clearly involves the cosmic, it would be very much appropriate for Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. to stay in space. That would allow the series to continue feeling as though it's loosely connected to the movies, existing within the same world.

The Mythology of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. may exist as part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but over the last five seasons the show has built its own distinctive mythology. All that really began back in season 2, when the series introduced into the Inhumans into the MCU, and since then the series has reinterpreted Hydra's history, added Kree Monoliths and principles of spacetime into the mix, and even introduced a new incarnation of Ghost Rider. Every season has built on what was established in the ones before, and the overall direction has been to send S.H.I.E.L.D. into space. Just look at the show's narrative thrust:

  • Season 1 lays the foundation for everything that will follow, setting Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. against the backdrop of a world that's just discovered aliens and super-soldiers exist.
  • Season 2 reveals ancient Kree experiments, the Inhumans, and ultimately releases Terrigen into the world's water supply. The S.H.I.E.L.D. team even wind up fighting a Kree at one point.
  • Season 3 dove into the cosmic, with Simmons stranded on the alien world of Maveth. By the end of the season, the Inhuman being known as Hive had launched a terrifying attempt to transform the world's humans into Alpha Primitives. As part of that plan, he even drew the Kree back to Earth. The episode "Spacetime" established the show's "laws" of time-travel
  • Season 4 saw S.H.I.E.L.D. deal with inter-dimensional energy unleashed through the Darkhold.
  • Season 5  sent the S.H.I.E.L.D. team into a dystopian future; returned to the present, they wound up dealing with an alien Confederacy.

Laid out like that, it's easy to see the pattern: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. has become increasingly cosmic in scope over the course of the last five seasons. That needs to continue.

Page 2: How Could Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Go Cosmic?

How Could Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Go Cosmic?

The Earth may have been saved from Graviton, but the threat of the Confederacy remains. A thousand year-old alliance between different alien groups, the Confederacy are brutally militaristic and are more than happy to plunder less developed worlds. They've set their eyes upon Earth, coveting both Inhumans and Gravitonium, and there's no reason to believe they aren't still interested in acquiring the "resources" they desire. Two of the member races have lost their leaders, with Talbot absorbing the Rajak leader, and Qovis of the Remorath dying thanks to S.H.I.E.L.D.. Both of these races seem brutal and wrathful, and could easily seek revenge against S.H.I.E.L.D., or indeed against the entire human race. Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. may have finally written out Hydra, but that's been done just as the series introduces a new, cosmic threat, one that only the S.H.I.E.L.D. team know is out there.

Meanwhile, S.H.I.E.L.D. has gained three potential allies who could help in the battle against the Confederacy. The first is Enoch, the Chronicom Recorder who insists he's only allowed to intervene in the case of an extinction-level event. It's true that Enoch is, in theory, only relevant in the most high-stakes adventures; but for all his oath of non-intervention, it's important to note Enoch had spent much time with Robin before she ever predicted the Earth's destruction. Both Enoch and Noah were named after characters from the Bible, one of whom is famous for never dying, the other for saving humanity from extinction after he built an Ark. That can't be a coincidence; in choosing these names for their Recorders, the showrunners were hinting that these are people who have interacted with humanity before, and even saved the world before. Noah may be dead, but Enoch is still out there, and could well serve as a powerful ally.

The second is Deke. Although Fitz believed changing the timeline would cause Deke to blink out of existence, the reality is that was just a theory. In the comics, characters from defunct timelines can and do stick around, and there's no real reason to believe Deke couldn't do the same. His knowledge from the future, including his interactions with the different races of the Confederacy, could well prove invaluable. Hopefully Jeff Ward will be brought on board as a series regular for Season 6.

And finally there's Robin herself. That child is still a seer, still bound to the passage of time. There's a sense in which Robin is the ultimate hero of Season 5; she saw the world's impending destruction, and created the time loop in order to save it. Robin's consciousness seems linked to time itself, and she sensed the moment when Daisy was about to inject herself with the Centipede Serum. Robin could still remain an important player in future seasons, even if she isn't going to become Agent May's adopted daughter anymore.

Season 5 ended with the S.H.I.E.L.D. team headed into space in order to pick up Fitz. Given there'll presumably be a time-jump between Seasons 5 and 6, it's quite possible they'll have already recovered him by next season. Whether they have or not, though, it's important to remember that S.H.I.E.L.D. now have a Zephyr that can travel into space. Should they ally with Enoch, they'll also have a Chronicom spacecraft to work with. It's never been easier for S.H.I.E.L.D. to operate in space - and that's where they should go.

More: Agents of SHIELD Has Rewritten The History Of The MCU

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. will return in Summer 2019.