The first stop on the S.H.I.E.L.D. Hellicarrier is a new interview with Clark “Agent Coulson” Gregg. Entertainment Weekly caught up with the actor and tried to squeeze some info out of him. Gregg revealed that we get some hints as to how Coulson came back to life, but we’re not going to get the whole story in the first episode. The actor teased we’ll have to wait and see what the truth is, but we’ll get some clues in the pilot. However he comes back, Gregg tries not to be too flippant about being resurrected:

I have a feeling if they killed me off again it would be for good so I’m very careful to read the end of the script every time I get one. It’s like getting struck by lightning. I kind of hope it hits somebody else first before it comes back to me.

Agent Coulson represents the people who don’t have superpowers, the guys who actually can be killed — or at least seem to be and yet come back sometimes … Marvel has such a lock on how to do really incredibly visual affects and stunts that we’ve got stuff on our show that I just don’t think we’ve seen on TV before.

During the actual Upfront presentation, Joss Whedon took the stage to say a few words about the project. The superstar director was joined on stage by the show’s cast when he tried to pitch everyone on the project. Deadline had a rundown of Whedon‘s speech. According to the site he was nervous as he gave his speech:

“I’ll be brief. I was born…” But then he grew serious. “I wasn’t born. I was grown in a lab… and fed on Marvel Comics — and that turned out OK for me.” As to why Avengers was so successful, Whedon said, “It worked because everyone felt included” and predicted the TV show would have the same effect on viewers. He praised S.H.I.E.L.D.‘s unorthodox leading man Clark Gregg as “an actor so talented even I couldn’t kill him” so Whedon said he “built S.H.I.E.L.D. around him” because he “had a story to tell [how] to be an ordinary person in an increasingly extraordinary world. We wanted to say that everybody could be a part of this – men, women, children and “grownups who love comic books”.

The third stop in the S.H.I.E.L.D. news tour is a video from Access Hollywood. They caught up with three of the cast members on the red carpet. They couldn’t say much, but they did tease some pretty interesting developments with their respective characters.

I’m going to say that’s an interesting Marvel character, but no. But he came in and killed it. Honestly, we were looking for this part, and we just said, look, all our parts are open to all diversity. So the fact that we have a black dude who is awesome and it’s J, was just because he was the best actor. It wasn’t like, “You know who…!”

I mean, we’re going to draw from it, but Marvel has its thing, and we’re also going to be expanding forward, and this world is different since The Avengers. So I think there will be people showing up, some from the Marvel Universe and some not. But to commit to anything more would be telling

J’s a guest star in it, and we talk about it like this: If you take all the Marvel movies, really only Captain America and the Hulk are the only real “superheroes” in all those movies. You’ve got an alien god, but in all those movies, there’s been, like, three [superheroes]. So if we trot out a superhero every week, it would be weird. But we’re saying the world is different and things are changing, so we will be finding other people — so whether it’s science or whether it’s a result of [what happened in] New York or whether they’re from somewhere else, we’re open to everything. Whatever makes cool stories.

There you have it. Everything you ever wanted to know from the Upfront red carpet presentation and more. Be sure to click to the sources, especially the IGN piece, because there are still several tidbits and teasers about the show. The biggest thing in there (probably) is J. August Richard‘s character. The past few days have seen people moving away from the Luke Cage speculation and more toward another character- Rage. Rage is best known as a member of the New Warriors. He has superhuman strength and invulnerability, so it fits with the few amazing feats we’ve seen in the promos. What do you think about all the news? Any guesses on who or what J. August Richard is?

Cody "The Thorverine" Ferrell, Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D. News Round Up: Cast Interviews, Joss Whedon Speaks, That’s NOT Luke Cage, And More

Cody "The Thorverine" Ferrell, New Extended Trailer For Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D. Clocks In At Nearly 3 Minutes

With the announcement came some new stills and promotional images for the show. We have character profile pics, a shot of Joss Whedon doing his thing, and a Twitter pick from Marvel Chief Creative Office Joe Quesada getting punched out by Clark Gregg. Quesada said that’s what happened when Gregg found out he touched Lola. What do you think of the new pics?

Clark Gregg reprises his role of Agent Phil Coulson from Marvel’s feature films as he assembles a small, highly select group of Agents from the worldwide law-enforcement organization known as S.H.I.E.L.D. Together they investigate the new, the strange, and the unknown across the globe, protecting the ordinary from the extraordinary. Coulson’s team consists of Agent Grant Ward (Brett Dalton), highly trained in combat and espionage, Agent Melinda May (Ming-Na Wen) expert pilot and martial artist, Agent Leo Fitz (Iain De Caestecker); brilliant engineer and Agent Jemma Simmons (Elizabeth Henstridge) genius bio-chemist. Joining them on their journey into mystery is new recruit and computer hacker Skye (Chloe Bennet). From Executive Producers Joss Whedon (“Marvel’s The Avengers,” ”Buffy the Vampire Slayer”); Jed Whedon & Maurissa Tancharoen, “Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.” pilot co-writers (“Dollhouse,” “Dr.Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog”); Jeffrey Bell (“Angel,” “Alias”); and Jeph Loeb (“Smallville”) comes Marvel’s first TV series. “Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.” is produced by ABC Studios and Marvel Television.

Cody "The Thorverine" Ferrell, ABC Schedules Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D. For Tuesdays; New Images Released

Along with the trailer trumpeting Agent Coulson’s revival, a new viral site for the show has launched. WeAreTheRisingTide.com (click here to visit the site) went online earlier today and it features several very short videos of some Marvel heroes and villains in action. Most of the clips are cut from the movies Iron Man 2 and The Incredible Hulk. As we learned from the synopsis, tracking down the hacker group Rising Tide is going to be the S.H.I.E.L.D. team’s first mission in the pilot. The site is interesting and we should definitely keep an eye on it to see what they will release next. Check out the promo below, click over to the viral site, and sound off below with your thoughts. Did the teaser get your attention? Are you ready for Whedon’s pilot later this fall?

Joss Whedon (MARVEL’S THE AVENGERS, Buffy the Vampire Slayer) shows us not all heroes are super with MARVEL’S AGENTS OF S.H.I.E.L.D.

Fresh from his role in the summer’s box office smash, MARVEL’S THE AVENGERS, Agent Phil Coulson (Clark Gregg) returns to the worldwide law enforcement organization S.H.I.E.L.D. He puts together a small, highly trained, team of Agents to tackle the cases that haven’t been classified yet—the new, the strange and the unknown. That team consists of straight arrow Agent Grant Ward (Brett Dalton), an expert in combat and espionage; pilot and martial artist Agent Melinda May (Ming-Na Wen); and brilliant if socially awkward scientists Agent Leo Fitz (Iain De Caestecker) and Agent Jemma Simmons (Elizabeth Henstridge). Their initial investigations lead them to civilian computer hacker Skye (Chloe Bennet).

Prepare for an epic adventure that showcases the hope and wonder of the human spirit. This is a world of Super Heroes, aliens and the unusual—of action, spectacle and world spanning stories. The show will speak to the human condition through the lens of our very human, non-powered S.H.I.E.L.D agents—that together we are greater than we are apart, and that we can make a difference in the world.

Executive Produced and co-written by Joss Whedon, Jed Whedon & Maurissa Tancharoen (Dollhouse, Dr.Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog), Jeffrey Bell (Angel, Alias) and Jeph Loeb (Smallville, Lost, Heroes) comes Marvel’s first live-action TV series, MARVEL’S AGENTS OF S.H.I.E.L.D.

Cody "The Thorverine" Ferrell, Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D. 30 Second Promo Hits; Viral Site Launches

Cody "The Thorverine" Ferrell, Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D. Release A Short Teaser Ahead Of Tonight’s First Promo

The banner above, the full cast picture in HD, and the article’s icon you see on the homepage were official Facebook account for the show. The character ID badges were rolled out by the SHIELD TV fansite. The image of Skye is particularly interesting though. ABC prematurely released a 7 second teaser video for the show featuring footage from The Incredible Hulk where Abomination was smashing some cars. The lower right hand corner of the video had a “RISING TIDE” icon. As you can read in the official synopsis, Skye the hacker is one of S.H.I.E.L.D.‘s first cases.  What do you think of the new material? Are you excited for the preview tomorrow?

Joss Whedon (MARVEL’S THE AVENGERS, Buffy the Vampire Slayer) shows us not all heroes are super with MARVEL’S AGENTS OF S.H.I.E.L.D.

Fresh from his role in the summer’s box office smash, MARVEL’S THE AVENGERS, Agent Phil Coulson (Clark Gregg) returns to the worldwide law enforcement organization S.H.I.E.L.D. He puts together a small, highly trained, team of Agents to tackle the cases that haven’t been classified yet—the new, the strange and the unknown. That team consists of straight arrow Agent Grant Ward (Brett Dalton), an expert in combat and espionage; pilot and martial artist Agent Melinda May (Ming-Na Wen); and brilliant if socially awkward scientists Agent Leo Fitz (Iain De Caestecker) and Agent Jemma Simmons (Elizabeth Henstridge). Their initial investigations lead them to civilian computer hacker Skye (Chloe Bennet).

Prepare for an epic adventure that showcases the hope and wonder of the human spirit. This is a world of Super Heroes, aliens and the unusual—of action, spectacle and world spanning stories. The show will speak to the human condition through the lens of our very human, non-powered S.H.I.E.L.D agents—that together we are greater than we are apart, and that we can make a difference in the world.

Executive Produced and co-written by Joss Whedon, Jed Whedon & Maurissa Tancharoen (Dollhouse, Dr.Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog), Jeffrey Bell (Angel, Alias) and Jeph Loeb (Smallville, Lost, Heroes) comes Marvel’s first live-action TV series, MARVEL’S AGENTS OF S.H.I.E.L.D.

Cody "The Thorverine" Ferrell, Check Out The Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D. Character ID Badges And Promo Images

ABC has picked up Marvel’s Agents of SHIELD. More to come next week. Congrats! #AgentsofSHIELD

— ABCPublicity (@ABC_Publicity) May 10, 2013

Clark Gregg reprises his role of Agent Phil Coulson from Marvel’s feature films as he assembles a small, highly select group of Agents from the worldwide law-enforcement organization known as S.H.I.E.L.D. Together they investigate the new, the strange, and the unknown across the globe, protecting the ordinary from the extraordinary. Coulson’s team consists of Agent Grant Ward (Brett Dalton), highly trained in combat and espionage, Agent Melinda May (Ming-Na Wen) expert pilot and martial artist, Agent Leo Fitz (Iain De Caestecker); brilliant engineer and Agent Jemma Simmons (Elizabeth Henstridge) genius bio-chemist. Joining them on their journey into mystery is new recruit and computer hacker Skye (Chloe Bennet). From Executive Producers Joss Whedon (“Marvel’s The Avengers,” ”Buffy the Vampire Slayer”); Jed Whedon & Maurissa Tancharoen, “Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.” pilot co-writers (“Dollhouse,” “Dr.Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog”); Jeffrey Bell (“Angel,” “Alias”); and Jeph Loeb (“Smallville”) comes Marvel’s first TV series. “Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.” is produced by ABC Studios and Marvel Television.

Cody "The Thorverine" Ferrell, ABC Officially Picks Up Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D.: Official Logo Unveiled

There is no question that it is part of the Marvel Universe. In fact, the story takes place after the battle for New York. This is S.H.I.E.L.D. They’re following their own particular stories. There are characters in it, Coulson, who clearly come from Avengers. So it’s part of the world, but we’re going to be very, very careful that we don’t tread on the toes of the features and build a whole new world. And that’s what Joss Whedon does better than anybody else. He’s built a world for us.

This opens up a new round of speculation since we know Clark Gregg’s Agent Phil Coulson will be a major player in the show. Will we see flashbacks? A Coulson computer program? Did he really survive Loki’s fatal blow? We’ll have to wait and see. One of the other questions surrounding the series is if Marvel will us it as a launching pad for smaller Marvel Universe characters. Lee didn’t rule out that possibility:

I think if we’re lucky enough to have a great series, we’re obviously having fun with that. At this point though, we have a number of characters at the heart of the script who are real characters, who are the Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., and the first task is to make those guys great and relatable and everything that a great show needs. Beyond that, fingers crossed!

In another interview today with MTV, Marvel godfather Joss Whedon talked about the show as well. The writer and director talked about how the show is more than an average cop show, it’s a character piece (like most of his shows):

[We start filming] a week from Tuesday. You have to bring a bit of spectacle to [S.H.I.E.L.D.]; it’s got to be bigger than your average cop show. But at the end of the day, it’s about the peripheral people. It’s about the people on the edges of the grand adventures. The whole point of the show is that even with all these big things, the little things matter. It’s about people who don’t have super powers. There will be some people with powers, there will be FX, and there will be the spectacle of science-fiction storytelling — but all played on a very human, small level. That’s the appeal of the thing.

So there you have it. One week until filming starts and we know a little bit more about the show. It will be later this year before the pilot airs if ABC decides to pick it up for series. With all the big names behind it and the money being put into it, I would find it hard to believe ABC would pass on it unless something major happens. What do you think Whedonites? How will the man pull off Coulson’s return?

Cody "The Thorverine" Ferrell, New S.H.I.E.L.D. Show Details: Takes Place After The Avengers

“We’d love to do something with Lucasfilm,”ABC Entertainment President Paul Lee told the outlet. ”We’re not sure what yet… We haven’t even sat down with them. We’re going to look at [the live-action series], we’re going to look at all of them, and see what’s right. We weren’t able to discuss this with them until [the acquisition] closed and it just closed. It’s definitely going to be part of the conversation.”

So, how would this series fit in with the previous and future films? We’re not quite sure, but the folks over at Bleeding Cool have some info that may give us an idea, stating that much of the material developed for the series takes a lot from the upcoming Star Wars 1313 video game, including settings, designs and characters.

Sources say the live-action series centers on the story of rival families struggling over the control of the seedy underside of the Star Wars universe and the people who live within the subterranean level and air shafts of the metropolis planet Coruscant (the Empire’s urban-sprawl-covered home planet). A bounty hunter may be the main character. The time period allows for all sorts of potential appearances from classic figures from the Star Wars universe.

The biggest issue the series may face is whether or not they can produce it without spending massive amounts of money. ABC is currently working with Marvel and Joss Whedon to combine the cinematic and television worlds with their S.H.I.E.L.D. series,which will likely air later this year. IF that works like most people think it will, then a Star Wars series may not be too far off.

Josh "ecksmanfan" Johnson, Star Wars Series Headed to ABC?

Remember when we heard that Joss Whedon was going to direct The Avengers Sequel and also a TV show?

Well thanks to the fine folks at Deadline, we now have confirmation:

S.H.I.E.L.D. will be written by Whedon, his bother Jed Whedon and  Maurissa Tancharoen. Joss Whedon also is set to direct the pilot, schedule permitting. Production on the pilot, which marks the first live-action Marvel TV project to get a green light, will start immediately. Joss Whedon, Jed Whedon and Tancharoen executive produce with Jeffrey Bell and Marvel TV’s Jeph Loeb.

The project had been in the works at Marvel TV and ABC Studios for some time. Earlier this month, Disney CEO Bob Iger announced that it had signed an exclusive film and TV deal with Joss Whedon, which included him writing and directing The Avengers sequel and develop a live-action series for Marvel TV and ABC, both owned by Disney.

 UPDATE:

Joss Whedon, who appeared Tuesday night at the Writers Guild Theater as moderator of a Q and A with “Sleepwalk with Me” filmmakers Mike Birbiglia and Ira Glass, said the storyline for the proposed series will be largely “autonomous” from the “Avengers” sequel feature that is also in the works. The series will revolve around the activities of the top-secret S.H.I.E.L.D espionage org featured in “Avengers.”

Thanks to Variety for the update.

Agent Burgos, UPDATED! S.H.I.E.L.D. TV Show Coming To You Soon!

What seems quite, quite interesting here is that, back in 2008 THR was reporting that the same ABC would be bringing the hit Vertigo comic book series Fables to the small screen.

Created and written by Bill Willingham in 2002, the series has won fourteen Eisner Awards. Based in a world where fairy tale characters have been forced out of their homes by a mysterious enemy known as the Adversary, and now live in a hidden community in New York City known as Fabletown.

With a script written by Stu Zicherman and Raven Metzner, things were heading for “premiere ground” when it suddenly just feel of the grid and the existence of a pilot was never disclosed.

Synopsis: “Once Upon a Time“, from the inventive minds of “Lost” executive producers Adam Horowitz and Edward Kitsis, is a bold new imagining of the world, where fairy tales and the modern-day are about to collide.

And they all lived happily ever after – or so everyone was led to believe. Emma Swan knows how to take care of herself. She’s a 28-year-old bail bonds collector who’s been on her own ever since she was abandoned as a baby. But when the son she gave up years ago finds her, everything starts to change. Henry is now 10 years old and in desperate need of Emma’s help. He believes that Emma actually comes from an alternate world and is Snow White and Prince Charming’s missing daughter. According to his book of fairy tales, they sent her away to protect her from the Evil Queen‘s curse, which trapped the fairy tale world forever, frozen in time, and brought them into our modern world.

Of course Emma doesn’t believe a word, but when she brings Henry back to Storybrooke, she finds herself drawn to this unusual boy and his strange New England town. Concerned for Henry, she decides to stay for a while, but she soon suspects that Storybrooke is more than it seems. It’s a place where magic has been forgotten, but is still powerfully close… where fairy tale characters are alive, even though they don’t remember who they once were. The epic battle for the future of all worlds is beginning, but for good to win, Emma will have to accept her destiny and fight like hell.

Starring:
Ginnifer Goodwin as Snow White/Sister Mary Margaret
Jennifer Morrison as Emma Swan
Robert Carlyle as Rumplestiltskin/Mr. Gold
Lana Parrilla as Evil Queen/Regina
Jamie Dornan as Sheriff Graham
Jared Gilmore as Henry
Josh Dallas as Prince Charming/John Doe
Raphael Sbarge as Jiminy Cricket/Archie

Guest stars include Emma Caulfield (“Buffy the Vampire Slayer“) as the Blind Witch from Hansel and Gretel, Kristin Bauer van Straten (“True Blood”) as Maleficent, Alan Dale (“Lost”) as Prince Charming’s father, Jessy Schram (“Falling Skies”) as Cinderella, David Anders (“The Vampire Diaries”) as a doctor, Brad Dourif as a beggar who befriends the evil Rumpelstiltskin (Robert Carlyle), and Giancarlo Esposito (“Breaking Bad”) as the sidekick to series regular Lana Parrilla’s Evil Queen.

Once Upon a Time premieres this Sunday, October 23rd at 8/7 central on ABC.

Are you going to tune in? Let us know what you think!

Comic Book Therapy, ABC Releases First 9 Minutes of “Once Upon A Time”