When Marvel and Disney decided to combine the Marvel Cinematic Universe with cult favorite writer/director Joss Whedon (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, Firefly, Dollhouse, Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog), the result was The Avengers, the 3rd-highest grossing movie of all time.  When you combine that film with the rest of the MCU, including the Iron Man series, Thor and Captain America and their upcoming sequels, it’s an obvious choice for Disney/Marvel to want to expand the empire that has brought them such commercial and critical success.  And who better to give the reins to their new TV series to than Joss and his team, which in this case includes his brother and sister-in-law, Jed Whedon and Maurissa Tancharoen (also known as J-Mo)?  The result is the awkwardly titled Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., which I will from here on refer to as something that’s easier to type.  SHIELD is not the story of the superheroes that get their own films but of the government agents who are forced to deal with them “to protect the ordinary from the extraordinary”, people who have no superpowers of their own yet who are constantly in contact with those who do.  And who better to anchor that story than Agent Phil Coulson, who was stabbed through the chest by villain Loki during the events of The Avengers and presumed dead?  But instead of getting ahead of myself, why don’t we just jump into tonight’s episode, boringly titled: “Pilot”.

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