Events in Captain America: The Winter Soldier radically changed the Marvel Cinematic Universe and the television series inspired by it.
The lynchpin that’s tied everything together since the first Iron Man movie is shredded – raising all kinds of questions and making fans ask, “what the heck are they gonna do now?”
Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. will be impacted most of all and there are huge possibilities for future Marvel movies.
Before I continue with major news about Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and theories about future films here’s a…
SPOILER ALERT!
If you have not seen Captain America: The Winter Soldier STOP reading now.
Seriously
OK
Here it comes
Agent Coulson had a tough job trying to find The Clairvoyant and the secret of his rebirth but now everything is shattered and he’s caught in a civil war.
Captain America: The Winter Soldier revealed Hydra had infiltrated S.H.I.E.L.D. to its very core. The Red Skull’s chief scientist Arnim Zola had been downloaded into a program, the S.H.I.E.L.D. liaison to the world’s leaders (Robert Redford in a chilling portrayal as Alexander Pierce) was hailing Hydra to his bitter end.
With S.H.I.E.L.D. HQ destroyed and all levels of the organization infiltrated – who can you trust?
Here’s the cast of Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. on the impact on their show via Marvel:
From Secret War to Secret Invasion – Marvel Comics knows how to do epics packed with paranoia and multiple crosses. Now the movie and television world will be overhauled and ripe for new possibilities.
Agents of ?
Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. will face the most immediate impact. Coulson’s team were introduced as new characters in Marvel mythology finding their identity in “the most massive organization ever created by man,” executive producer Jed Whedon tells USA Today. “Now they really are a ragtag bunch scraping things together.”
The final 6 episodes of the season will focus on the civil war and who’s turned Hydra. Is someone on the team a Hydra mole? Can Coulson trust any of his superiors like Victoria Hand?
Who’s Watching the Earth?
The world thinks Nick Fury is dead. The Black Widow’s secrets are exposed. Most of the World Security Council members are dead. S.H.I.E.L.D.’s morale, reputation, not to mention infrastructure and financing are shattered. Who is watching and stopping the threats across the globe and from beyond?
Could Marvel be paving the way for S.W.O.R.D.? S.W.O.R.D. was a creation of Joss Whedon when he was writing Astonishing X-Men. It’s a S.H.I.E.L.D. counterpart in an orbiting space station that monitors alien life on Earth and threats from alien races led by the green-haired Agent Abigail Brand. With Guardians of the Galaxy, Chitauri and Thanos – the world may need Brand and her orbiting S.W.O.R.D. agency.
Not Mutant but Mutagenic?
In the post credit sequence we saw a huge teaser for Avengers: Age of Ultron. Baron Wolfgang Von Strucker (Thomas Kretschmann) possesses Loki’s staff from Marvel’s The Avengers and has transformed “the twins” into superpowered beings. Elizabeth Olsen and Aaron Taylor-Johnson were seen in captivitity displaying their powers of speed and hexing (probability manipulation.)
It appears in the Marvel cinemeatic Universe – Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch will gain their powers from exposure to the alien weapon – which connects the dots to a future confrontation with the Chitauri and Thanos instead of their comic book origins. (Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch are the mutant children of Magneto.)
Von Strucker’s secret base is just one of many so this could a way to introduce more super-powered villains and victims into the films and television series.
Fury always has a plan
If you’ve read Secret War and Secret Warriors by Brian Michael Bendis you know Fury always has a contingency plan. The Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. have been fighting operatives of Centipede but in the Bendis books Fury has a caterpillar program. When the Avengers and every Marvel team were infiltrated by Skrull shapeshifters – Fury found the sons and daughters of Marvel heroes and villains who had no idea of their super legacy. Daisy Johnson aka Quake became a fan favorite and would be a perfect addition of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
You may remember a major name drop from the film. Stephen Strange turned up on Hydra’s list of targets for assassination. Fury and Coulson could begin tracking down Strange and the others who turned up on Zola’s program.
With Maria Hill seen (on a job interview ?) with Stark Industries and Fury in the shadows could this be could be the start of an all-new “secret S.H.I.E.L.D.” financed by Tony Stark and secretly run by Fury as they hunt Hydra bases and prep for Avengers Age of Ultron?
I could go on theorizing – one idea springs two or more – like Hydra!
The Hydra revelation didn’t just make a powerhouse story for Captain America but radically resets Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe.
By Editor