Marvel's Agents of SHIELD stars say ties to MCU "hampered" series
Ming-Na Wen and Clark Gregg had their say ahead of the series finale this week.
Two stars of Marvel's Agents of SHIELD have had their say on the series original ties to the Marvel Cinematic Universe ahead of this week's grand finale, claiming the links "hampered the series."
Speaking at an ABC press event to promote the final episode Ming-Na Wen - who plays Agent Melinda May on the series - responded to a comment from her co-star Natalia Cordova-Buckley that she would have loved if there were more connection between the series and the films.
"Oh, no, I was there for that [first] season and no, uh-uh, no. Because It really, completely tied the writers’ hands,” she said.
“They had to write and try and coordinate with the release of the film [Captain America: The Winter Soldier]… and it just hampered us. It hampered the writers, it hampered everyone to have the freedom to be our own entity."
She later added, “I think it was a glorious idea to have this all be ‘connected,’ but in the end it was so great because it allowed our writers to just take off and use their imagination and create things that they were allowed to have with different characters and different storylines.
“But that first season was a bit bumpy, definitely. It definitely had its issues... There were all kinds of weird things we couldn’t do or say.”
And Clark Gregg, who plays Phil Coulson on the show, agreed with Wen - although he claimed that the first series still holds up despite the difficulties experienced at the time.
“There was a lot of treading water in season, waiting to reveal what we were doing and how it was crossing over,” Gregg observed at the 6th August press event. “I do think the way it crossed over with Winter Soldier, and the use of the amazing Bill Paxton [as HYDRA mole John Garrett], really paid off, and the end of season one holds up really well.”
The series reaches its climax this week with a two-hour finale, after seven series and 134 episodes.
It was revealed last month that the final season of the show won’t be broadcast on E4, the channel that has served as its UK home for the past four years.
Marvel’s Agents of SHIELD season seven has no UK broadcaster. If you’re looking for something to watch, check out our TV Guide.
Authors
Patrick Cremona is the Senior Film Writer at Radio Times, and looks after all the latest film releases both in cinemas and on streaming. He has been with the website since October 2019, and in that time has interviewed a host of big name stars and reviewed a diverse range of movies.
