Even though it wasn’t that long ago, it’s interesting to see just how much the landscape of Marvel TV and Marvel Studios productions has changed since 2012. After the record-breaking success of “The Avengers,” Marvel TV thought it would be a great idea to spin the film off into a new series titled “Agents of SHIELD.” The series debuted with a ton of hype and quickly became the crown jewel in the Marvel TV lineup.
Now, seven years later, the series is still on the air, but the entire Marvel TV slate has gone through incredible growth and changes. Netflix struck a deal that came and went. YA audiences are discovering Marvel shows on Freeform and Hulu. And Marvel Studios (entirely different from its TV sister company) is developing its own slate of streaming shows. So, it’s only fitting that the TV series that started it all, ‘SHIELD,’ is coming to an end.
Deadline recently sat down with Marvel TV president Jeph Loeb to talk about the end of “Agents of SHIELD,” which will conclude after next year’s Season 7. The Marvel TV boss said that the show was originally thought to end after Season 5, but ABC kept asking for more episodes. Eventually, it just came to the point where the story can logically end.
“When you know that’s what you’re doing, you can take greater risks, of life and death,” said Loeb. “Those kinds of decisions suddenly now are real on the table because you’re not playing how do we undo this when we get to the next season. You’re playing that this is going to be the end of the story.”
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Season 6 of ‘SHIELD’ is still ongoing, so there’s really nothing that can be said about the final 13 episodes will cover. Of course, considering this is Marvel we’re talking about, nothing ever truly ends. So, even though the Agents are going to be calling it quits (and some might “die”), it’s always possible to see these characters down the line.