Marvel’s ‘Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.’ Officially Renewed For Season 6
After a fairly tumultuous few days of rumors about whether or not Marvel’s longest-running television series set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe would get an opportunity to do a sixth season, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. has officially been renewed.
Variety has confirmed that the Marvel series will be around for one more pass. Unlike what was done with FOX’s Gotham recently, which was to confirm that the show’s next season will wrap everything up, there’s no word on whether or not the sixth season of AOS will be its last or if there’s potential for the series to continue after that point, as the network has not officially come to a decision yet. The season will be shorter with a 13-episode run in order to save on budget overall, but each episode will have a higher budget as a result of the corners cut. The show’s official Twitter account shared the following teaser:
Agents, suit up for Season 6! Marvel's #AgentsofSHIELD will return! pic.twitter.com/zj10n9ra2t
— Agents of SHIELD (@AgentsofSHIELD) May 14, 2018
Fans of the show should be thankful for two things in particular for the show getting another season, even if it is abbreviated: Disney and Marvel applying pressure to ABC, who wanted to see the show end with Season 4, and Captain Marvel bringing AOS’s lead character Phil Coulson back into the fold of Marvel movies, even if the movie in question is a prequel to the majority of the MCU. Disney have consistently seen the show as free advertising for the Marvel movies they produce and fans have been dying to see Coulson in another MCU movie since the show brought him back from his death in The Avengers. With Captain Marvel set to air in March 2019, this will be the first time that Coulson will appear in both a new MCU movie and an ongoing television series, and Marvel Entertainment is bound to take advantage of that synergy.
Earlier rumors suggested that Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. could move back to a Tuesday night slot, which would likely bolster ratings after the show was placed in a Friday night window (which is usually a death-sentence for long-running shows). However, it’s going to be a while until the show will actually resume, and there’s plenty of time for the network to make a decision as to what day of the week it will air on. In any case, it seems like the show will have to answer questions about the fallout of the shocking ending of Avengers: Infinity War and how it affects S.H.I.E.L.D., given the far-reaching consequences that said ending establishes.
Grant Davis is a freelance writer who has covered entertainment news for more than seven years. His articles have frequently appeared in Star Wars News Net as well as as other entertainment-related websites. As someone who grew up on Star Wars and comic book movies, he’s completely thrilled with the current era of genre entertainment.
