Until now, we've been referring to Joss Whedon's small screen Marvel project as "the S.H.I.E.L.D. pilot," because the anticipated drama has no official title. But, thanks to some overzealous Whedon fans, the potential title - or working title - for the project has made its way online. Whether or not this title will stick remains to be seen, but the project is reportedly being referred to as Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D..
EW shared a screenshot pulled from ABC's website for advertisers, which reveals the current title of the project. As the site notes, pilot titles change frequently, so even if this is the current title, it may not stay the same. I'm inclined to agree with EW that they should drop the "Marvel's" if not also the "Agents of" and just call the pilot S.H.I.E.L.D.. (And then maybe the internet can collectively agree to drop the periods in casual blog-conversation, because they're annoying to type.) As for dropping the "Agents Of," the only issue they might have there is possible confusion with Shawn Ryan's popular cop drama The Shield, which wrapped up in 2008. But the lack of "the" would differentiate S.H.I.E.L.D. enough to work, especially given that it's been five years since the FX drama finished up. But let's face it, this one's going to draw a crowd no matter what it's called.
We'll have to wait and see if this title is locked in as official if and when the pilot gets the series green light.
EW also shared the unofficial description for the show, which includes this paragraph about the plot and characters:
Joss Whedon (MARVEL’S THE AVENGERS, Buffy the Vampire Slayer) shows us not all heroes are super with MARVEL’S AGENTS OF S.H.I.E.L.D.Fresh from his role in the summer’s box office smash, MARVEL’S THE AVENGERS, Agent Phil Coulson (Clark Gregg) returns to the worldwide law enforcement organization S.H.I.E.L.D. He puts together a small, highly trained, team of Agents to tackle the cases that haven’t been classified yet, the new, the strange and the unknown. That team consists of straight arrow Agent Grant Ward (Brett Dalton), an expert in combat and espionage; pilot and martial artist Agent Melinda May (Ming-Na Wen); and brilliant if socially awkward scientists Agent Leo Fitz (Iain De Caestecker) and Agent Jemma Simmons (Elizabeth Henstridge). They’ll be joined by civilian new recruit and computer hacker Skye (Chloe Bennet).
The description goes on to promise "pic adventure that showcases the hope and wonder of the human spirit." As exciting as that sounds, let's face it, they had most of us a "Joss Whedon."
This interesting update comes just days after we learned that Angel's J. August Richards may have been cast in the drama, though his role was not specified in the report.
