Is Agents of SHIELD truly a Superhero Show?

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The last television season featured quite an amount of shows featuring classic superhero characters, such as Arrow, Flash and to a certain degree even Constantine. Among all those shows it was just a question of time until the comparisons would start, as most of these shows are not only DC Comics characters but also because in comparison to Agents of SHIELD they featured a powered character as the focus of the show. With people stating that The Flash is the greatest superhero TV show, I started wondering about one thing, could you truly categorize Agents of SHIELD as such? If you think about it, the tagline of the show was up to this point about regular people in a bizarre world filled with gifted individuals. Yet due to it being inspired by Marvel storylines it seems that people still see it as a superhero show, but is that truly justified? Let us take a closer look at why it simply isn’t and even how it has affected the show.

As I stated before the show’s true focus was about regular people in a quite bizarre world, even if you consider that being an agent of a secret governmental organization is not really “regular” in itself. However, these characters, beside Phil Coulson (Clark Gregg) were all new to us and as such were supposed surrogates to how it would be living in this world from different angles. Each character had a certain role and we were supposed to follow them in their daily missions. While even shows such Arrow and The Flash boasted quite a cast, Agents of SHIELD felt more like an ensemble piece about this small group of characters.

That lack of focus on a specific powered character did push the show beyond just being a “superhero” show, as it was about an entire cast that all were intertwined by the stories told. The Flash had, as I said, quite a large cast as well, but the strongest focus always stayed with Barry Allen (Grant Gustin) and how these characters interact with him. SHIIELD on the other hand was about all of them and how they interacted as a group, even going as far as trying to elevate them as a family that interacts on a daily basis. The Bus proves this fact as it was an environment that forced to interact.

Agents of SHIELD though proved that is more than a superhero show in its second season, as there it felt more like it was about much more than just superheroes, it was about the price of gifts. Arrow touched on a similar subject with Oliver Queen (Steven Amell) coming to understand what price he had to pay for being the vigilante he was, but Agents of SHIELD took that concept a step further and explored that price if you are given a gift that makes you Inhuman. While I do agree that some characters did indeed jump back and further with their personality when it was revealed that Skye had evolved seismic powers, but to a certain degree that is how people react to things they can’t explain. It further cements how it was about their reactions just as much as it was about Skye reacting to this newfound gift. Unlike the Avengers who could prove themselves by saving the world, Skye was never given anything to prove herself with and similar to the Hulk she never received these powers by choice. So we follow how she and the people around her react to what she is given and what she became.

Agents of SHIELD has long left the “spy show” moniker behind it and stepped beyond being a superhero show. The question though remains, what exactly is it? This question I believe is one reason for its ratings, which I have mentioned once before aren’t terrible, but aren’t terrific either. Living in its own bubble, the show has no specific audience and offers elements for everyone to enjoy, yet at the same time nothing to truly hold anyone for a long term. Certain storylines are dropped for new ones and the show constantly is evolving at quite an incredible speed. With being a show that reacts to the Marvel Cinematic Universe at large it simply can’t satisfy everyone and tries to be its own thing. Sadly, most successful shows have a certain level of predictability to them that help them keep their viewers, as TV is a medium that is absorbed passively to a certain degree. Agents of SHIELD has so much going on that you need to literally sit down and pay attention or else you will miss something. In a way it raises the bar for television in general, but proves that some people sometimes just prefer simple things.

In the end, the show has done something incredible as it not only ties-in to a larger universe, but also has become its own thing. A very delicate balancing act that not many can pull off under such circumstances, but even every show I have mentioned has made their mistakes, so has Agents of SHIELD. If it will prove its longevity in the future is a question that can only be answered with time, but we should consider one thing. It isn’t a superhero show, it is Agents of SHIELD, nothing more and nothing less.

What are your thoughts on the matter? Do you agree or disagree with me? If so, then leave a comment below!

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