‘Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.’ Bosses Preparing to End the Series With Season 5
Five full seasons would be enough for most series, let alone 100 episodes, so is Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. ready to hang up the lanyard? After one-too-many cancellation scares, showrunners say they’re looking at Season 5’s finale as a potential closer to the Avengers-adjacent drama.
The series will air its 100th installment on March 9 – continuing on for at least ten episodes beyond that – but it’s worth wondering if ABC might finally cut ties with the Marvel drama in light of plateaued ratings and Disney’s intent to develop new streaming series. TVLine had a chance to ask showrunners Jed Whedon and Maurissa Tancharoen if Season 5 was at least seen as a potential endpoint, and the pair very much acknowledged the likelihood:
‘We are in process [of writing the finale],’ co-showrunner Jed Whedon told TVLine on Saturday at the show’s Episode 100 celebration. Added co-showrunner Maurissa Tancharoen: ‘We know what it is.’
And what it is, Tancharoen said, could serve as ‘either’ a season or series finale.
Whedon elaborated, ‘Yeah, we’re ready for if this is the end. We’re definitely going to make it rewarding either way.’
Last year, reports surfaced that Marvel strong-armed ABC into a fifth season order, though ABC boss Channing Dungey had optimism for Season 6 as recently as January:
The creative this season, I honestly think, has been the strongest its ever been. We’ve been really excited about what the producers have been talking about for the second half of the season. I’m really looking forward to hearing them come in and talk about what their ideas would be for Season 6, so we can make a better determination about whether we’re going to order another season or not.
We’ll likely hear more as Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. winds down Season 5 later this year, but is it worth continuing Coulson and co.’s adventures through Season 6?
Gallery: Every Comic Character ‘Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.’ Added to the MCU