S.H.I.E.L.D. Scoop: Meet the Members of Joss Whedon’s New ABC Pilot!
S.H.I.E.L.D. your eyes if you don’t want to be spoiled, because we’ve got some cool info about Joss Whedon‘s forthcoming project.
TVLine has obtained casting details regarding the ABC pilot, which is helmed by the Avengers writer/director and based on a peacekeeping group that appeared in both the summer blockbuster and various Marvel comics.
The live-action pilot’s title is an acronym for Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division, a covert organization run by Samuel L. Jackson’s Nick Fury in the movie.
Buffy creator Whedon is tentatively set to direct the pilot; he’s also slated to write the series with his brother Jed Whedon and Maurissa Tancharoen.
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Among those fighting the good fight:
SKYE | This late-20s woman sounds like a dream: fun, smart, caring and confident – with an ability to get the upper hand by using her wit and charm.
AGENT GRANT WARD | Quite the physical specimen and “cool under fire,” he sometimes botches interpersonal relations. He’s a quiet one with a bit of a temper, but he’s the kind of guy that grows on you.
AGENT ALTHEA RICE | Also known as “The Calvary,” this hard-core soldier has crazy skills when it comes to weapons and being a pilot. But her experiences have left her very quiet and a little damaged.
AGENT LEO FITZ and AGENT JEMMA SIMMONS | These two came through training together and still choose to spend most of their time in each other’s company. Their sibling-like relationship is reinforced by their shared nerd tendencies – she deals with biology and chemistry, he’s a whiz at the technical side of weaponry.
What do you think of these character outlines, TVLiners? Who would you like to see cast in the roles? Hit the comments and sound off!
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Adam Baldwin for Grant?
eww thats not even funny.
That’s not fat fetched. Directors like to work with the same cast of people, so i wouldn’t be surprised if we saw some veterans from Buffy, Angel, Firefly, and Dollhouse show up here. Eliza Dushku for the female lead, maybe?
In the Buffy comic book, Xander has become a Nick Fury-like figure. Maybe they’ll cast Nicholas Brendon as the boss of the SHIELD unit on the TV show.
Nicholas Brendon becomes Nicholas Fury hehe and agree hoping for a couple of whedonverse actors here pls!
Omg…I want this so bad. I miss having his mug on my TV.
Nick has a role on criminal minds
And he already has a patch! Maybe Joss has been planning this for longer than we thought . . .
Definitely Adam Baldwin for Grant.
Yeah Adam Baldwin needs to come back, and Grant sounds like his perfect character.
I wouldn’t be surprised to see Adam Baldwin cast as Grant.
Yes please. I’m miss seeing Adam regularly on my screen
Tom Welling is definately “Quite the physical specimen and “cool under fire,”” and would much rather see him as Agent Grant Ward. Even the botches interpersonal relationships… Have to pass on Adam Baldwin…
Seriously! That was my first thought!
I thought the same thing as I was reading that description!
And Summer Glau for Althea! :D
I’d love to see Yvonne Strahovski as Skye.
Yes! when I read the description I instantly thought of Ms. Strahovski.
Hopefully she’ll be too busy playing Carol Danvers in the movies…
Actually, I kind of want Jennifer Morrison for Carol.
Seeing as she is in the lead of her own HIT show, your wants will not be met….
Can we just get the entire cast of Firefly on this?
No.
My thoughts exactly. Just start the show again already Joss!
Castle stays where he is
the show is on a bubble this season so dont count on it =)
see thats where your totally wrong don’t make castle fans upset :(
Yes, these are wishful thinking from crazy Browncoats and another Whedon’s fans. Castle is stronger than ever and with a potential for at least 5 or more seasons, hello we have NEW YORK TIMES bestsellers series of books, not to mention another stuff with excellent selling results. Castle’s is ABC’s FLAGSHIP and and they’re not this stupid to cancel it any time soon. Plus, Andrew Marlowe is a winner. Joss Whedon is a loser.
Hey Kat, you had me til the end there. I adore Castle, but why don’t you go watch some of Whedon’s stuff then talk? Good girl.
Seth Gabel for Leo Fitz…. or is he too much Lincoln Lee?
I don’t care… I want more Seth Gabel on my tv screen. He is such an amazing actor! My husband argued with me for an entire episode about whether the 2 Lincolns were actually the same actor!
YES PLEASE.
I am really liking the sound of this.
This is making me reallllll excited!
Althea Rice could be played by Jo Lupo from Eureka…
Oh, hell yeah. Now I will be unsatisfied by any other outcome.
katee sackhoff would be my first choice
Katee Sackoff is a deputy on Longmire.
Brilliant. Simply brilliant.
Love this idea, I miss Ms. Lupo! Can we get Zane for Agent Leo Fitz??
I’d love to see Summer Glau play the role of Skye.
Please no. I don’t like her. Very untalented.
Who’s socks did YOU smoke? Untalented? Wow. Well, everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but I think you’re way off on that one, dude.
She was my least favorite part of Firefly, I hated her in Grey’s Anatomy, and I didn’t enjoy her cameo appearance in the Big Bang Theory. Also, I think she’s pretty strange looking and people praise her beauty. I don’t see it. Jewel Staite is much more attractive IMO.
She can look very pretty (and did in Firefly) and also can act very well. But she can also come across as cold. Some of her roles have called for cold, though. If Summer Glau was cast, I’d see her cast as Althea more than Skye, where cold could work well. I wouldn’t want a whole Firefly cast reunion though… one or two would be sufficient. Otherwise it just will be compared and may suffer in the comparison. And obviously, Nathan Fillion is otherwise engaged.
She was seriously underused in Grey’s Anatomy and Jewel Staite is awesome but will hopefully stay on as Raquel on The LA Complex, should it get a third season because she is PHENOMENAL on it and without a doubt the best part of the show.
funny how you skipped Terminator yet mentioned an episode of Big Bang where she played…..Herself??????????
No. Just no. Truly has no depth. Even as a terminator. Terrible.
Fran Kranz = Agent Leo Fitz
YES A MILLION TIMES YES !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
THIS. Acctually, I’ll take Fran Kranz in any role..
Actually, I’ll just take Fran Kranz
Agreed!
Good call. And pair him with Kristen Connolly – I could buy her as a bio-nerd to his tech geek, and they had really good buddy chemistry in Cabin in the Woods.
totally!
Oh it could be cool to reunite him with the girl who played Ivy on Dollhouse. I liked those two together.
Yes!!!!! Topher & Victor were my favorite characters on Dollhouse so I am hoping they both end up on this show (Even though the characters that they are best suited for are basically Topher & Victor (Grant) not much of a stretch for them)
And late entry if HIMYM ends this season… Cobie Smulders as Agent Maria Hill
I have to imagine that this is a possibility, which would make me extremely happy.
Doesn’t even matter if they renew HIMYM for another season. Smulders could basically automatically join the cast full time after her stint with HIMYM is done. SHIELD would be popular enough to run for a few seasons.
lol I wonder if this is the first show Whedon has ever done which is…not guaranteed, obviously, but very high chance it’ll run for at least a good while?
Yes!!!!
Enver Gjokaj for either Ward or Fitz…
Why on earth isn’t he in EVERYTHING? Such a great actor and attractive and still no lead role?
I know! He was amazing in every role he played on Dollhouse. He blew everyone else out of the water and all I’ve seen him in is the end battle of Avengers & an episode of Person of Interest
And they could toss in a throwaway line about him being recruited out of the NYPD in order to tie into Avengers…
This!
Oh, this is a really good idea. And he is ridicuously talented and we know Joss agrees, so this seems like real possibility.
Enver Gjokaj, totally agree. + Summer Glau
YES! I was going to say I honestly don’t care about any of the casting, so long as Enver Gjokaj has a role!
I’m seeing it, mon ami :D
Niall Matter (Zane from Eureka) ought to be in there somewhere. So should Felicia Day and Seth Green.
P.S. I’m guessing you mean Cavalry as in “Send in the…” not Calvary as in “Let’s nail someone to a board.”
Niall Matter already has a show of his own, the Canadian version of Primeval where he plays the lead, produced and directed by Amanda Tapping.
Really?? Is it also called Primeval and where can I see it?!!
starts later this month
Ugh, please no Felicia Day – if she’s a main character I’ll have to skip the show entirely. I will never understand her appeal.
These character descriptions make me really want to watch this show! I hope they cast them well.
As long as we’re shouting out names today I’m voting for Gretchen Lodge from Lovely Molly to work with Joss on anything! And there would be no going wrong with casting Gabrielle Union (Skye? Jemma?), whose performance is the only thing I remember from the short lived FlashForward.
Her performance is the only thing I remember as being terribly wooden from Flashforward. An unnecessary character poorly cast.
Cobie Smulders needs to join this. It would be the perfect launch for the show.
rumor going around that ABC/Marvel are pushing hard to get Cobie on the show
I want Warren Kole to be in the series since he was in The Avengers as a Shield Agent already.
I would love this. I loved Common Law and it looks like a long shot for renewal what with the lapsed Ks, so this would be fantastic.
Absolutely lovely idea!
Loved him in Common Law and since it’s most likely not getting renewed this is a great idea!
He’d make a great Grant, except that seems to be exactly Wes from Common Law.
Amy Acker for Jemma
Yes, please! Amy Acker is both talented and underappreciated.
I could see her as Althea, though…. A pilot but “quiet and a little damaged.” Amy would rock that.
amy would rock anything. between cabin in the woods and dollhouse and angel, she decidedly is one of my favorite whedon girls
Adrianne Palicki for Skye and Alexis Bledel for Jemma. And how about Gaius Charles for Grant and Zac Levi for Leo Fitz?
Since zac levi’s now fandral in Thor, i doubt that’ll happen, lol
Alexis Bledel would be awesome. Zachary Levi would be too, but I think he has a big career ahead of him in more central roles. Joshua Gomez might be a good pick instead.
Please please please let Enver be somewhere on this as a cop turned SHIELD agent
Skye = Summer Glau
Agent Grant Ward = Adam Baldwin
Agent Althea Rice = Amy Acker
Agent Leo Fitz = Fran Kranz
Agent Jenna Simmons = Felicia Day
Well… that’s my Joss Whedon wishlist anyways.
sounds good to me!
That is a dream cast, for certain!
Skye = Summer Glau
Agent Grant Ward = Adam Baldwin
Agent Althea Rice = Amy Acker
Agent Leo Fitz = Fran Kranz
Agent Jenna Simmons = Felicia Day
I’d almost say perfect, except I’d put Dushku in as Skye.
I really need Tom Welling to come back to work & what better way then to be in a Joss Whedon production, I could see him be that Agent Grant Ward
tom welling????? wow…crack….smoke much?
I want Yvonne Strahovski as SKYE. Yvonne is good in everything and as everything.
Couldn’t have said it better myself! Yvonne rocks! So want to see her back on tv!
Get Tom Welling and Erica Durance on board… PRONTO! c’mon joss.
Erica Durance is the star of Saving Hope which already got picked up for a second season.
Erica is even a producer on her show so she’s not going anywhere.
She can’t be a producer of a cancelled show, which will be after its second season that btw films in different schedules. When Saving Hope gets renewed for a 3rd season (Ghost Whisperer much really?) then Durance is ruled out. I wouldn’t put so much “hope” (see what I did there) on show that is stuck in Canada.
Oi! Being “stuck” in Canada isn’t as bad as YOU seem to think… since she IS Canadian. And Saving Hope did very well UP HERE and was picked up for a second season before NBC passed on carrying it further. I see it going past three seasons and then you can sit DOWN THERE and suck it.
She is Canadian, but she AN ACTRESS as well, as her co stars are. Point 1: I never insulted or talked bad about Canada so I am not sucking it. Point 2: as working actors I doubt that they would want to be only seen UP THERE, when they can be successful worldwide and being seen worldwide and get even better projects as movies. Lets see if people as Ryan Reynolds, Mike Myers and a lot of other Canadian BIG NAMES would be where they are right now names if they were stuck in an only-watched-by-Canada show. BTW I like Canada so you can suck it because I am realistic and have a vague idea in what an actor would want
Yes please! Erica Durance would be amazing in it!!!
Agree with Tom Welling, disagree with Erica. They are not attached to the hip!
Oh really I must have lost the memo in regards to that. Huh who knew. In other news lets get Tom Welling AND Erica Durance on this puppy!
Durance as Skye for the win :just because I want to annoy (she would kick butts if given the chance though, no doubt about it): and waits for the flames
Sorry I get that you are a clois fan, hence the love for Tom and Erica but that doesn’t mean they have to do everything together. I myself like the couple but I’m a Tom fan at the end, I want to see him shine without the Smallville attachment. If you put Erica there people are goint to compare them to clois. Also isn’t Erica busy with her show?
you mean the show that only airs in Canada now? ok, I don’t give it more than this upcoming season so that its hardly an excuse. And if Erica is the right one for the job, any of the female characters then I don’t see the problem she is here too. You people really need to get over the Smallville attachment crap.
Erica Durance’s show (Saving Hope) was cancelled…
Uh I’m not a Clois fan so I don’t know what the heck you are talking about. But Tom and Erica would kick-ass on this show as separate characters. And no – they won’t be compared to Clois because they ain’t playing Clois no more. Geez what’s with people and this attitude that two people can’t work together again, get over it – bunch of actors do it, doesn’t mean they’re attached to the hips. Man some fangirls are so wound up over trivial things like this it makes me laugh.
Saving Hope was picked up for a second season on Candian TV as it is a Canadian show. It may not air in the US, but not cancelled.
“It may not air in the US, but not cancelled”, meaning “cancelled after season 2” come on lets be real, not USA partner? doubt its stars, starting from TVD dude, will love that they are only being watched in Canada. Is a matter of waiting who gets tired first: the viewers with Canadian Ghost Whisperer in an Hospital or the Stars stuck in Canada. This doesn’t mean Durance will do S.H.I.E.L.D but don’t use Saving Dead Man Walking as an excuse.
Great as long as he gets Eliza Dushku and Summer Glau in there. Adam Baldwin too.
I’d be happy with Summer Glau for sure, I thought of Adam Baldwin when I saw the character list.