S.H.I.E.L.D. TV Series From Joss Whedon Coming To ABC

In early August, Disney announced that Joss Whedon would be developing a TV series for ABC set in the Marvel Universe. Rumors were that the show would connect with the Avengers universe, but that it would not feature any actual superheroes. There's been tons of speculation over what the show might be, and we at Comicbook.com even compiled a list of five possibilities. Well, it turns out that our top guess was right, and Deadline is reporting that ABC has ordered a pilot for S.H.I.E.L.D, which will be a live-action series from Joss Whedon. S.H.I.E.L.D. will reportedly be written by Joss Whedon along with his brother Jed Whedon and Maurissa Tancharoen. Joss Whedon will also apparently direct the pilot, but it's unknown if he will direct any other episodes. Production is reportedly starting immediately. How closely the S.H.I.E.L.D. TV show will tie into the version of S.H.I.E.L.D. in the movies is unknown. It will be interesting to see how they handle the character of Nick Fury, since it would seem unlikely that Samuel L. Jackson would jump from movies to doing a regular TV show. Will they recast the show with a different Nick Fury or have his character only appear occasionally? On the other hand, Cobie Smulders who plays Agent Maria Hill has done extensive TV work, so it might be easier to speculate that she could play a major role in the TV series. According to Deadline, Joss Whedon, Jed Whedon and Tancharoen will executive produce the show with Jeffrey Bell and Marvel TV's Jeph Loeb.