'Agents of SHIELD' May Be the Epic Prologue to Something More

When a fan presented an elaborate theory that connected the characters and events of Marvel's [...]

When a fan presented an elaborate theory that connected the characters and events of Marvel's Agents of SHIELD to other characters from the Marvel Universe, notably some of those controlled by 20th Century Fox by way of the Fantastic Four rights, to Marvel TV chief Jeph Loeb, Loeb's response was surprising enough to be tantalizing.

Redditor KingInvalid96 presented a massive fan theory -- seen below -- to Loeb during his Ask Me Anything session on the site yesterday. Loeb's response?

"You're not crazy, but that's all I can say."

Certainly such a response does not mean that the theory itself is true. It could, as other commenters suggested, be simple encouragement that a deep and critical reading is something fans should always be doing, especially withing elaborate, interconnected universes.

There is something about that "...but that's all I can say" that makes this bit of feedback feel like maybe something more, though.

Comment

from discussion I'm Jeph Loeb, head of Marvel TV - AMA..

Marvel's Agents of SHIELD was just renewed for its sixth season, although given its status as a bubble show the last two years, some fans expected that "sixth" to be accompanied by "...and final." That did not happen, and producers are still talking up the possibility of more Agents of SHIELD down the line, but perhaps a more grounded take on Loeb's cagey response is that while the details may not be the same, Agents of SHIELD could be building to something bigger in season six -- either a game-changing element for the story going forward or even something to set up a potential spinoff or successor.

That could be supported by Clark Gregg, who plays Agent Phil Coulson on the series, taking a role in the upcoming Captain Marvel movie.

Of course, any such long-term planning would likely have to have been something introduced more recently than some of the years-old plot points presented in the fan theory.

Showrunners Jed Whedon and Maurissa Tancharoen have said that they wrote the wrote the show's season 5 finale without knowing whether it would be picked up for another season, so that it could be either a series or season finale.

"We'll never end something without the potential for more story," Maurissa Tancharoen said at the Agents of SHIELD 100th episode premiere. "That's how we've ended every season because, whenever we've come to the end of all the seasons past, we go into that mostly not knowing until the very last minute, so we're basically doing the same thing to close out Season 5. It can fit well as a possible series finale, and it can fit well as just another season's end."

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