Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s Clark Gregg Backtracks A Bit From "Losers" Comment

Speaking to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Clark Gregg has backtracked a bit from a previous statement in which he said those that gave up on Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. were "losers." "I don't mean to say the people frustrated by that discovery period are losers," he said. "I just mean, perhaps, be a little more patient because we're trying something new in a world where the sands are shifting so much." Gregg's original comment came as a response to questions about the show's struggling ratings and mixed critical response. Many fans have also complained that the show isn't "super" enough for the Marvel Universe, but Executive Producer Jeph Loeb has always maintained that there was a long term plan in place and hoped viewers would stick around to see it through. "As we're heading into our back nine [episodes], there's an increase in momentum and urgency of what's going to happen in this show," Mr. Loeb said. The increased momentum and urgency that Loeb is referring to is likely because of Mike Petersen's (J. August Richards) transformations into Deathlok – which the producers say was the plan from the pilot episode – and an upcoming guest appearance by Lady Sif (Thor: The Dark World's Jaimie Alexander) in pursuit of the Asgardian villain Lorelai (Elana Satine), as well as the shows shifting focus toward this season's "big bad," the organization known as Centipede and it's Clairvoyant. Loeb explained that it was important to take the time necessary to establish these new characters before they started bringing in established figures from the Marvel Universe. "We introduced brand-new characters that didn't exist in the comic books, that didn't exist in the movies," he said. "We succeeded in expanding out the universe and now people want to know more about the background of [characters like] Melinda May." Loeb also commented on television viewers' changing expectations of serialized stories. "I don't think we could have gone 10 seasons with Clark [Kent] not putting on the cape in present society," said Mr. Loeb, a former executive producer on Superman origins series "Smallville." "At the end of episode four, people would have said, 'Where's the costume?'" A new episode of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. airs tonight on ABC, with a special guest cameo from Stan Lee.