Is ABC Canceling ‘Agents of SHIELD’ In Favor of ‘New Warriors?’

Let me preface this article by saying that as of this writing, Agents of SHIELD has not been canceled by ABC. An Agents of SHIELD cancellation is nothing but speculation at this point in time.

This week hasn’t been easy on those involved in television. With upfronts scheduled for next week, most networks wanted to get out ahead of the curve and announced their renewals and cancellations prior to their presentations.

ABC has decided the outcome of virtually all of their television shows, except for one. Any idea on the program ABC has yet to decide what to do with? You guessed it — Marvel’s Agents of SHIELD.

As the show begins to wrap up its fifth season — only one episode remains, the season finale next Friday — it remains a mystery as to why ABC didn’t make any sort of announcement. The network did, after all, officially cancel Marvel’s Inhumans, surprising few people.

But why the wait? Is ABC actually unsure of what direction they’re moving with the show? Are they waiting for upfronts to make the announcement or are they trying to get their ducks in a row before making a final decision?

There’s one scenario that seems somewhat plausible, and it involves another Marvel show that’s been in development purgatory for quite some time.

What if ABC is finalizing details to order Marvel’s New Warriors to series before they announce that Agents of SHIELD has been canceled?

Hear me out. New Warriors has been stagnant for months. Initially picked up by the Disney-owned CW competitor Freeform, New Warriors was eventually dropped because the channel couldn’t find a time slot in its schedule.

The peculiar news with that — the show shot a pilot that reportedly tested extremely well. So well, in fact, Disney executives wanted to shop the show around. Marvel Entertainment president Dan Buckley seemed pretty adamant that New Warriors would debut in 2018.

“We are extremely excited about Marvel’s New Warriors and look forward to finding the perfect partner to launch the series within 2018,” Buckley said in a press release.

When it was announced New Warriors wouldn’t be airing on Freeform, The Hollywood Reporter shared that sources close to the House of Mouse said Marvel was no longer able to sell shows to channels and networks not under the Disney umbrella. That would leave ABC, Freeform, and Disney’s new streaming service as potential homes for the show.

But since the show was dropped from Freeform in early November, there’s been virtually no news in regards to the show. The cast members got together to take some group selfies but other than that, we’ve heard nothing.

Until yesterday, that is. During all the news of cancellations and renewals, New Warriorsshowrunner posted a cryptic GIF on Twitter. The GIF shows a clip from Creed of Adonis Johnson (Michael B. Jordan) shadow boxing as dirt bikes drive in circles around him.

One could think the GIF could portray some excitement. Or then again, it could be nothing at all and New Warriors is still in development hell.

After all, Agents of SHIELD producers have said they’re writing the season five finale as if it’d be a send off for the show.

“Right now, we’re writing a series end,” producer Jeffrey Bell shared with Entertainment Weekly. “Because as far as we know, this could be it.”

What do you think? If Agents of SHIELD is canceled at ABC, will the network replace it with New Warriors? Let us know in the comments below!

The official series synopsis of New Warriors is below.

New Warriors revolves around about six young people with powers living and working together. With powers and abilities on the opposite end of the spectrum of The Avengers, the New Warriors want to make a difference in the world … even if the world isn’t ready. With Freeform focused on a group dubbed “becomers” — those experiencing a series of firsts in life including first loves and first jobs — New Warriors explores the journey into adulthood, except in this world, they’re not quite super and not yet heroes and the guys can be as terrifying as bad dates.