Agents of SHIELD: Clark Gregg, Ming-Na Wen, and More Reunite on Picket Line

SAG-AFTRA officially went on strike last month, following in the footsteps of the Writers Guild of America. After negotiations with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers AMPTP failed, most film and television productions have halted, and many big stars have been seen striking. In fact, the picket lines have doubled as a reunion spot for some fan-favorite television shows. Over the weekend, many cast members from the beloved sitcom, Parks and Recreation, reunited along with Li’l Sebastian to protest the AMPTP. Yesterday, cast members from the Marvel series, Agents of SHIELD, did the same. 

Clark Gregg (Phil Coulson), Ming-Na Wen (Melinda May), Brett Dalton (Grant Ward), and Briana Venskus (Piper) all posed together along with some writers of the series. Showrunners Jed Whedon and Maurissa Tancheron have also been seen on the picket lines, but it doesn’t look like they were present for yesterday’s mini-reunion. Both Wen and Gregg shared posts from the day.

“Hello, family of agents,” Wen captioned her post. You can check out her photos below:

“Great day on the line with old friends,” Gregg added in an Instagram story. He tagged his fellow actors and the “incomparable writers of S****D.” Presumably, he blocked out the name of the show since actors cannot currently promote their work. He also added “#Philinda on strike,” which will surely please those who shipped Coulson and May. You can view a screenshot of his story below:

Craig Titley, who served as a writer and producer on Agents of SHIELD, won the day with his story’s caption. “A fair deal is a magical place,” he captioned a photo of himself with Gregg while holding a sign that reads “Agents of S.T.R.I.K.E.” You can view that story below:

Clark Gregg Addresses AI During SAG Strike:

While speaking with The Wrap on the first day of the actors’ strike, Gregg spoke out against AI, calling it the “scariest” issue of the strike. 

“To have fundamental things like your likeness — when you do a, let’s just say a genre movie, maybe in a superhero universe, there are intense scans done of you all over,” Gregg explained. “And you know, at some point, they’re probably going to be able to replicate you. That needs to be with your permission, your consent, your involvement.”

“You know, we’re not just information to be fed into a computer. That’s not what humanity is for. And I think I feel like we’re kind of fighting to keep the soul in the art form.” he added.

Why Is SAG-AFTRA Striking?

In a statement tied to the strike announcement, SAG-AFTRA representatives revealed that the strike is commencing after four weeks of negotiations with the AMPTP, and an existing negotiation extension from June 30th to July 12th. Back in May, SAG-AFTRA’s national board unanimously agreed to send an authorization vote to members, with and 97.91 percent of members ultimately voting in favor of authorization.

“Yesterday our union celebrated the 90th anniversary of the incorporation of Screen Actors Guild,” Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, SAG-AFTRA National Executive Director and Chief Negotiator, said during a press conference. “During our nearly century-long existence we’ve fought for and achieved countless gains for working actors. Today, we embark on a new important chapter in our unions history. Earlier this morning, the SAG-AFTRA national board convened following four weeks of negotiations with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television producers in a meeting, because AMPTP remains unwilling to offer a fair deal on key issues essential to protecting the livelihoods of working actors and performers. SAG AFTRA as national board unanimously voted to issue a strike order against the studios and streamers.”

Stay tuned for more updates about the WGA and SAG strikes.