New Agents of SHIELD Season To Air Without Breaks, Premieres In January

Agents of SHIELD ended its latest season with a bang as the core cast were plunged into the alternate reality of the Framework, dominated by the evil tentacles of Hydra.

But the production suffered this year due to the regular extended breaks between episodes, causing showrunners to separate chunks of the season into “pods,” such as Ghost Rider, L.M.D., and finally Agents of Hydra. The show picked up momentum in its final, epic pod, but the breaks still took their toll on the show.

It sounds like those extended breaks could be a problem of the past for Agents of SHIELD, which is looking at a January 2018 premiere on Friday nights after Marvel’s The Inhumans wraps up its 8 episode run in the fall.

Visual effects supervisor Mark Kolpack revealed the news while answering fan questions on social media, including the later premiere date next year. The plan can always change between now and January, but it’s encouraging to hear there won’t be any breaks from someone involved with the production

Marvel’s Agents of SHIELD was renewed for a fifth season just before ABC announced their fall schedule. It was on the bubble for the year with ratings in steady decline over the last few years, but the Agents of Hydra storyline saw an uptick and proved there is still gas left in Phil Coulson and Co’s tank.

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The finale aired this week, ending on a visually stunning cliffhanger with Coulson in space after the rest of his team was gassed and taken captive by mysterious forces.

We’ll have to wait quite a while before finding out what happened to our favorite secret-super agents, but at least the gas pedal won’t let up until we get to the fifth season finale.

Marvel’s Agents of SHIELD’s 22-episode fifth season will premiere in January 2018.

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The regular cast features Clark Gregg as Agent Phil Coulson, Ming-Na Wen as Agent Melinda May, Chloe Bennet as Daisy Johnson, Iain De Caestecker as Agent Leo Fitz, Elizabeth Henstridge as Agent Jemma Simmons, Henry Simmons as Agent Alphonso “Mack” MacKenzie, and John Hannah as Holden Radcliffe.

The the fifth season of Marvel’s Agents of SHIELD will debut next fall, consist of 22 episodes, and is shifting from Tuesday to Friday nights and airing at 9 p.m — taking over The Inhumans timeslot.

Check out season finale images in our gallery below!

Marvel’s Agents of SHIELD was co-created by Joss Whedon (The Avengers, Buffy the Vampire Slayer), Jed Whedon & Maurissa Tancharoen (Dollhouse, Dr.Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog), who also serve as executive producers along with Jeffrey Bell (Angel, Alias) and Jeph Loeb (Jessica Jones, Daredevil). Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. is produced by Marvel Television and ABC Studios.