Real talk.... I saw just Ep. 2 of The Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D a few weeks ago. And I instantly realized that the entire TV series wasn't worth my time. If you like it, then that's fine. You are entitled to your opinion. But I could have sworn that the Avengers / the super-team that works with SHIELD have over 30 members on their historic roster in the comics, so any of those characters [even the "B" heroes] should have been recruited to make this show worth while.Just take a look at this list of 5 characters, tagged historically as the founders of The Avengers, datign back to the comics in 1963:
Ironman, Thor, Antman, Wasp and Hulk.
BTW: Guys like Captain America, Hawkeye, Black Widow, Quicksilver & Scarlet Witch came later, as recruits.
Now, here is a jumbled list of just some of the characters that have joined various regional branches of Shield [Many of whom will never make it into the Marvel Movie Adaptations, but they'd still be good for a TV show]:
**War Machine**, Luke Cage, Sentry, She-Hulk, Spider Woman, Hercules, Ares, Black Panther, Tigra, The Vision, Black Knight, Captain Marvel, StarHawk, DarkHawk, Sandman, Namor, Mockingbird, MoonKnight, Firebird, Demolition Man, Machine Man, Stingray, Crystal, Thunderstrike, Justice, Firestar, Captain Britain, Silverclaw, 3D-Man, Echo, Mantis, Jack-of-Hearts etc,
That's over 30 characters, and there are more, listed over HERE. War Machine got the stars, because he was underrated in all of the Ironman movie sequels. It was shameful to see such a great character used so poorly...
Anyway, you can see that there is a wide array of comic characters that the TV show's writers and directors could have freely considered. And the TV show does not have to be linked directly to a movie - remember Smallville and the Man of Steel movie? That's basically the case and point. Hence, when the superhero TV show is entertaining, then the fans will give the franchise a lot of liberty to be creative, even if the show isn't tied to a known canon / any previous comic legend.
I'm not sure if Joss Whedon had a hand in the production of The Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D, but even if he did / didn't give those guys any pointers on creating a respectable cast roster, any true fan of Marvel Comics will agree with my incisive bottom-line.
And the bottom-line is this:
ANY TV SHOW BASED IN A SUPERHERO UNIVERSE SHOULD HAVE ACTUAL ‘SUPERHEROES’ AS THE MAIN CHARACTERS ON THE SHOW
'Nuff said.