No One at Marvel Really Wanted Joss Whedon to Create the Series AGENTS OF S.H.I.E.L.D.
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. ran for seven seasons on ABC from 2013 to 2020, diving into the missions of the Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division, and telling the stories of the people employed by the agency. The show was developed by Joss Whedon, back when people still liked him, and he created the series with his brother Jed Whedon and sister-in-law Maurissa Tancharoen, who took over the show when Whedon left to direct Avengers: Age of Ultron. But that movie was really all the Marvel Studios heads wanted for Whedon to work on; the show was merely a side project they could have done without.
As reported by /Film, Marvel Studios boss Kevin Feige told BuzzFeed News in 2015:
"They had said early on, 'Hey, we're thinking about doing this show about the agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.' And Joss said, 'I think I might do this.' I said, 'That's cool. God bless you. But you should know that we're destroying S.H.I.E.L.D. in 'Winter Soldier.' You guys do whatever you want. But know that that's what we're going to do.'"
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. was just kicking off, and nobody was really certain how closely (or not) the show would tie into whatever was happening in the MCU on the big screen. Whedon recalled to Buzzfeed News:
"There was a period where it got ... complicated. A lot of people who aren't connected with the show were like, 'Oh, yeah, you have to have this guest star, and you have to work around this.' Sometimes, it makes your head spin. I mean, it's hard enough when they're like, 'And by the way, in 'Iron Man 4,' he's going to be played by Linda Hunt as a human spider.' And you're like, 'Oh, OK! I guess I'll have to work that in.'"
Whedon went on to say:
"They didn't actually want me to make it. It's like, 'Uh, Joss, we really wanted you to do ['Avengers: Age of Ultron']. Instead, you created a TV show, you moron.' 'I thought you wanted me to!' 'No, we just wanted you to make a movie.' 'Oh. My bad.'"
As he shifted his attention onto "Avengers: Age of Ultron," Whedon went from being (in his words) "absolutely 100% the driving force and totally hands-on" with "Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D." to basically cheering on his brother and Tancharoen from the side. This was also when the series found its footing, telling less of a comedic story, and more of a perspective on the working-class S.H.I.E.L.D. agents and their individualized stories.
The entire series Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. can be streamed on Disney+.