8 Possible Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D Spin-Offs Marvel Should Seriously Consider

Last week it was announced that Marvel Studios’ and ABC’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. was getting ready to spin-off a series for next season, although just what that series is and what it will be about is still very much under wraps. Still, the Marvel Universe is filled with tons of possibilities; some are characters and concepts that have already been introduced in the series, and others are Marvel Comics mainstays that are waiting for the chance at live-action (and probably won’t make it to the big screen any time soon.) Here are eight properties that are just ripe to be spun off from Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and into their own series.

1. Agents of S.W.O.R.D

In the comics, S.W.O.R.D. is the sister agency of S.H.I.E.L.D., and stands for “Sentient World Observation and Response Department,” with a primary purpose of dealing with extraterrestrial threats to world security. Although they haven’t been mentioned on Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. yet, that doesn’t mean they’re not out there, perhaps so secret as an agency that maybe most S.H.I.E.L.D. members didn’t know it existed.

The head of S.W.O.R.D. is the green haired, half-alien Abigail Brand, whose mysterious backstory could leave a lot of wiggle room for the series writers to come up with all kind of crazy scenarios. A show like this could be a mix of X-Files with Men in Black. One advantage a show about S.W.O.R.D could have is that it was created by Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D‘s exec producer Joss Whedon. One downside is that it was created in the pages of Astonishing X-Men, which means Fox could have the rights, and not Marvel Studios.

2. Mockingbird

The second biggest no-brainer (we’ll get to the first in a bit) for an Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D spin off would be a show for Adrianne Palicki’s character of Bobbi Morse, a.k.a. Mockingbird. Having joined the cast this of the show this season, Bobbi has quickly become a fan favorite, even after it was revealed she was working against Coulson’s team this whole time.

So far, she’s just a badass agent of the organization, but in the comics she’s a fully fledged superhero, code-named Mockingbird, and was even married to Hawkeye at one point. Considering that right now on the show she’s caught between two versions of S.H.I.E.L.D, she might want to take herself out of all the organization’s infighting and just go solo. There were once plans to do an Alias-esque show centered on Mockingbird, before Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. got the greenlight, but a spin-off featuring Adrianne Palicki might be a better way to do it.

3. Spider-Woman

Although this major Marvel character hasn’t been introduced yet in live-action, it’s only a matter of time, and what better way to bring her into the Marvel Cinematic Universe than through Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.? In the comics, the arachnid-powered Jessica Drew was was originally an agent of HYDRA, who was convinced to joining the side of the good guys and become a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent by Nick Fury, with whom she had a mentor/student style relationship. Now, just transfer that mentor status to Phil Coulson, and you have a good storyline on Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. that can be spun off into its own solo Spider-Woman series. In the comics, Jessica Drew has been given a new costume recently, one that is decidedly more live-action friendly, so you have to guess that someone at Marvel has been having conversations about this possibility already.

4. Damage Control

Created by the late Dwayne McDuffie, in the Marvel Universe, Damage Control are the people you call to clean up the gigantic messes left behind when superheroes and supervillains start brawling and tearing apart the city. They’re kind of the blue-collar workers in a crazy world where gods throw buildings at each other and just expect someone else to do the clean up.

In the first season of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., we actually saw the group do clean-up duty after the events of Thor: The Dark World, and I kept thinking that’s Damage Control’s job, not S.H.I.E.L.D.’s. This could be a pretty fun, humorous show, about what it’s like to be a real Joe Schmoe in the Marvel universe. Even funnier if all the major Marvel heroes were just off-camera at all times, so we always hear about Iron Man or Cap, but just never see them – just their messes they leave behind.

5. Deathlok

The most obvious choice for a spin-off right now would almost certainly be Deathlok, who, on Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., is Mike Peterson, part of the series mythology since the very first episode. Unfortunately, the TV Deathlok bears litle resemblance to the comic book version – any of the comic book versions really – and despite doing his best, actor J. August Richards, who did great work as Charles Gunn on Joss Whedon’s Angel, hasn’t made his version of the cyborg killing machine one that I think could support his own series. But if he continues to make appearances on Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and they properly develop him (and make him look much cooler than his current costume, which sucks) then anything is possible.

6. She-Hulk

This is another hugely important Marvel character who has never had her moment in the live-action realm, but it’s high time she did. Although not explicitly tied to S.H.I.E.L.D. (any more than anyone in the Marvel Universe, that is) the show could find a way to introduce lawyer Jennifer Walters to the proceedings, and then have some kind of circumstances force them to give her the blood transfusion from her cousin Bruce Banner, the Hulk, that makes her into She-Hulk, all before spinning her off into her own show. A She-Hulk series would be great for TV, because she’s a lawyer and we all know how much the networks love lawyer shows, and having a lawyer show with a hot green woman who also kicks a lot of ass might just be the ticket for a successful series.

7. Wonder Man

Wonder Man is kind of like She-Hulk in that they’re both long standing characters in the Marvel Universe who haven’t yet been seen in live-action. (Although the comics version of Wonder Man is the basis from which the android Vision’s personality is based, I’m gonna bet real money that’s not the basis for the character in Avengers: Age of Ultron.) Essentially, he’s an ionic-powered (whatever the hell that means) superhero, who parlayed his Avenger status into becoming a movie star. A Wonder Man series could be a fun commentary on our celebrity obsessed culture, and his most well-known costume is really just a red leather jacket and a pair of sunglasses – not hard to translate into live action. Now all they have to do is introduce him on Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. so he can be spun-off from it.

8. S.H.I.E.L.D.: Origins

If Agent Carter doesn’t get renewed for a second season, this could be a way to see that character again, in a series that shows how the Strategic Scientific Reserve ultimately evolved into S.H.I.E.L.D. (and how Hydra infiltrated it from the get-go. Uhhh, SPOILERS for the two of you who haven’t see Captain America: The Winter Soldier.) This might be better for a limited series than an ongoing show, but it could be pretty cool if done right.

Previously by Eric Diaz:

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