How ‘Civil War’ will change ‘Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.’ long after the finale

Summer blockbuster movie “Captain America: Civil War” has forever changed the Marvel universe. The split of the Avengers will affect everyone in the comic book world, including “Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.,” which comes to a season end tonight.

But how has the battle between Captain America and Iron Man registered with the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents? To find out, we turned to the boss, director Phil Coulson (a.k.a. actor Clark Gregg).

And Gregg confirmed, “The aftereffects of ‘Civil War’ are going to play out for quite some time, and will have a big effect on what happens next year [on ‘Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.’].”

The central conceit of the film was the signing of the Sokovia Accords -- a worldwide-backed document that allows the government to control what the Avengers do and whom they do it to. Iron Man agreed, Captain America didn’t. This disagreement, according to Gregg, will trickle down to the show. But Gregg will, of course, give up nothing about who may stay or who may go.

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For the Record
May 17, 9:53 p.m.: An earlier version of this post misspelled Sokovia as Soklovia.
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“All you will get right now is the hopes and dreams of Clark. I don’t write the show. I have a feeling just from what we know -- it looks like there’s fallout from the Sokovia Accords and the world after ‘Civil War’ where some people are agreeing to register and some are going underground,” says Gregg.

“I have a feeling the Secret Warriors will become a bigger, more important part of what we do. That would be my guess.”

The Secret Warriors are a loosely formed group of newly-powered Inhumans led by Daisy Johnson (formerly Skye actress Chloe Bennett) that includes Lincoln Campbell (Luke Mitchell), Joey Gutierrez ((Juan Pablo Raba), and Elena “Yo-Yo” Rodriguez (Natalia Cordova-Buckley). In the penultimate episode of the season, they formed for the first time.

But that’s not all “SHIELD” will be dealing with tonight. Recently this season Daisy has been plagued with a prophetic vision of someone from the series dying in a flying ship. So, who is it?

There’s been no real hint as to who might be leaving, but it’s a Whedon-run show (Joss, Jed, Maurissa -- they all love inflicting pain and hardship on their characters and audience) so it’s very likely that something wicked this way comes. For Gregg, it’s just another “crushing” part of being on the show.

“We’re cruising along. We’re having fun. The sites get crazier. The sets get crazier. And then, you know that time of year comes, and it could be dangerous,” said Gregg.

But no matter what, Clark warns fans to be ready for the worst, emotionally. “Our writers and producers, cast and crew – Sarah Finn & Co. – continue to find one superb actor who’s also an excellent person after another, and we just end up heartbroken and kind of sobbing off into a corner. This year is no different.”

“S.H.I.E.L.D.,” though, can’t kill off too many people. The show is keeping the Marvel flag flying on network television with the cancellation of “Agent Carter” and with ABC not picking up the expected spinoff “Marvel’s Most Wanted.”

This year, it’s been all about the Inhumans – humans who have a dormant alien gene that can be activated by exposure to an alien mist. This process has been spread across the globe and has created a new and different mission for S.H.I.E.L.D. with powered folks popping up all around. “S.H.I.E.L.D.” agent and new inhuman Daisy Johnson is like a daughter to Coulson, though, and that puts him in a strange position at times when he’s supposed to safeguard the world from threats like her.

“Really, at the beginning of the show, Coulson and his little team were just dealing with the aftermath of the Avengers and the knowledge that there were powered people among us and powered artifacts,” said Gregg.

“[Now it’s] a pandemic of powered people. Like the show that surrounds him, he’s constantly evolving.”

That evolution has caused him to also help in the formation of a Secret Avengers/Warriors squad filled with Inhumans. And though the show’s sparkly exterior has people who can shoot lightning or transform into metal, it’s the normal folk who may drive the show’s action.

“The core of the show to me is about those unpowered people. Fitz and Simmons and May. Who’s left that’s normal besides Coulson?” Guess we will all find out tonight.

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