Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. will premiere on ABC tonight (24 September). The show sees Clark Gregg reprise his role as Agent Phil Coulson.  Gregg will be supported by Ming-Na Wen (ER); Chloe Bennet (Nashville); Iain De Caestecker (The Fades); and relative new comers Brett Dalton and Elizabeth Henstridge. For UK readers, the show will premier on Channel 4 on Friday, 27 September.

Joss Whedon
Joss Whedon co-wrote the pilot.

The pilot picks up the story from where the Avengers: Assemble film ends, sometime after they've trashed New York. However, there's a distinct lack of superheroes as the series focusses on the special agents, according to the NY Times.

Joss Whedon, the co-writer of the pilot episode and the man behind The Avengers, promised viewers that the show will not exclude those who have not previously been interested in the Marvel universe or superheroes. Speaking at the TCA press tour in August, Whedon said "this show has to work for people who are not going to see those movies or haven't seen them before."

Clark Gregg
Clark Gregg stars in Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

However, the reason the show is being so heavily criticised is primarily because of its roots in the film. As one NY Times critic claims, "the series doesn't demonstrate the imagination or verve it needs to break its comic-book narrative out of the bonds of budget and weekly format." However the critic did make way for the difficulties of introducing characters -new and old- into a new series with a complicated backstory. 

Many have over-emphasised the role Whedon will have on Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. He only holds an executive producer role, yet TIME magazine has queried whether the series will be similar to such other Whedon creations as Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Firefly or Dollhouse. The latter heavily criticised by the magazine's critic.

Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. will air on ABC on Tuesdays at 8pm.

Marvel Agents of Shield
The cast of Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. at the TCA Summer Press Tour.