I don’t have to explain what this series means, you ought to know by now but to the uninitiated, S.H.I.E.L.D. is the covert ops organisation involved in all the Avengers movies. Led by Nick Fury, they protect the world from bad guys but also watch over the good guys, often involving themselves in their affairs and uniting them against planetary threats. Take a look at the trailer, everything will be explained better.

Interview from Hell
Brett Dalton seems to be our POV character, Agent Grant Ward, as he explains what S.H.I.E.L.D. stands for and what his security clearance allows him to know, shortly before his expectations are firmly kicked in the teeth by the arrival of…

The Son of Coul

Coulson Lives, bitches! Clark Gregg reprises the lovable Phil “Agent” Coulson. His apparent demise in Avengers won’t keep him from doing his job though as he leads this new team and show. How is he alive? What happened to him? We can only whisper of Life Model Decoys and Cover-Ups until the show airs but I bet it’ll be a fantastic reveal.

Blue Window
Agent Melinda May, portrayed by ER’s Ming-Na Wen, is the team’s pilot and Black Widow proxy as she’s seen taking out dudes left and right.

Agents of N.E.R.D.
Iain De Caestecker and Elizabeth Henstridge play Agents Fitz and Simmons, respectively. They are the team’s Tech expert and Biology expert, again respectively. I’m sure these two will be a fun double act to follow.

Avon Calling
Chloe Bennet is Skye, outspoken civilian recruit and hacker. Not much say about her but look at Coulson’s smile when they go to snatch her in the middle of a rant against S.H.I.E.L.D. He’s just precious!

Acting Cage-y
J. August Richards, he of Angel fame, plays an unspecified superhero in the pilot but it’s not much of a stretch to think that he may be playing street-level hero Luke Cage. We’ll just have to wait and see but he’s a damn fine actor so I wouldn’t have a problem with him playing Cage.

Hands off the Lady!
One last joke before the trailer ends and it’s Coulson being protective of his car, Lola. They’re my new OTP <3

That’s it for now folks! When this series debuts in the Fall, I have no doubt that the pilot will be spectacular but whether the series will be a mainstay is up to the creative team and the stories but I have faith that it will be awesome.

I’ll kick off with the only real surprise toy news and that’s LEGO unveiling their newest brand acquisition, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles! The heroes in a half shell made their presence known with the four ninjas making a personal appearance to unveil their new LEGO theme. The first set to be revealed is The Shellraiser Street Chase, which includes two vehicles, 3 unique villain minis and two Turtle minis, Mikey and Leonardo. It looks like a promising theme but we’ll have to wait and see how the line works out!

In animation news, Warner Home Video announced that along with upcoming release of Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, Part 2, 2013 will see the release of Superman: Unbound, an adaptation of Geoff Johns and Gary Frank’s ‘Braniac’ story and Justice League: Flashpoint, which adapts the Geoff Johns and Andy Kubert controversial mini-series that kicked off the New 52 last year. 2013 will also see the release of LEGO Batman: DC Heroes Unite, an animated adaptation of the video game series, which I’m looking forward to if the same level of voice acting is brought to that feature that was in the game.

In comics, Marvel has announced two new cosmic comics to their “Marvel NOW!” stable. Nova, which will follow the new holder of the Nova Force, Sam Alexander, with the creative team of Jeph Loeb and artist Ed McGuinness. I love me some Nova so I’m interested to see how the rookie holds up against his predecessor Richard Rider. All-star creative team Brian Michael Bendis and Steve McNiven will be bringing us a new Guardians of The Galaxy book, another title (and team) we’ve not really seen since The Thanos Imperative. Obviously, with a movie coming out, the Guardians need a book out and while the team reflects the one in the movie, a surprise addition is of the Avengers’ own billionaire playboy philanthropist, Tony Stark! How will he figure into the equation? We’ll see when both titles kick off in Febuary 2013.

And the biggest news, at least to me is in the realm of television and an announcement from the Marvel Television Presents panel. Head of TV Jeph Loeb announced that Clark Gregg will reprise his role as Agent Phil Coulson in the live-action pilot “Marvel’s S.H.I.E.L.D.”!

THE SON OF COUL LIVES!

Yes, that’s a reason to be excited. Joss Whedon himself was on hand to break the news and he will also be co-writing the pilot as well as being Executive Producer, alongside Jed Whedon, Maurissa Tancharoen, Jeffrey Bell and Jeph Loeb.

What were your highlights of the show? Let us know by commenting below!