Marvel and Disney have essentially put the keys to their entire Marvel Cinematic Universe into the hands of Joss Whedon, and who can really blame them? The Avengers is likely to end the year as the top-grossing film worldwide, and after signing Whedon to a multi-year deal lasting through the conclusion of The Avengers 2 in 2015, Marvel is making due on the contract earlier than expected.
Deadline reports that ABC has ordered up a pilot for S.H.I.E.L.D., the live-action Avengers TV series we've been hearing about since last month. Whedon will apparently co-write the script along with his brother Jed and Maurisa Tancharoen, with the show following the global peacekeeping and espionage organization led by Nick Fury. Assuming his schedule is light enough there's also the possibility of Whedon directing the first episode.
While no details are really available at this point, the potential of such a venture simply can't be understated. Marvel is setting themselves up to blow DC and Warner Bros. out of the water in a major way by creating what is almost like a farm team where they can pluck popular characters from the small screen and call them up to the big league feature films. Or they could take some of the peripheral S.H.I.E.L.D. characters from the movies and build them up through the TV series. You can bet they'll try to find a way to have the show tie-in to the film franchise, and perhaps even introduce a B-level superhero or two. If that long discussed Hulk series ever gets off the ground it will likely crossover, as well.
Production is set to begin immediately, and may have a part to play in the lead up to The Avengers 2, which Whedon will write and direct for release on May 1st 2015.
