Expectations for Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Season 3

Image Courtesy www.twitter.com/AgentsofShield

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. returns this week for its third season, which has been given the tagline: “Are You Inhuman?”  Before it comes back, however, we need to ask a question:  What are our expectations for the season?

This expectation post will be slightly different than my usual expectation posts in that I will also include some possibilities for crossovers and tie-ins.

What happened last season?

If you need to catch up on season 2, here is my recap from May.

Season Synopsis:

Following the release of the Terrigen Mists in the form of fish oil tablets, new Inhumans are starting to pop up all over the globe.  In the face of this potential threat, S.H.I.E.L.D. must contain and extract the new Inhumans and help them transition and understand what has happened to them.  Meanwhile, the new Inhumans have also come to the attention of several other interested parties, including the newly re-formed Hydra (led by ex-S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Grant Ward), the Advanced Threat Containment Unit, and the mysterious Inhuman named Lash.  To confront these growing and powerful threats, Coulson has tasked Daisy “Quake” Johnson (previously known as “Skye”) with forming and leading a team of enhanced agents called the “Secret Warriors.”

Continuing Plot Points Coming out of Season 2:

• Coulson’s new arm
• Skye rebuilding the Inhumans and recruiting her Secret Warriors simultaneously
• The “Terrigen Bomb—Fish Oil Version”
• Ward rebuilding Hydra
• Simmons the disappearing scientist
• Setting up the Marvel’s Most Wanted spinoff

Expectations for the Season:

• We will see a lot of new Inhumans, some of whom may even be taken from the comics
• I expect that most of the Inhumans will retain their human appearance and that those who do not will use mostly makeup and prosthetics
• I also expect that there will be very few Inhumans whose abilities require very heavy CGI; most of them will use more practical effects
• There will be multiple established Inhuman groups which appear throughout the season, all of whom are interested in the new Inhumans
• One of these groups may even be Attilan and the Royal Family
• Hydra will eventually rise to become a major threat again when Ward “recruits” several enhanced people (including a few new Inhumans) for his own Hydra team
• The Secret Warriors team will be built fairly slowly over the course of the first half of the season.
• Eventually, I think the “New Inhuman Response Team” will be Daisy, Lincoln, and Deathlok—or at least I want it to be!
• We will find out about Simmons’ fate relatively early in season 3 (say, episode 2?)
• By the end of the season I expect Fitz and Simmons’ relationship question to be settled one way or the other

Potential Crossovers/Tie-Ins:

• Ant-Man
• I do not expect too much tie-in with Ant-Man because the scope and stakes of that movie were small enough that it could easily have flown under S.H.I.E.L.D.’s radar
• If there is any reference to the events of Ant-Man, I expect little more than a passing mention of the “‘little guy’ who took on Falcon at the New Avengers Facility”
• The Pym Particles which Hydra stole from Darren Cross could make their way into Ward’s hands, leading him to experiment with size-altering technology (and use it against S.H.I.E.L.D.)
• Jessica Jones
• I also expect very little crossover here, as the events of the series seem very small and personal on the scale of the universe
• Jessica herself may be referenced as one of the “gifted” individuals on the Index, and perhaps even as someone who used to work with S.H.I.E.L.D.
• Agent Carter
• I’m not sure how much crossover to expect.  On the one hand, last year there was a lot of crossover as ABC used AoS to build up Agent Carter.  On the other hand, I’m not sure how the events of either series can connect this season.
• We may see a few Peggy Carter flashbacks, and perhaps something about Madame Masque
• Daredevil
• Considering that Daisy has a connection to Matt as both lived at the St. Agnes Orphanage—and she also has a connection to Punisher’s hacker associate Micro—we could see some crossover with her
• It would be pretty awesome if the final battle of Daredevil season 2 is a three-way fight between Daredevil, Punisher, and Elektra, and it is broken up when Daisy quakes them all apart and invites them all to join the Secret Warriors.  It’s not gonna happen, but it would be awesome!
• Captain America: Civil War
• One of the incidents used as justification for the “Accords” may be something that happened on Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
• Coulson and Daisy—or even the entire Secret Warriors team—could appear for a scene in the movie
• The results of the Civil War will definitely have implications for the rest of the season on Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
• Luke Cage
• I really don’t expect much crossover, if any.  At most, S.H.I.E.L.D. may mention Luke as being on the Index
• Marvel’s Most Wanted
• At some point this season, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. will set up Bobbi and Hunter’s story in such a way as to lead into their series
• Thor: Ragnarok
• She’s shown up twice already, so maybe Sif will make another cameo this season
• I get the feeling that Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and the Inhumans storyline will be tying the Guardians of the Galaxy (especially the Kree) and Thor worlds together

What would be awesome but probably won’t happen:

The New Avengers show up for a full 2 episodes around the mid-season break, giving us a chance to see the team in action together before Civil War breaks them up.

So what are you looking for this season?  What is there that you really want to see but may not see at all?

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