ABC could be furthering its relationship with Marvel Studios, as the network is developing a spinoff of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., B&C has learned.
The spinoff, which was first reported by Entertainment Weekly, is being developed by S.H.I.E.L.D. executive producer Jeffrey Bell and writer Paul Zbyszewski.
ABC and Marvel declined to comment on EW's report.
There are no details on which characters from the ABC series would be featured in the spinoff, which won’t have a back-door pilot the same way that The CW launched The Flash out of Arrow. However, the rest of the second season of S.H.I.E.L.D. would be used to lay the groundwork for the potential new series.
The reports of a S.H.I.E.L.D. spinoff make it highly likely that the show will return for a third season, despite less-than-stellar ratings. During his TCA session last January, ABC entertainment head Paul Lee mentioned that despite the low ratings for S.H.I.E.L.D. and fellow Marvel series Agent Carter, he wanted to continue the relationship with the studio, which like ABC, is owned by Disney.
"We have ambitions for Marvel in the future. We love Marvel."
For Marvel, the potential series would continue the studio’s aggressive push into television. On Friday, Netflix releases Daredevil, the first of five live-action series produced by Marvel Studios. Speaking to B&C for this week’s cover story on Daredevil, Marvel’s head of television Jeph Loeb had indicted the comic-book based studio was looking to mark further inroads into the small screen.
