"Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D." Follows The Timeline of the Marvel Cinematic Universe

The idea of the "Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D." TV show came to director Joss Whedon as he was finishing "The Avengers" movie which led to him writing the pilot for the ABC show. Whedon worked alongside his brother, Jed, and Maurissa Tancharoen on the pilot of the show and the story arc of the entire season.

The first season follows the iconic Agent Phil Coulson who has appeared throughout the Marvel Cinematic Universe as he looks to create a new team for the S.H.I.E.L.D. organization. Agent Coulson has been declared dead after the events of "The Avengers" movie giving him the chance to create a new team far from the prying eyes of many of the team at S.H.I.E.L.D. Coulson is intent on developing a team which will not have any chance of being infiltrated by those who have been fighting against the organization for many decades.

The opening of the pilot episode sees a rooftop explode as Mike Peterson, the superhero Deathlok is walking by with his son, Ace. Peterson uses his superhuman strength to help the inhabitants of the building escape the inferno but is filmed doing so by Skye, who is later revealed to be the superhero, Quake. After Peterson is contacted by Coulson to ask if he would be interested in joining the new superhero team, Skye also contacts Deathlok to warn him of the problems of working with S.H.I.E.L.D. which include the many coverupsshe believes the group has been responsible for.

Mike Peterson returns to his job at a factory where his boss reveals he has already been sacked for his unstable behavior. Peterson becomes agitated and angry believing his former employer to be causing many of the problems in his life. After injuring his former employer, Peterson travels to a hospital where he visits a woman he saved from the burning building. The woman reveals herself to be a doctor who was responsible for implanting a device in Peterson's arm and turning him into a superhero using a piece of hardware developed as part of the Project Centipede program.

Skye reveals she knows a little about the project centipede program and is arrested by Coulson and held in his mobile command unit vehicle. Skye reveals her mistrust of S.H.I.E.L.D. based on the stories she has heard from others with superpowers. Coulson is then alerted to the movement of Peterson and sets out to arrest him and free him of the curse of his newly acquired superpowers.

Over the course of the six seasons of "Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D." which have been broadcast, the series has taken many different turns while following the storylines developed for the Marvel Cinematic Universe. In the first season, Coulson and his team are searching for the truth behind the infiltration of S.H.I.E.L.D. by Hydra wit Agent Coulson taking the role of director and rebuilding the "Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D." after the events of "The Avengers: Winter Soldier." As the season's progress, to the sixth, new characters are introduced including Ghost Rider in season four followed by the return of Hydra at the end of that season.

Joss Whedon is the creator and showrunner of "Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D." as he had the idea of giving a showcase to Agent Phil Coulson after he completed work as the writer-director of "The Avengers." Whedon is the creator of a series of impressive shows such as "Buffy The Vampire Slayer" and "Firefly" alongside his work as the writer of Pixar's "Toy Story" and "The Cabin in the Woods." Whedon has worked extensively with Marvel and DC Comics acting as co-writer and rumored director of reshoots on the "Justice League" movie.

Boston-born Clark Gregg has been an impressive actor on film and in TV shows for more than a decade with his work in the Marvel Cinematic Universe making him the actor with the longest time on screen in the series. Gregg was originally cast in a small role in 2008's "Iron Man" before the performance he gave was enjoyed so much it was expanded for further movies in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Clark Gregg has appeared in Tv shows as varied as "Will & Grace" and "The West Wing."

The character of Quask, Daisy "Skye" Johnson is played by Chloe Bennet who has been both an actor and singer in the U.S. and China. Bennet is of Chinese descent and spent much of her teens living in Shanghai with her grandmother pursuing a musical career which resulted in her releasing two successful singles. Upon returning to the U.S., Bennet moved to Hollywood and returned to acting in 2010 with her breakout role in "Nashville" coming in 2012.

Discussions about the development of a new Marvel-based series had been ongoing with ABC since 2009 when Disney purchased Marvel and made it clear it would be working on many TV and movie ideas. Joss Whedon is credited with the original idea for "Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D." with his writing partners, Jed Whedon and Maurissa Tancharoen taking the majority of the creative decisions for the show as it progressed through its various seasons.

Joss Whedon directed the pilot episode of "Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D." which was filmed in Los Angeles to make it easy for him to complete his duties. The remainder of the series was shot in Culver City, California. The global nature of the storylines of the show resulted in the show moving to various cities around the world, including Paris and Stockholm. Whedon has stated his belief that member of the show should not feature in the major stories of the Marvel movies but always sit on the edge of major events trying to protect the public from their effects.

The critical response to "Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D." has been mostly positive with Rotten Tomatoes giving the show a rating of 88 percent overall. The TV show has scored consistently highly with critics and viewers alike with the range of tie-ins and the close following of events in the Marvel Cinematic Universe seen as reasons why the show has been universally loved. Despite the number of viewers falling with each season, the critical response to the show has improved with season five receiving a full 100 percent score with Rotten Tomatoes.

The actors were largely kept in the dark about which roles they would be playing and what their abilities were until later in the series. "Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D." actors began filming with just a name and very brief history to work with. The show has been described as difficult for many of the writers to create as they must fit the characters into the larger Marvel Cinematic Universe with many of the events not discussed with the writers by executives at Marvel.