Clark Gregg Says Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D. Season 2 Will Be “Darker” And “Lo-Fi”

After a rather goofy, clunky start over on ABC, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. got a pretty huge kick of adrenaline when Captain America: The Winter Soldier essentially demolished the titular agency and turned the show’s premise inside out. Luckily, the writers thrived under that pressure, creating a much better and more compelling final third to the first season. Now, series star Clark Gregg, who portrays Agent Phil Coulson, is saying that the second season will come back just as strong.

Speaking with Collider, Gregg said the following about what viewers can expect when Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. returns this fall:

“It’s going to be lo-fi. You’re going back to basics. You’ve got to rebuild S.H.I.E.L.D. from the ground up in a much more dangerous world where your group is outlawed. So it feels like the early, Sean Connery James Bond with the brass knuckles and not afraid to knock somebody off.”

A more dangerous Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. could be just the thing to attract more viewers and prove that the highly anticipated show deserved to be renewed for a second season. After all, the ratings weren’t exactly marvelous to start with. Gregg commented on that, and on the upcoming Agent Carter series, in his conversation with Collider as well:

“I thought there were so many things stacked against us last year, and one of them was where the ABC television schedule would put us on for three episodes and then take us down for four weeks. Nobody could get a momentum going and when the show started to be on consistently and having story that carried over in an episodic way, that’s when things started to click. So the great thing about the announcement was, A., we’re moving to nine, where it can be a little darker, like I think Marvel needs to be. Then they’re going to show, I believe it’s ten [‘Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.’ episodes], eight of [‘Agent Carter’], then twelve [more ‘Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.’ episodes]…For the most part, this is straight runs of our show, which is when I think it really works.”

Gregg has a point that ABC didn’t exactly make it easy for the show to build a loyal fanbase, but this fall definitely sounds better for Marvel fans. After all, keeping at least one Marvel-related show on the air all the time will allow viewers to set aside their Tuesday evenings for a regular dose of comic-book action.

I know I’m looking forward to seeing where Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. goes next, but the big question is, will audiences give it another chance?