There’s two ways I reckon Marvel can nail these Netflix shows, and though either one of them would do it’d be nice to see both: give each of them a distinct identity and make sure they’re as unlike Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D. as humanly possible.
Part of what’s been exciting about the Marvel Cinematic Universe so far is that you’ve got these great auteur directors (plus Jon Favreau) working on sprinkling existing characters with their own directorial tics. The Shane Black Iron Man, the Kenneth Branagh Thor and the Joss Whedon Avengers are still the standouts of the bunch because you really get a feeling that the films were made by people with ideas and style. The lesser efforts – The Incredible Hulk, Iron Man 2 and Thor: The Dark World – all of these suffer because they feel so by-the-numbers (most heinously in Iron Man 2’s case, those numbers having been established by the first film).
The reason Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D. is such a poor show is because it’s stuck someplace between the Avengers-lite of the Whedon B-team (brother and sister in law: see Dollhouse) and an archaic style of presenting, plotting and scoring network television that is in direct conflict with its cinematic progenitor’s genuinely blazed trail. It feels out of date, and is populated by lazy get-rich-quick character types – because they’re barely characters – and continues to coast on the ever-teased promise that one of the movies’ stars might drop by once in a while.
So, the lesson is thus – don’t have these series depend on the movies, have them depend on each other. Let Netflix’s Marvel enjoy a rivalry with the bigger hitters. Create an underdog, from which to create a true success story. Because styling TV series after Whedon projects from ten years ago just ain’t gonna cut it. You wanna be Shield, Marvel? Try Shawn Ryan’s. Detective work, takedowns, dealing with crime in a way that’s just about relatable. Legwork. No gadgets. People working hard to stop crime without millions of dollars.
This is how to make it work.