‘Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.’ overcomes skepticism to become fall buzz show

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. – Good news, citizens: “Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.” has fought off skepticism and huge expectations to become the big buzz TV show of the fall.

The slick superhero series, spun off from the Marvel comic books and last summer’s multi-million-dollar movie hit, “The Avengers,” has been protected like a military secret. Producing studio Disney, ABC and Marvel Entertainment have all carefully managed advance word leading up to its September launch.

Even buyers have had to jump through security hoops. Only CTV, among all international show buyers at the TV markets last June, was allowed to even see the pilot before purchasing rights to the series, and even then Canadian network officials had to surrender cell phones and other electronic devices before heading into the screening.

Fans at July’s Comic Con did get a surprise sneak peak at the series, responding with a standing ovation. Reporters attending last week’s ABC session of the Television Critics Association summer press tour have also seen the pilot, and were cautioned not to leak any details of that they saw on the giant convention room screens.

The hype is expected to lead to a big opening when “Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.” premieres Sept. 24 on ABC and CTV. Still, will the networks be able to say, “Look, up in the sky!” when overnight ratings are released the next day? Here are five super villains the series will have to defeat in order to become the super success of 2013-14:

1. The Deadly Movie Let Down:

Fans hoping to tune in and see the Hulk, Iron Man, Thor or Captain America may be disappointed. While there’s a brief glimpse of a hammer or a shield in the pilot, the focus is on the ordinary crime fighters who back up the big guys.

They’re led by agent Phil Coulson (Clark Gregg), who is somehow resurrected from the movies. Canadian-born Cobie Smulders (“How I Met Your Mother”) is occasionally back as agent Maria Hill. Ming-Na Wen (“ER”) plays agent Melinda May, with U.K. actors Elizabeth Henstridge and Iain De Caestecker joining as tech-y agents. Brett Dalton and Chloe Bennet round out the regulars.

“This is a team of misfits that are coming together,” says Henstridge.

And that’s what appealed to executive producer Joss Whedon right from the beginning. Whedon, who directed “The Avengers,” loved “the idea of the people who didn’t get the hammer, who didn’t get the super soldier serum” were the good guys in the series. He was happy to put the spotlight on “the people that get shunned to the side in a giant epic … the underdog, the common man.”

2. The Revenge of the No-name Actors:

Clark Gregg, TV star? The actor, best known for “The New Adventures of Old Christine” before “Iron Man” and “The Avengers,” may not strike some as a series lead. Don’t bet against him, however. As agent Coulson, Gregg originally snuck into a couple of scenes in “Iron Man” because he was a neighbour of that movie’s director, Jon Favreau.

“And the minute I showed up and started getting snarky with Robert Downey and improvising a little bit, suddenly, there were more scenes,” says Gregg.

Whedon, he says, has expanded the character, moving agent Coulson beyond being the audience proxy to his new role as “the nerd avatar.” Plus he now has the coolest car on TV.

3. The Deadly Battle of the Acronyms:

“Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.” will be opposite the No. 1 TV show in America, CBS’s “NCIS.” With the forensic drama’s average age now nudging 60, however, there would seem to be plenty of audience among the coveted younger demos for ABC to snare.

4. The Fiendish History of TV Superheroes:

Television has had its share of comic book heroes in the past. “Batman” was a sensation when the campy caped crusader series premiered in January 1966. Two-and-a-half seasons later, however, it was Bat-cancelled.

“The Incredible Hulk” and “Wonder Woman” enjoyed some popularity in the late ’70s, early ’80s, but neither was a monster hit.

On the other hand, “Smallville” lasted 10 seasons.

5. The Colossal Second-Episode Slide:

Coming off the movies, fans of the series will demand big budget special effects. They’re there in the pilot, but can the series keep up those costs in later episodes?

“Both ABC and Marvel have been very generous with us,” says executive producer Jeffrey Bell. “We have a responsibility to Marvel to look awesome and terrific.”

The actors, too, have not seen a drop off.

“I thought after the pilot, the next episode would be bound to be us stuck in an elevator because they’d spent all of the money,” says Gregg. “Instead, the second one, if anything, is bigger, more exciting.”

Realizing he may have just broken Level 7, Gregg clams up.

“I probably shouldn’t have said that. I’m so sorry.”