An ‘Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.’/’Doctor Strange’ Crossover?

In past seasons, Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. has tied in directly with films in the Marvel Cinematic Universe: our team cleaning up after Thor, Hydra’s infiltration of S.H.I.E.L.D., and other such moments. According to the show’s EPs, Season 4 will have a connection to Doctor Strange, too, though not quite in the same way.

Executive producer Jed Whedon told Entertainment Weekly that the movie tie-in will be more thematic than direct this time. As he says,

The tie this year will feel more of a reflection of the movie, less an interweaving plot. As that movie hits the world, it comes at the right time in our show, and you will see some of those same ideas being explored.

This timing does seem to work out well for the show. We’ll see the cinematic universe delving into the realm of unexplained ‘strangeness’ just as our team on Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. encounters Ghost Rider. Exactly how this theme will be addressed in the movie remains unknown, of course. As EP Maurissa Tancharoen says, though, there’s a good chance that some of the “same questions that our team is exploring” this season might be “reflected in the movie and then carried through”.

Image courtesy of EW and ABC/Marvel

And it’s not just the Spirit of Vengeance that will take the show into the unexplained. The show is also looking to dive more into questions of morality surrounding the issue of artificial intelligence – a theme that was addressed in Age of Ultron. Tancharoen points out that Ultron showed that AI doesn’t always do what its creators expect, so for the fourth season of S.H.I.E.L.D., “whether or not we continue that theme you will see.”

I guess we will see – in just a short while, since the fourth season premieres this Tuesday, September 20 on ABC at 10pm.

Do you wish the crossover was going to be more explicit this time, or are you just intrigued to see how it all unfolds? Let us know in the comments!