Full spoilers for Marvel's Agents of SHIELD's episode "Self Control" continue below, so read on at your own risk.
Marvel's Agents of SHIELD is on hiatus until April 4th, but with a cliffhanger like what happened at the end of "Self Control," we couldn't wait until then to get some idea of what's ahead.
Life in the Framework is significantly different from what is going on in SHIELD's reality: Hydra is in charge, Simmons is apparently dead, and Daisy is currently dating Ward. That's not even mentioning the trouble going on in the present: Aida has turned Anton Ivanov into some new iteration of an L.M.D. that involves keeping his decapitated head alive in a jar, and all our favorite SHIELD agents are in a race against time -- unwittingly or not -- before their bodies give out and they're trapped in the Framework forever.
With that dramatic stage set, I got on the phone with co-showrunner Jed Whedon to get some teases of what's to come when Agents of SHIELD returns and get answers about some of the episode's biggest questions. Read the full interview below.
IGN: What are you doing differently with Hydra this go-around that made it worth revisiting in such a big way?
Jed Whedon: It's more that we're exploring "what if" scenarios with our characters. We wanted to show that this world was not what was intended, and what really symbolizes the opposite of SHIELD or the ultimate evil in our world is Hydra. It's more about our people than it is about the organization itself this time around. No better villain in SHIELD than Hydra, so why not?
IGN: We know that Radcliffe and Aida changed one "regret" of each of our main characters for their life in the Framework. Are these actually our characters' regrets, or are they what Radcliffe and Aida consider to be their regrets?
Whedon: I think that they are true to our characters. We can glean some of that from what we see. But that's the idea. In their warped view of things, they were trying to do something kind, and we're about to see the result.
IGN: Why bring back Ward again? Have you always been planning to bring Brett back into the story?
Whedon: Well, we'll see what happens with him. We see at the end there that his picture's on the dresser. What would a Hydra world be without him?
IGN: You did give a great end to that storyline at the end of last year. How are you bringing back those characters and those elements in a way that won't undermine the emotional farewell we got in Season 3?
Whedon: One of the things that we're exploring in the Framework is the nature of reality and the nature of identity, and what makes you you. Anything that we put in there is going to be a reflection of our characters and sort of feed their emotional journey -- and possibly their neuroses. So it's all there in support of our characters and continuing their season-long arc of discovering who they truly are.
IGN: Simmons makes a point to tell Daisy before they go into the Framework that if you die in there, you die in real life... and then we see her grave. I'm assuming you didn't unceremoniously kill Elizabeth Henstridge off between those scenes, so what can you say about whether or not that grave means for Simmons in the present day?
Whedon: Well, they're plugging into their avatars. They say they've located the avatars and they'll just plug into them. It's a made up digital world, so there's certain rules that can be bent. But what happens to Simmons, you'll have to wait and see.
IGN: Which of our main characters is the most changed in their alternate life in the Framework?
Whedon: I don't want to spoil anything, but I will say that everybody is very different. That's all I'll say. You can see, I think, from the end that their task of going in there and just sort of snapping their fingers and going "hey guys!" might be a little harder than they thought.
IGN: Right, and also the idea of having a potentially happier life in there, I can't help but wonder if these people -- even Simmons and Daisy -- want to leave if they consider this a better life.
Whedon: These are good questions to be asking.
IGN: In our preview story, you got people excited by saying there would be a lot of payoff in these next seven episodes for people who have been with the show from the beginning. Now that we know about the Framework and what's inside, what can you elaborate on how you'll be playing around with callbacks and questions we had seasons ago?
Whedon: I'll just say that when you deal with sort of a "what if" scenario with your characters and you change up their reality, that's earned through many years of spending time with them. It wouldn't be interesting to do in Season 2. It's only interesting when you've spend 80-plus episodes with these characters. We, the writers, who are very familiar with the story -- almost as familiar with the story as some of our fans -- are sort of using it as a playground to reward those longtime viewers.
IGN: Aida has now killed her maker and is controlling the Framework. Would you consider her the villain of Season 4? Or are there still more nefarious forces at work?
Whedon: She's just doing what she's programmed to do. We see in that scene with Radcliffe that she's programmed to protect him and the Framework, and she finds a way to do both that might not be exactly what he imagined, but she's really just reenacting her programming. Every time he accuses her of something, she reminds him, "I'm just programmed to do this," and I think one of the things that she's programmed to do is to mimic human behavior. I think that we're seeing that aspect of her taking over a little bit. Whether or not she has nefarious intent or is just trying to do what she's programmed to do, we'll see, but yeah, she didn't make herself this way. Someone else made her, and she's just doing what she's told.
IGN: How much will this third pod of the season take place in the Framework versus reality?
Whedon: We will spend some time there, for sure.
IGN: I also just loved getting to see Simmons and Daisy together in this episode. Why was it important to team them back up and get them back together after they haven't had that much one-on-one time this year?
Whedon: We felt what you just mentioned, that they deserved to have some time together. Even when Daisy rejoined, they didn't really have a moment to unpack and to hang with each other. Their friendship is one we hang about. We felt like they were a good pair for this ep, and not to mention what we wanted to do with them when they get into the Framework. It worked out on all fronts.
IGN: Are there any other characters who you feel like you haven't been able to put together that much that we can anticipate seeing together more in the third act of this season?
Whedon: Yes.
IGN: Can you be any more specific than that?
Whedon: Not really, but I will say that there are things that the audience longs for that they will get to see.
IGN: What's Yo-Yo going to be up to while everyone else is in the Framework?
Whedon: Just, you know, watching sports.
IGN: Catching up on Netflix?
Whedon: Yeah, finally getting time to read that book that she's been putting off.
IGN: [laughs] Alright. And last question: some interesting stuff happened with the Superior at the end. Is there comics inspiration for what you guys did with Anton Ivanov? What can you preview of what's ahead for that character?
Whedon: We can't comment on that, but he is his own sort of creation. He is different than the L.M.D.s. I think Aida wanted to keep his humanity intact, and that was the main impetus to her leaving his brain as the remote control, but as to characters from the comics, I can't comment.
IGN: What can you say about what's ahead for Ivanov? There was a lot of build up for who the head of the Watch Dogs was but he was defeated pretty easily, so what's his big picture purpose narratively for you guys?
Whedon: Well I think we can safely say that everything that has been generated out of the L.M.D. program turned out awesome. It really turned out for the good of things, for the better of humanity. I think he's the next step on that happy Yellow Brick Road of joy that the L.M.D. program has generated. It's safe to say that he's the next best thing to come out of that.
Marvel's Agents of SHIELD returns on April 4th at 10 p.m. ET/PT on ABC.
Terri Schwartz is Entertainment Editor at IGN. Talk to her on Twitter at @Terri_Schwartz.
Aucun commentaire:
Enregistrer un commentaire