While shows like WandaVision and Loki seem to be all anyone can think of when someone says “Marvel TV,” let’s not forget where it all began. Marvel Television was created all the way back in 2010 and the first project that was released through it was Agents of Shield in which actress Ming-Na Wen played the role of Melinda May.
And now, Ming-Na Wen has finally spoken up about the division between the shows created for traditional television and those developed for streaming platforms. The actress believes that her show, Agents of Shield, deserves an accolade or acknowledgment for launching Marvel Studios into the television space.
Agents of Shield Actress Voices her Disappointment
Ming-Na Wen has a long list of projects to her name including films like Mulan and The Darkness as well as television shows like Two and a Half Men and The Mandalorian. However, she is of course best known for her work as Melinda May in Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
The series ran from 2013 to 2022 and has seven seasons to its name. Despite having a bunch of tie-ins with the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the show was never really acknowledged by the Studios and Wen has had enough. She is now demanding that the long-running ABC show should’ve received a nod for making Marvel TV what it is today.
During her appearance on The Sackhoff Show, host Katee Sackhoff asked if Wen had ever been ringed up by Marvel for a possible reunion. To this the actress replied,
“No, they have not…it’s weird, it’s like Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. sort of became a separate entity for whatever reason because it was on the network as opposed to [streaming].”
She added that while she doesn’t fully understand what happened, she is aware of the clear division taking place in Marvel Television.
“I think there’s some — and this is where my obliviousness also helps because I don’t understand it, so you’re asking the wrong person — I just know that there’s some sort of division.”
When pointed out that Agents of Shield was one of the last shows Marvel made for standard network television, Wen rightfully replied that they were the first in the business.
“…We were the first. So you would think like, we should get some accolade for helping launch Marvel into what the [TV that it is now.]”
Agents of Shield has a total of 136 episodes to its name spanning over seven seasons through the years. The series has a solid score of 95% on Rotten Tomatoes with the critical consensus praising it for pleasing comic book fans as well as those who are new to the genre.
Fans Completely Agree with Ming-Na Wen
After her disappointed comments started to make rounds on social media, fans were quick to come out in favor of the actress. They wholeheartedly agree with Wen’s point of view and state that the treatment of Agents of Shield at the hands of Marvel Studios was quite unfair.
While some praised the show for putting in much more effort than most of Marvel’s Disney+ shows, others believe that Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige needs to properly acknowledge it as soon as possible.
Take a look at what fans have to say about Wen’s words:
Ming-Na Wen is right. Without Agents of Shield, the MCU wouldn’t have branched into tv shows. Some people were interested in shows like Wandavision, Hawkeye, etc because they all seen what MCU could do with a tv format and thought those shows would be like AOS. https://t.co/qFm6BvvdEG
— Ayman (@GuyWhoConquers) April 24, 2024
Agreed! They should get their credit pioneering marvel TV. Unfair. It’s because the tv division was run by Jeph Loeb back then and not under the control of Feige.
— Heroes Unbound (@HeroesUnbound) April 24, 2024
AoS had more effort than half the current MCU shows. It deserves its flowers
— Neal Sastry (@Raelonus) April 24, 2024
100% agree. AOS has been underrated for years and has some of the best content Marvel has produced.
— Gem 💎 (@Gemm1319) April 24, 2024
Fiege needs to acknowledge it already. The fans will accept it. They don’t gotta do some gymnastics to make it canon, AOS did it for them in the last season.
— Cristian Paez Jr (@iamchrispaezjr) April 24, 2024
They’ve disrespected agents of shield and their fans for way to long marvel with another all too common l
— Wil (@William80288435) April 24, 2024
Mother is Right. Agent May birth Marvel Tv 👏
— Green (@adamminigreen) April 24, 2024
While the Disney+ shows have their own fanbases, it is undeniable that many fans’ interest in Marvel TV stemmed because of Agents of Shield. Is Wen really wrong for wanting to be considered as one of them?
You can stream Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. on Disney+.
