Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: Slingshot

Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: Slingshot is an American digital series created for ABC.com, based on the Marvel Comics organization S.H.I.E.L.D. and the character Yo-Yo Rodriguez. It is set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) and acknowledges the continuity of the franchise's films and other television series; it is a supplement to Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. The series is produced by ABC Studios and Marvel Television, with executive producer Geoffrey Colo leading the series' crew.

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: Slingshot
Genre
Based on
Starring
Composer(s)Bear McCreary
Country of originUnited States
Original language(s)English
No. of seasons1
No. of episodes6 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producer(s)
Producer(s)
  • Bob Kozicki
  • Chris Cheramie
Production location(s)Los Angeles
CinematographyKyle Jewell
Editor(s)
  • Jennifer Macfarlane
  • Michael Benni Pierce
Running time3–6 minutes
Production company(s)
Release
Original networkABC.com
Original releaseDecember 13, 2016 (2016-12-13)
Chronology
Related shows
External links
Official website

The series follows Rodriguez on a mission before the events of the fourth season of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Natalia Cordova-Buckley reprises her role as Rodriguez from Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., along with Clark Gregg, Chloe Bennet, Jason O'Mara, Ming-Na Wen, Iain De Caestecker, Elizabeth Henstridge and Henry Simmons. Slingshot was revealed at the end of the Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. episode "The Laws of Inferno Dynamics" in December 2016, with members of the main series' production team also working on the spin-off.

All six episodes of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: Slingshot were released on December 13, 2016. It received a positive critical response, and won a Webby Award, along with nominations for a Primetime Emmy Award, Streamy Award, and Writers Guild of America Awards.

Premise

Elena "Yo-Yo" Rodriguez is forced to sign the Sokovia Accords by S.H.I.E.L.D. (Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement, and Logistics Division) because she is an Inhuman. This creates a conflict with a personal mission she is looking to complete.[1]

Cast and characters
Further information: List of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. characters

Main
  • Clark Gregg as Phil Coulson: An agent and former director of S.H.I.E.L.D..[2]
  • Chloe Bennet as Daisy Johnson / Quake: A former agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. She is an Inhuman with earthquake-generating abilities.[2]
  • Natalia Cordova-Buckley as Elena "Yo-Yo" Rodriguez:
    A Colombian Inhuman who can move at super speed for a beat of her heart, before returning to the point she started moving from. She is an asset to S.H.I.E.L.D.[1] Cordova-Buckley said the series explores how Rodriguez feels about her abilities and "with whom to use them and with whom to team up or not."[3] She added, "We see Yo-Yo begin that conflict of whether she wants to belong to S.H.I.E.L.D. or not. I think at some point we've seen all the [S.H.I.E.L.D.] characters have doubts about the bureaucracy and the power struggle of S.H.I.E.L.D., but I think Yo-Yo's the one that the struggle is the most evident."[4] Marvel Entertainment COO Joe Quesada described the series as an adventure that defines Rodriguez "and how she goes about doing her business as an Inhuman."[5] The spin-off was the first time Cordova-Buckley led a series, which helped her learn to build a character.[3]
  • Jason O'Mara as Jeffrey Mace: The new Director of S.H.I.E.L.D., an Inhuman with super-strength and durability.[2]
  • Ming-Na Wen as Melinda May: An agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.[2]
  • Iain De Caestecker as Leo Fitz: An agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. who is an engineering and weapons technology specialist.[2]
  • Elizabeth Henstridge as Jemma Simmons: An agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. who is a biochemist specialist.[2]
  • Henry Simmons as Alphonso "Mack" MacKenzie: An agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. who is attracted to Rodriguez.[2]

Recurring and guest
  • Yancey Arias as Victor Ramon: A former National Police of Colombia member-turned-arms dealer who killed Rodriguez's cousin.[6]
  • Alexander Wraith as Anderson: An agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.[7]
  • Deren Tadlock as Cecilio: An agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.[8]
  • Matt Berberi and Hiroo Minami as Ramon's henchman.[9]
  • Dale Pavinski as Alpha Dog: A member of the Watchdogs terrorist organization.[9]

Stan Lee cameos through an on-set photograph.[10]

Episodes
No.TitleDirected byWritten byOriginal release date
1"Vendetta"Joe QuesadaJames C. Oliver & Sharla OliverDecember 13, 2016 (2016-12-13)
Elena Rodriguez and Daisy Johnson discuss a secret mission they shared while Johnson went rogue from S.H.I.E.L.D. Now that Johnson has returned, Rodriguez wants to make sure their stories are consistent to throw off Director Jeffrey Mace. On that mission, Rodriguez met with Phil Coulson after he stepped down as director of S.H.I.E.L.D. Rodriguez was contemplating signing the Sokovia Accords while also hoping to seek out Victor Ramon, the man responsible for her cousin's death.
2"John Hancock"Feliks ParnellJames C. Oliver & Sharla OliverDecember 13, 2016 (2016-12-13)
Director Mace sets a meeting with Rodriguez to have her sign the Sokovia Accords. As she does, he tells her that under the agreement of the Sokovia Accords, she has to follow a certain procedure before going after Ramon. Unsatisfied, Rodriguez steals Mace's S.H.I.E.L.D. access card to help her get more information on Ramon.
3"Progress"Keith PotterGeorge KitsonDecember 13, 2016 (2016-12-13)
Leo Fitz and Jemma Simmons examine Rodriguez, and she secretly learns Ramon is in Baltimore, Maryland. She runs into Mack, who is on a mission with Coulson to track down Johnson. As Coulson and Mack's Quinjet takes off, Melinda May informs Rodriguez that Mace's credentials are missing. Rodriguez realizes that May knows she took them.
4"Reunion"Chris CheramieIden BaghdadchiDecember 13, 2016 (2016-12-13)
Rodriguez reluctantly returns Mace's access card to May, who advises Rodriguez to be mindful of her "sloppy" work. May grants Rodriguez access to another Quinjet headed to Baltimore. Rodriguez finds Ramon and botches his plans to leave the city. She reminds him that he is responsible for her cousin's murder, but one of his henchmen knocks her out.
5"Deal Breaker"John P. GordonIden Baghdadchi & Mark LeitnerDecember 13, 2016 (2016-12-13)
Held captive by Ramon, Rodriguez realizes that he is attempting to sell a weapon to members of the terrorist organization called the Watchdogs. Rodriguez is rescued by Johnson, who had come for the weapon, and holds off the Watchdogs attacks for Rodriguez to go after Ramon, who had tried to escape.
6"Justicia"Mark KolpackMark LeitnerDecember 13, 2016 (2016-12-13)
Rodriguez chooses not to kill Ramon, who is inadvertently vaporized by the weapon as S.H.I.E.L.D. arrives, ending the mission. In the present, Rodriguez and Johnson agree on their story, and Johnson erases any trace in S.H.I.E.L.D.'s system that Rodriguez was in Baltimore.

Production

Development

Natalia Cordova-Buckley revealed on December 5, 2016 that a surprise teaser would air the next day following "The Laws of Inferno Dynamics", the mid-season finale of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s fourth season.[11] The teaser revealed Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: Slingshot, a 6-part digital series following Cordova-Buckley's S.H.I.E.L.D. character Elena "Yo-Yo" Rodriguez.[1][3] Produced by ABC Studios and Marvel Television,[2] each episode of the series is 3–6 minutes long.[12] Maurissa Tancharoen, Jed Whedon, Jeffrey Bell, Jeph Loeb and Geoffrey Colo are executive producers on the series,[2] with Colo described as the "mastermind behind" Slingshot.[13] Colo said ABC and Marvel had been "looking for a while to do a digital series connected to Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. The trick was finding something that fit snuggly into S.H.I.E.L.D.'s timeline and the greater MCU".[14]

Casting

Cordova-Buckley was cast as Rodriguez in February 2016 for the third season of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.,[15] and was revealed to be starring in Slingshot with the December 2016 announcement.[1] She is joined by other Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. cast members Clark Gregg as Phil Coulson, Jason O'Mara as Jeffrey Mace, Henry Simmons as Alphonso "Mack" MacKenzie, Chloe Bennet as Daisy Johnson / Quake, Ming-Na Wen as Melinda May, Iain De Caestecker as Leo Fitz, and Elizabeth Henstridge as Jemma Simmons.[2]

Yancey Arias recurs as arms dealer Victor Ramon, reprising his role from the Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. episode "Bouncing Back".[6][16][17] Also reprising their roles from S.H.I.E.L.D. are Alexander Wraith and Deren Tadlock as S.H.I.E.L.D. agents Anderson and Cecilio,[7][8][18][19] and Dale Pavinski as the "Alpha Dog" of the Watchdogs.[9][18]

Filming and visual effects
One of Joe Quesada's storyboards for "Vendetta", highlighting his comic book-like approach to planning the episode's filming

Marvel Comics CCO Joe Quesada, who made his directorial debut with the first episode, created detailed storyboards of the episode like he would with a comic, stating, "The same rules of storytelling, whether its film or television, apply directly to comic books when you do it right."[5] Much of the same crew that works on the main S.H.I.E.L.D. series also worked on Slingshot,[20] including visual effects supervisor Mark Kolpack who returned to supervise the effects for Slingshot. Kolpack also directed the final episode of the spin-off.[21]

Marvel Cinematic Universe tie-ins

The majority of the digital series takes place shortly before the events of the fourth season of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.,[1] which Quesada said would allow the series to tell the story "that is in between the cracks" and explore "missing time" since the end of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. season three.[5] Cordova-Buckley added that Slingshot would help viewers "understand the reasoning for many of the decisions that characters make in Season 4," gaining "more of an overall answer of the 'why's'." Such insights include "the struggle between Yo-Yo and Mack, ... the closeness between Daisy and Yo-Yo, ... [and] the relationship between Yo-Yo and S.H.I.E.L.D." from her interactions with Mace and Coulson.[4] In addition, Peggy Carter,[22] Secretary Thaddeus "Thunderbolt" Ross, and his prison The Raft are referenced.[23]

Release

All six episodes of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: Slingshot debuted on ABC.com on December 13, 2016.[1][5] The episodes were also available on ABC's mobile app, Marvel.com, and ABC and Marvel's YouTube channels.[4]

Reception

Critical response

Christina Roberts of Culturess felt Slingshot was "a cool premise" that built off established Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. characters and expanded on those less used. Roberts also felt Slingshot could have worked as a standalone episode of the main series since those episodes are "always a nice breath of fresh air", and was curious if Slingshot would be referenced in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., "even if it's just a wink and a nod between Daisy and Elena."[10] Geek Exchange's Georgia Ringelberg called Slingshot "unnecessary because the plot doesn't add anything to the larger series". Despite this, it was "a fun, quick watch that's perfect for getting through the mid-season break". Additionally, Ringelberg felt the use of Rodriguez in the series gave the character "some well-deserved attention" and would lead "to more screen time" including "maybe even preparing viewers for the Inhumans series... If they transition her to Inhumans or give her time on both shows, she could be strategically utilized instead of mostly forgotten the way she is now."[24]

Accolades
Year Award Category Recipient Result Ref.
2017 Webby Awards Drama: Long Form or Series Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: Slingshot Won [25]
Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards Outstanding Short Form Comedy or Drama Series Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: Slingshot Nominated [26]
Streamy Awards Costume Design Ann Foley Nominated [27]
Writers Guild of America Awards Short Form New Media – Adapted "John Hancock" Nominated [28]
"Justicia"
gollark: What *should* be sent is some kind of Markdown AST.
gollark: I blame Discord's poorly-suited-for-user-content formats.
gollark: \@everyone was used.
gollark: ^
gollark: Why not have some sort of sensibly escapable JSON message format for webhooks?

References
  1. Fitzpatrick, Kevin (December 7, 2016). "'Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.' Sets 'Slingshot' Digital Series for December Hiatus". Screen Crush. Archived from the original on December 7, 2016. Retrieved December 7, 2016.
  2. "Watch Marvel's Agents of SHIELD: Slingshot in Full!". ComingSoon.net. December 13, 2016. Archived from the original on December 15, 2016. Retrieved December 14, 2016.
  3. Natalia Cordova-Buckley Talks Starring in Slingshot. ABC.com. December 6, 2016. Archived from the original on November 8, 2017. Retrieved December 7, 2016.
  4. Schwartz, Terri (December 13, 2016). "Watch The First Episode of Marvel's Agents of SHIELD's New Digital Series, Slingshot". IGN. Archived from the original on December 14, 2016. Retrieved December 14, 2016.
  5. Schwartz, Terri (December 12, 2016). "Marvel's Joe Quesada Makes Directorial Debut With Agents of SHIELD Digital Series". IGN. Archived from the original on December 12, 2016. Retrieved December 12, 2016.
  6. Caron, Nathalie (December 31, 2016). "Watch the Full Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: Slingshot Spinoff Series Here". Syfy Wire. Archived from the original on December 14, 2016. Retrieved February 7, 2017.
  7. "Vendetta". Event occurs at 4:43.
  8. "John Hancock". Event occurs at 3:35.
  9. "Deal Breaker". Event occurs at 3:20.
  10. Roberts, Christina (December 14, 2016). ""Marvel's Agents of SHIELD: Slingshot" Digital Series Recap And Review". Culturess (FanSided). Time Inc. Archived from the original on December 29, 2016. Retrieved December 14, 2016.
  11. Hood, Cooper (December 5, 2016). "Marvel Plans Surprise Teaser Following Agents of SHIELD Fall Finale". Screen Rant. Archived from the original on December 6, 2016. Retrieved December 8, 2016.
  12. Trenholm, Richard (December 7, 2016). "'Agents of SHIELD: Slingshot' is a Marvel-ous online spin-off". Cnet. Archived from the original on December 8, 2016. Retrieved December 7, 2016.
  13. Kolpak, Mark [@MarkKolpack] (December 13, 2016). "Ah. Very good question. You need that answer from @GeoffreyColo. He is the mastermind behind this" (Tweet). Archived from the original on July 9, 2017. Retrieved July 9, 2017 – via Twitter.
  14. Marvel Entertainment (December 21, 2016). Go Behind the Scenes of Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: Slingshot!. YouTube. Event occurs at 0:21. Retrieved December 22, 2016.
  15. Lovett, Jamie (February 16, 2016). "Exclusive: Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Casts Natalia Cordova-Buckley As Slingshot". ComicBook.com. Archived from the original on February 17, 2016. Retrieved February 17, 2016.
  16. "Scoop: Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. on ABC – Tuesday, March 8, 2016". Broadway World. February 23, 2016. Archived from the original on February 25, 2016. Retrieved February 24, 2016.
  17. Lovett, James (December 14, 2016). "How Agents of SHIELD: Slingshot Connects To The Marvel Cinematic Universe – Victor Ramon". Comicbook.com. Archived from the original on December 10, 2018. Retrieved December 20, 2016.
  18. "(#403) "Uprising"". The Futon Critic. Archived from the original on September 27, 2016. Retrieved September 27, 2016.
  19. "(#402) "Meet the New Boss"". The Futon Critic. Archived from the original on January 1, 2017. Retrieved September 12, 2016.
  20. McLauchlin, Jim (December 30, 2016). "Joe Quesada's 'Next Step': Directing". Newsarama. Archived from the original on December 31, 2016. Retrieved December 30, 2016.
  21. Mark Kolpack [@@MarkKolpack] (December 6, 2016). "The digital series #Slingshot for #AgentsofSHIELD is coming soon Not only did I supervise the VFX but I also got to direct its finale eps" (Tweet). Archived from the original on December 7, 2016. Retrieved December 8, 2016 – via Twitter.
  22. Lovett, James (December 14, 2016). "How Agents of SHIELD: Slingshot Connects To The Marvel Cinematic Universe – Peggy Carter's Coin". Comicbook.com. Archived from the original on December 10, 2018. Retrieved December 20, 2016.
  23. Lovett, James (December 14, 2016). "How Agents of SHIELD: Slingshot Connects To The Marvel Cinematic Universe – The Sokovia Accords". Comicbook.com. Archived from the original on December 10, 2018. Retrieved December 20, 2016.
  24. Ringelberg, Georgia (December 31, 2016). "Review: Marvel's Agent's of S.H.I.E.L.D.: Slingshot". Geek Exchange. Archived from the original on February 7, 2017. Retrieved February 7, 2017.
  25. "Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: Slingshot". Webby Awards. Archived from the original on April 28, 2017. Retrieved April 25, 2017.
  26. Rocco, Andi (September 13, 2018). "2017 Creative Arts Emmys: Complete Winners List". Entertainment Tonight. Archived from the original on September 14, 2017. Retrieved December 20, 2018.
  27. Ramos, Dino-Ray (August 22, 2017). "7th Annual Streamy Awards: Casey Neistat, Lilly Singh, 'Mr. Student Body President' Among Nominees". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on August 24, 2017. Retrieved April 23, 2017.
  28. Littleton, Cynthia (December 7, 2017). "Writers Guild Award TV Nominations: 'The Americans,' 'Handmaid's Tale,' 'GLOW' Grab Multiple Mentions". Variety. Archived from the original on December 8, 2017. Retrieved December 7, 2017.

Episodes

  1. Oliver, James C.; Oliver, Sharla (December 13, 2016). "Vendetta". Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: Slingshot. Season 1. ABC.com. 5 minutes. YouTube url
  2. Oliver, James C.; Oliver, Sharla (December 13, 2016). "John Hancock". Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: Slingshot. Season 1. ABC.com. 3 minutes. YouTube url
  3. Kitson, George (December 13, 2016). "Progress". Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: Slingshot. Season 1. ABC.com. 6 minutes. YouTube url
  4. Baghdadchi, Iden (December 13, 2016). "Reunion". Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: Slingshot. Season 1. ABC.com. 4 minutes. YouTube url
  5. Baghdadchi, Iden; Leitner, Mark (December 13, 2016). "Deal Breaker". Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: Slingshot. Season 1. ABC.com. 4 minutes. YouTube url
  6. Leitner, Mark (December 13, 2016). "Justicia". Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: Slingshot. Season 1. ABC.com. 3 minutes. YouTube url
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