Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D. Recap: ‘The Singularity’

This review contains spoilers.

News broke within the last week that Disney has dropped The Inhumans from their release schedule. We still don’t know exactly what’s going on with that project or if it will ever be revived, but from where we’re standing right now, it looks like it’s dead and buried. Aside from the death of the movie itself, what’s most interesting about the story is the way it deepens the wedge that has already been driven between Marvel Studios’ feature films and Marvel Television’s series. Despite the oft-repeated assurance that ‘it’s all connected,’ Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. in particular feels like it’s working in some sort of alternate universe that branched off from the MCU, but no longer has any connection with the main series of films. For Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., the emergence of Inhumans remains a huge, universe shaking event that they’re dealing with on a constant basis, but when it comes to the films, this huge event doesn’t even register as a blip on the radar.

And, you know what, there’s nothing really wrong with that. I don’t need all of these things to be inextricably linked. I realize, for example, that Jessica Jones will never cross over with the films in any meaningful way, but that doesn’t lessen the fact that I think it’s one of the best stories Marvel has ever put their name on. The problem with Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., though, is that the only reason I’ve ever had for watching it was its supposed connection to the larger universe of Marvel films. I don’t care about its characters, I’m not invested in its story, and if it’s not even going to connect in any meaningful way to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, why am I even watching it?