We knew Coulson couldn’t really be gone. Last year’s mega-hit “The Avengers,” written by Joss Whedon, quickly became the third-best-grossing movie of all time and paved the way for the most-anticipated show of ABC’s freshman class. Sure, Robert Downey, Jr. is just as much fun as Tony Stark/Iron Man should be, and nobody can embody anger quite like Mark Ruffalo’s Bruce Banner/Hulk, but Marvel’s latest effort shows that just as much action goes on behind the scenes. The Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division (S.H.I.E.L.D.) is a government agency, and they have one job: to protect the ordinary from the extraordinary (I wish I could take credit for that line, but it’s from the preview). The show follows Agent Phil Coulson (Clark Gregg,” The Avengers”), who “died” in the film, and his endeavor to band together a government team that tackles strange, unknown and fantastical happenings. But the best thing about “Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.” is that the protagonists aren’t superheroes at all – they’re mere mortals charged with exceptional duties. Who knew regular people existed in the Marvel universe? We expect big things, Whedon. Premieres Sept. 24.

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