It’s almost like this weekend is a national holiday with regards to all the hoopla surrounding the release of Marvel’s first Phase Two film, Iron Man 3.  We’ve already shared details and images for Thor: The Dark World and Ant-Man as well as new info and concept art for Guardians of the Galaxy, and now it’s time for some updates on Marvel’s foray into television: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.  The pilot for the S.H.I.E.L.D.-centric potential series has already been shot (Joss Whedon co-wrote and directed), and now the series awaits an all-but-guaranteed greenlight from ABC.

We know that Clark Gregg’s Agent Coulson returns as the star of the show (under some strange circumstances) and the series takes place after the events of The Avengers, but further details about how Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. would fit into the larger Marvel universe have thus far been unclear.  EW’s recent cover story on Phase Two provides a closer look at the show, however, with Marvel’s Kevin Feige addressing the possibility of using the series to introduce new characters and Robert Downey Jr. talking about a possible appearance on the show.  Hit the jump to read on.

avengers-chris-hemsworth-clark-gregg

While Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. certainly marks new territory for Marvel, many have wondered if the show could be used as a sort of “minor leagues” to test out new characters before incorporating them into the film universe.  EW asked Feige if we could see some as-yet-unused heroes pop up in the show, and he sounded optimistic:

“If that works the way everyone expects it to work I think that would open up another avenue, another outlet for some of those characters,” Feige acknowledes. “Maybe they guest star, I don’t know. I think they’re avoiding the cameo of the week on that show, which is very smart.”

Speaking of cameo of the week, it’s difficult to imagine the entirety of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. taking place without at least some acknowledgement of the film characters, and while we’ve heard that Cobie Smulders will probably be popping up, Iron Man himself Robert Downey Jr. was asked point-blank if he would consider appearing on Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. in character, to which he replied:

“You know what? There’s no telling. I am open to everything.”

While it would likely be quite expensive and/or difficult to actually get RDJ on the show, it’s nice to know that the actor hasn’t entirely ruled it out.  Before that’s even considered, though, there’s the matter of re-negotiating Downey’s very, very lucrative contract.

Expect to hear firm word of a series pick-up or, however unlikely, a full pass on the Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. pilot very soon as the networks are gearing up to announce their fall schedules in the coming weeks.

For more from today's onslaught of superhero news, click the links below:

shield-marvel-tv-series