Thor with Agent Coulson in Marvel's The Avengers, Image source: Disney, Marvel.com
If you've been searching for the first huge movie tie-in for Disney's (DIS -0.47%) new Marvel-inspired television show, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., look no further than Marvel's own Twitter feed.
On Friday evening, fans around the Internet rejoiced as Marvel sent out the following tweet:
Image source: Twitter
Specifically, the reference link states the following about the future episode (titled "The Well"):
In the aftermath of the events chronicled in the feature film Marvel's "Thor: The Dark World," Coulson and the Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. pick up the pieces -- one of which threatens to destroy a member of the team on Tuesday, November 19.
To be sure, it was no mystery Disney and Marvel were planning to bring the thunder with the Nov. 8 release of Thor: The Dark World, and it certainly makes sense they'd want to reference the film in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. However, fans must be elated to know the creative teams for both properties are so willing and able to go to this extent to so tightly intertwine the two storylines.
And why shouldn't they? After all, expectations are phenomenally high for Thor: The Dark World, especially considering the title character not only earned an incredible $449 million in gross ticket sales worldwide with his debut effort in 2011, but also played an integral role in last year's $1.5 billion box office juggernaut, Marvel's The Avengers.
But before Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. hit the small screen in millions of homes every week beginning Sept. 24, fans could only lament that Disney's big-budget Marvel films only came around but once or twice per year.
And though critics still seem fixated on the fact that ratings for subsequent episodes of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. haven't lived up to its overachieving pilot, the folks at Disney and ABC couldn't be happier as the series has predictably afforded them an unbreakable stranglehold on several of the industry's widely coveted key men's demographics.
In fact, the domination of those key men's demographics by Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. was so complete, its overall ratings actually managed to top even CBS' (PARA -1.89%) perennial Tuesday favorite, NCIS, with both its first and third episodes -- this despite the fact CBS' hit show collectively commanded nearly twice the number of total viewers during those two weeks.
Even so, those raw numbers of viewers continue to mesmerize fellow TV ratings watchers, so I wouldn't expect Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. to immediately silence the naysayers even with Thor's help.
However, I can't imagine Disney and Marvel will be complaining about having the demigod on their side to bolster his small-screen counterpart. If Thor: The Dark World lives up to its name, plenty of new Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. viewers will be coming their way.
