Marvel Studios' latest full Disney+ release, Ms. Marvel, opened the doors to new dimensions of MCU storytelling through Kamala Khan's superhero origin story. Although the new visuals were unlike anything that MCU fans have seen before, a couple of moments actually brought back memories of a story with a complicated relationship to the franchise: Agents of SHIELD.
During the final moments of Episode 5, Kamala faced the Clandestines for the final time before the group met their grizzly end as they tried to go through the Veil back to their home world. Upon the episode's premiere, many believed it to be a nod to how Terrigenesis was shown in Agents of SHIELD, especially with that show tying back to the Inhumans just as Ms. Marvel does in the comics.
In an exclusive interview with The Direct, one of Ms. Marvel's top VFX artists confirmed that this event led to the Clandestines' deaths, almost certainly eliminating the possibility of them returning in a future MCU project. In that same interview, he also addressed the similarities between that scene's visuals and the effects that were seen years ago in Agents of SHIELD.
Ms. Marvel's Similarities to Agents of SHIELD
In an exclusive interview with The Direct's Richard Nebens, Ms. Marvel VFX Supervisor Kevin Yuille of FuseFX addressed the similarities in the visuals between the Disney+ show and Marvel TV's Agents of SHIELD. Specifically, fans noticed similarities in the visuals that showed the Clandestines' crystallization in Episode 5 and the visuals for the Terrigenesis process in multiple episodes of Agents of SHIELD.
Yuille actually spent a lot of time working on Agents of SHIELD throughout the show's run on ABC, reminiscing on how the similarities were something that the team actually brought up internally with each other. They noted how Ms. Marvel's Veil effects were "kind of like Terrigenesis," but he also made it clear that he doesn't know "if they’re going down some Inhuman or X-Men path" with Kamala Khan:
"It’s funny, because our company worked on Agents of SHIELD for the whole run of the show, and I’ve been on that show since the pilot. Terrignenesis, [Marvel Studios] didn’t bring it up to us, but we internally said, ‘It’s kind of like Terrigenesis, a little bit!’ You know, crystalizing, I think the Terrigenesis was a little more volcanic in its look. Honestly, if they’re going down some Inhuman or X-Men path, that’s above my pay grade. I have no idea. Because we did both, we did those scenes, and I worked on some of those shots. I was a compositor, more of an artist back then, so I worked on some of those, but yeah, I have no idea."
No Intentional Ties to Marvel TV's Past
Agents of SHIELD's ties to the great MCU are incredibly complicated, particularly with so many questions about the show's canon status with the greater Marvel Studios story. This was brought into question once more with these visual effects in Ms. Marvel looking so similar to Terrigenesis, although it appears that those were only brought up amongst the Ms. Marvel team themselves.
With the MCU continuing to expand to new heights, it could be a long time before any potential connections to Agents of SHIELD actually reveal themselves, if they are ever revealed at all.
This is especially the case due to the Inhumans still remaining largely absent from the MCU, outside of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness giving the Inhuman King Black Bolt a few minutes to shine. With their status, alongside Kamala Khan being revealed as a mutant, Agents of SHIELD could potentially fall further back in fans' memories unless the MCU addresses it later down the road.
All six episodes of Ms. Marvel are now streaming on Disney+.
