It isn’t hard to see at least some writing on the wall for Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., given a move to 10:00 P.M. and the announcement of a much higher-profile Marvel series for 2017, but don’t count Coulson and co. out just yet. ABC brass seems surprisingly optimistic about Season 5, claiming they’re “incredibly encouraged” by the series.

Ahead of full presentations at ABC’s TCA press tour, Entertainment Weekly spoke to network boss Channing Dungey on the current state of Marvel projects, including both Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and the long-dormant John Ridley project. As to Agents, either Dungey has a strong poker game, or Season 5 is most definitely still in the cards:

Look, we are incredibly encouraged. Season 4 of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. has been creatively the strongest season we’ve had yet. The episodes just keep getting better and stronger. And that’s another one for us that we moved from 9 to 10 and yet even though the HUD levels are softer at 10, the live-same-day has remained the same and that’s another one of our shows which regularly goes up triple digits over the seven-day period, anywhere from 100 to 110 percent.

So you see a future for S.H.I.E.L.D.?
Absolutely. I’m very bullish on S.H.I.E.L.D. and we’re also really excited about our production with Marvel, ABC Studios, and IMAX, which we are working on for next fall as well.

The IMAX project of course refers to Marvel’s The Inhumans, which itself isn’t said to have any interaction with Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., or even utilize similar effects to those displayed so far.

In the meantime, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. will begin its “LMD” arc later on tonight with “Broken Promises,” so stay tuned for the latest on Season 4 and beyond.

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