Agents of SHIELD Season 5 hasn't been confirmed by ABC yet, but Marvel isn't giving up hope.
The latest season of Agents of SHIELD got off to a strong start with its Ghost Rider arc, despite the series being shunted off to a Tuesday night at 10 pm slot that traditionally isn't really a sign of tremendous confidence from a network. The viewership numbers of a little over 2 million viewers a week would be considered thoroughly healthy on a network like the CW, but on ABC, well, there are higher expectations. Those aren't exactly the kind of numbers that make Agents of SHIELD Season 5 a slam dunk.
Nevertheless, Marvel TV head Jeph Loeb told TV Line that "we're hopeful" that Agents of SHIELD Season 5 will happen. Executive producer Jed Whedon told Entertainment Weekly that “We are going to make it a thrilling end regardless, but we don’t plan on stopping anytime soon."
ABC, of course, may have other plans. The network mercilessly axed Time After Time after only a handful of episodes, with the remainder of that series likely never to see the light of day. The rules are different for Marvel properties of course, but it's likely we won't get official word on Agents of SHIELD Season 5 until mid-May, when ABC has their upfront. If the network hasn't announced a decision to renew by the time that season finale comes around, it's probably a bad sign. Keep in mind that Marvel's next ABC TV offering, Inhumans, arrives in September, and it's scheduled for Tuesday nights...traditionally Agents of SHIELD's slot.
It's not time to break out the hashtags yet, but if you want to see Agents of SHIELD Season 5, it might be a good idea to remember to set your DVRs, watch live when possible, and stream other episodes from this season, just to send ABC a message.
We'll update this with more information when it becomes available.