Will ‘Agents of SHIELD’ ratings ground ‘Most Wanted’ spin-off before it even happens?

We have not sent an extreme amount of time as of late talking about the ratings for the third season of Marvel’s “Agents of SHIELD,” but there has been a rather simple reason for that: We’ve known that the series was not going anywhere. It’s been a little bit easier to have confidence in a show’s future when you have that renewal already ordered by the network.

However, this vote of confidence doesn’t mean much of anything to “Marvel’s Most Wanted.” On Tuesday, “SHIELD” invested a lot of time in what we more or less consider to be a backdoor pilot for a spin-off featuring Bobbi Morse (Adrianne Palicki) and Lance Hunter (Nick Blood). While we know that they are actually going to film a proper pilot as well for the series, this was the setup for why their characters are now apart from the team. This episode was filmed months ago, back when ratings were better and confidence was higher.

As of right now, we’re feeling a little bit more concerned for the show’s future. “Agents of SHIELD” is suddenly a show that is struggling to even pull in a 1.0 rating in the 18-49 demographic, and that’s barely a number worthy of surviving on its own. When you consider that it’s rare when the same number of people watch a spin-off as the flagship show, that could create even more problems for “Most Wanted.” Is this a show that is going to appeal to a widespread casual audience? We’re not sure, given that Bobbi is not a well-known character to some Marvel fans, and neither is her Mockingbird persona. The same goes for Hunter.

Meanwhile, there’s also “Agent Carter” as a frame of reference, which struggled mightily in the ratings throughout season 2 and is probably not getting renewed. One other cause for concern? A change in programming head at ABC from Paul Lee to Channing Dungey, who may not be as invested in the “SHIELD” universe.

Ultimately, the case we’re trying to make is not to count on “Most Wanted” as a given. It would be wonderful if it were to happen, but there are clearly at the moment several different obstacles standing in the way.

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