Producer: ABC Studios
Writers: Joss Whedon, Maurissa Tancharoen
Director: Vincent Misiano
Featuring: Chloe Bennet, Nick Blood, Iaian De Caestecker, Clark Gregg, Elizabeth Henstridge, Luke Michell, Adrianne Palicki, Henry Simmons
Release date: USA OUT NOW/UK Channel 4 Autumn Schedule (TBC)

Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. started its new third season in the USA, much to the relief of Marvel fans everywhere. The last season ended with a quick and surprising cliffhanger: scientist Gemma Simmons (Elizabeth Henstridge) being sucked into an alien Kree artifact the Monolith.

Spoiler Alert: this third season of Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. starts with a bang with a newly minted Inhuman who can’t control his powers and is hunted by a shadowy government agency. To the rescue comes Skye/Daisy (Chloe Bennet), now seemingly in control of her power as an Inhuman earthquake.

After rescuing a new Inhuman with the power to melt metal Daisy is tasked with reorienting him to his new life. That leads them back to Inhuman Lincoln Campbell (Luke Mitchell), now leading an ordinary existence as a medical doctor. But things go south quickly when an unknown Inhuman with electrical powers shows up to kill him, as he has already killed five other Inhumans.

Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Season 3 Episode 1: Laws of Nature is not without references, or Easter Eggs if you must call them that, to other Marvel movies, linking everything up into one Marvel Universe: The Avengers, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Avengers: Age of Ultron, and even Ant-Man as Coulson mentions the “Pym Technologies disaster.”

It’s good to see series creator and Executive Producer Joss Whedon’s writing here, even if it’s just temporary. As usual, screwball dialogue fills the air: “I need a bigger gun, I guess. Or my axe. Maybe a shotgun-axe combination of some sort,” says Agent Alphonso “Mack” Mackenzie (Henry Simmons).

Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Season 3 Episode 1: Laws of Nature begins with all the plot, action and dialogue that made the second season successful. It’s fast-paced, entertaining and fun. There’s plenty of action, personalities and mystery to satisfy fans and those dropping into the series for the first time.

Keep it up, Marvel. Excelsior!

Reviewer: Joe Lovece
Reviews Editor: Steve Hooker