With ABC finally confirming that they’ve ordered a pilot for the Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. spin-off, Marvel’s Most Wanted, the showrunners of the former are opening up about the possibility of losing two of their own. Although Bobbi Morse (Adrianne Palicki) and Lance Hunter (Nick Blood) were only introduced back in season two, they’ve since come to be vital to the team. So for S.H.I.E.L.D showrunners Maurissa Tancharoen and Jed Whedon, it’s a bit bittersweet seeing them go off to headline their own show, especially since it means that, realistically, they’ll be leaving S.H.I.E.L.D. should Most Wanted go to series.

“Logistically it does mean they’re going to be leaving to make that,” [Jed] Whedon told IGN at ABC’s Television Critics Association winter press tour part. “They’re a part of our show. We definitely think they are capable of carrying an entire other show. That being said, it’s sort of bittersweet. We’re very excited about the new show.”

Tacharoen continued, “It’s very bittersweet because we have a bunch of females on the show who kick ass. It was so nice to have Adrianne be one of them, and then also just when it comes to the humor, just having a moment of levity, Hunter was there to have those one-liners. … That was something we could always bet on.”

Of course, just because they are heading off to possibly headline their own series, it doesn’t mean they’ll never return to S.H.I.E.L.D..

“We will miss them, but that doesn’t mean they’re gone forever because, as everything in the Marvel universe, it’s all one universe,” she said.

Whedon added, “They’ll have to step away for a moment, and we’re very proud of that moment.”

Both Tancharoen and Whedon have read the pilot script for Most Wanted, which was written by S.H.I.E.L.D. producers Jeff Bell and Paul Zbyszewski, and have called it “awesome”.

“It’s everything you anticipate as well as things you don’t expect at all,” she said. “It’s just really nice to be able to dive into those characters, and Paul and Jeff have done that exceptionally well.”

With Most Wanted set to film its pilot within the next few months, it’s more than likely we’ll begin to hear about castings and possible story threads soon enough. And should it get picked up, we can expect ABC to make an official confirmation in May, where they’ll also (hopefully) reveal when the show will run.

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Source: IGN.