ABC officially picks up S.H.I.E.L.D.

It seems like this has been a long time coming. ABC has officially picked up Joss Whedon's Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. television series to begin airing this fall.

The program spins out of Marvel Studios' films, including the blockbuster The Avengers of 2012. As reported by IGN, the pilot for the series began production much earlier than normal. It was generally assumed that the pilot, directed by Whedon, would be an easy choice for ABC.

It was long considered that the series would be a prequel to The Avengers franchise, seeing as how the lead character, Agent Phil Coulson, died in last year's movie. But IGN makes it clear that this show picks up after the events of New York. Agents of SHIELD will see Coulson pulling together a team of specialized agents to deal with the ramifications of a super powered world.

Wired reports that Marvel's previous forays into television have been almost exclusively animated. SHIELD is the first program to pull the continuity of the cinematic universe to the small screen.

Wired also reports that the first ad for the program will air during this Sunday's Once Upon a Time on ABC.