With the introduction of the Sokovia Accords, "Captain America: Civil War" made a huge impact on the Marvel Cinematic Universe. In "Emancipation," the next episode of "Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.", Coulson and his team must deal with the consequences of the Accords, which mandate that all Enhanced individuals -- including the Inhumans -- must register with the government. During an interview with Entertainment Weekly, several of the show's stars weighed in on the impact of the Accords on the show and what side their characters are on.
"The Sokovia Accords have their own specific purpose within 'Civil War' having to do with the powered people that we've met in 'The Avengers,'" Clark Gregg explained. "It's representative of how our show functions within the Marvel Universe, in some ways, in that it's all connected. That ripples through our show because suddenly all these people who are Inhumans in our corner of the universe, they're all subjected to the Sokovia Accords. That dilemma rises up in our show about the people who feel Inhumans should be registered and those who feel that's a first step to them being sequestered, imprisoned, exterminated."
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"[Coulson] does end up being Team Cap," he shared. "In some ways, I think Coulson would've imagined he would be enforcing whatever the latest iteration of the World Council would want in terms of this stuff, but his relationship with Daisy and other Inhumans pulls him very much against that particular side of it. He's very much Team Cap."
"Marvel is so good at taking really huge political and philosophical issues and putting them through a prism and making them something that you can have an opinion on, but there's distance and you can argue both sides," Elizabeth Henstridge said. "The characters fall on different sides. It's not so black and white. There's no one character in the show that's full-force for one side or the other. It's a really cool link philosophically that we're both questioning the same morals or politics. Can two different beings, in a way, that share so much but then are so different, can you live side-by-side together peacefully?"
"I do still think [Simmons] is on the side of Iron Man and relying on scientific qualities, which include documenting, writing everything down, and making sure everything is nice and neat in its little box," she added.
"May is very torn, because on the one hand, she understands the need to have them as allies as opposed to having them as the enemy, especially with Hive in the mix right now and him being able to control the Inhumans," Ming-Na Wen revealed. "But there lies the dilemma, because as much as we want to believe and trust the Inhumans, they are the unstable, unknown element. For her, she wishes things were back to the old ways, where it was very clear cut that S.H.I.E.L.D. was there to help and to protect the citizens."
"Marvel always works best when it's commenting on the real world," executive producer Jeph Loeb explained. "It's safe to say it wouldn't be hard to find a recent time where man's tolerance toward man or woman is being stretched pretty thin, whether it's because of race, gender, or religion. We can't quite figure out how to get along. The 'Civil War' is happening around us. In our world, that translates as whether or not you have powers. For a lot of people, that's very scary when someone is different."
Starring Clark Gregg, Chloe Bennet and Ming-Na Wen, "Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D." airs at 9 pm EST on ABC.