WARNING: The following contains spoilers for the latest episode of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.," Alien Commies From the Future!" which aired Wednesday on ABC.
Throughout the years, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. has featured a fun tradition for fans. With every new season, the series changes its introductory title card, which always features an animation sequence that is tied to the current story. Whether it's the Hydra logo taking over for Season 4's "Agents of HYDRA" storyline or the remnants of a destroyed Earth in Season 5, the title cards are always changing, and they are something fans have come to look forward to with every new season.
With the series' seventh (and final) season premiere, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. debuted a new, film noir-inspired title card that tied into the team's presence in 1931 New York. At the time, it was believed this would be the series' final new title card, seeing as how it was also featured in the second episode. However, with its third episode, the Marvel series just showed it isn't done having fun with its title cards just yet.
In the Season 7 premiere, Coulson and his team embarked on a new mission: to follow the Chronicoms across the time stream and prevent the evil synthetic aliens from erasing S.H.I.E.L.D. from history. The villains' first stop was 1931, where the team joined forces with a network of underground bootleggers to ensure the creation of Hydra. Given the period of this first adventure through time, the title card reflected the cinematic era with an appropriate, old school detective movie front, accompanied by a music cue that evoked noir films.
But while the team's mission in 1931 stretched over two episodes, things took a much different in the series' latest entry, "Alien Commies From the Future!" At the end of the previous episode, the Zephyr once again jumped through time, but the team had no idea where or when they were going to land. The answer, as we find out in the opening minutes of the latest episode, is Nevada in 1955. Here, the team learns that the Chronicoms plan to disrupt a series of events at S.H.I.E.L.D.'s Area 51 base.
Area 51 is, of course, the center of many conspiracy theories involving aliens and UFOs. The team's latest adventure is therefore rooted in the sci-fi concepts of the 1950s, which in turn serves as the inspiration for the series' latest title card: this time, the font appears to be lifted from a classic alien invasion movie. What's more, it even comes with the goofy space music of the cinematic genre.
It serves as a perfect introduction for this newest mission's new theme, and it shows the series hasn't yet lost its sense of humor.
At the end of the episode, it becomes clear that the team's time spent in 1955 isn't done yet. Will it last two episodes, like the previous adventure in 1931, or will it go longer? We don't yet have the answer, but it's extremely likely we will see a few more time periods before the season comes to an end. And because of this, fans should expect a few more fun title cards lifted from classic cinematic eras.
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s final season airs Wednesdays at 10 pm ET/PT on ABC. The series stars Ming-Na Wen, Chloe Bennet, Henry Simmons, Iain De Caestecker, Natalia Cordova-Buckley, Elizabeth Henstridge and Clark Gregg.