'Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.' to tie-in with 'Avengers: Age of Ultron'

LOS ANGELES, Dec. 9 (UPI) -- Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. will tie-in with Avengers: Age of Ultron.

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. creator and The Avengers (2012) and Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015) director Joss Whedon said as much in an interview with Entertainment Weekly.

"You should expect something," he told the publication. "The Avengers is the big tent that all the franchises play under. Obviously, we're included in that."

"I don't think any movie has the potential to impact us in the way that Captain America 2 did, but there will be connections," showrunner Maurissa Tancharoen added.

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. is in the midst of a second season, and centers on Agent Phil Coulson (Clark Gregg). The character appeared to die in Marvel film The Avengers (2012), but the television series posits he survived and continued to oversee S.H.I.E.L.D. operations.

Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014) revealed Hydra's infiltration of S.H.I.E.L.D., a plot point subsequently picked up by the television program. Avengers: Age of Ultron will see the Avengers reunite after S.H.I.E.L.D. is compromised to battle the supervillain Ultron (James Spader).

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. airs Tuesdays at 9 p.m. ET on ABC. Avengers: Age of Ultron opens in theaters May 1, 2015, with Chris Evans as Captain America, Robert Downey Jr. as Iron Man, Scarlett Johansson as Black Widow, Chris Hemsworth as Thor and Mark Ruffalo as the Hulk.