Do I need to watch Marvel's Agents Of S.H.I.E.LD. TV series before Avengers: Age of Ultron movie?

Question

I want to go and watch the new Avengers movie, but I've never watched Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Can that be a problem? I don't want to get confused while watching the movie. Is the TV series really connected with the new Avengers movie?

Answer 1

Do you need to watch Marvel's Agents of SHIELD?

No.

Joss Whedon has gone on the record to say that he writes the movie(s) separate from the other materials like Agents of SHIELD

“It’s a weird little yes and no. As far as I’m concerned in the films, yes he’s dead. In terms of the narrative of these guys [The Avengers] his loss was very important. When I created the television show, it was sort of on the understanding that this can work and we can do it with integrity, but these Avengers movies are for people to see the Avengers movies and nothing else. And it would neither make sense nor be useful to say ‘Oh and by the way remember me? I died!’”

Additionally, Jed Whedon and Maurissa Tancharoen have said similar things from their side on Agents of SHIELD.

Tancharoen: This year, our narrative is completely separate from the events of the “Avengers” film, so we tried to interlace our Inhumans storyline with “Age of Ultron” in a way that enriched both viewing experiences but didn’t derail our narrative train.

You will not be at all lost having not watched Agents of SHIELD, thanks to the compartmentalization done by the Whedon family.

Should you watch Marvel's Agents of SHIELD?

It certainly couldn't hurt. The end of season one and all of this season have dealt with the aftermath of Captain America: The Winter Soldier and how it affected SHIELD as an organization. More recent episodes have dealt with HYDRA's experimentation on enhanced humans. However, much of the links to Age of Ultron so far (we still have a few episodes left to go in the season) have been quick shoutout/name drop links.

Some examples (spoiler warning):

Baron von Strucker has been mentioned a handful of times. He appears in Age of Ultron. In the most recent episode, "the twins" are mentioned - a reference to Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver. At the end of the episode, one of the characters has departed for Sokovia - where von Strucker and the twins. One of the characters, who can see visions of the future, sees an upcoming battle with an army of metal men (Ultron's army). She also sees a vision of Loki's scepter from the first Avengers movie. Finally, Maria Hill and Coulson discuss something that they believe it's time for the Avengers to get involved in (this bit may or may not have any tie to the movie).

The links are all quick nods that enrich the universe, which serve to show that the world is all connected, but nothing that occurs in the show has a direct on-screen impact on the movie.

Answer 2

No.

Although Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. is part of Marvel Cinematic Universe, the mainstream storyline of movies run independently (reverse is not true: TV series stories are heavily dependent on the movies).

Yes, with the TV series data, MCU movies look more interesting (you'd enjoy it more), but this isn't applicable to Avengers: Age of Ultron. None of main characters from the TV series is in the movie and the story is by no means connected (Although S02E19 of the TV series sets up a playground for Age of Ultron, but that's not story connection and can be ignored).

I won't say this for other MCU movies. For example, Captain America: The Winter Soldier would look more interesting if you are familiar with the TV series.

So, if you want to go watch Avengers: Age of Ultron, go ahead. You don't need to watch Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. TV series.

Note: This recommendation is meant only for Avengers: Age of Ultron. The TV series is part of MCU, so future movies can make use of it. For example, the seed for the 2019 movie Inhumans has already been created in the TV series.