Was Mockingbird ever going to make it to the silver screen? Adrianne Palicki speaks on her cancelled Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. spin-off and Marvel contract.
Mockingbird is one of the oddest characters that Marvel has put to the small screen. The character, played by Adrianne Palicki, was a large part of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. for quite some time. Many thought the show was a proving ground to the character before making the jump to a feature film, especially since Mockingbird is canonically Hawkeye’s wife in the comics.
However, as the years went by, Mockingbird was never seen on the silver screen, with her character’s role being replaced by Linda Cardellini’s Laura Barton in Avengers: Age of Ultron. Many thought this was concrete evidence that Marvel wanted to keep Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. mostly separate from the film canon. Yet according to Adrianne Palicki, there were some talks about her making the leap to the world of movies.
“The conversation I had when I signed on actually to Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. was either I was going to be participating in the films or have a spin-off,” Palicki told The Direct “[We] did a spin-off that we shot, which is actually great, but I think it was at the time where ABC was literally getting rid of all of their Marvel shows. Like, Agent Carter got taken off the air, our show didn’t get picked up, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. was on the verge of syndication, so it stayed on.”
The Cancelled Mockingbird Spin-Off
Almost a decade on from the pilot being shot, many may not even realize that Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. nearly had its own spin-off. Titled Marvel’s Most Wanted, the project would have followed Adrianne Palicki’s Mockingbird alongside Nick Blood’s Lance Hunter. While the first episode of the show as filmed, it never saw the light of day. Though, according to Palicki, it was pretty dang good.
“[Marvel’s Most Wanted not happening] was a big, big bummer because I love playing Bobbi Morse. I love Mockingbird, so… And the thing that sucks is the show is really good. It’s funny the difference between DC and Marvel, right? Like you can see the Wonder Woman pilot I did, but I don’t think they’ll ever, ever show the Mockingbird spin-off.”
Over the past few years, Marvel has been slowly softening their stance on projects like Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., slowly considering bringing them back to canon after years of denying they even existed. While it’s not likely the spin-off will ever see the light of day officially, it’s possible that someday soon the growing fandom of the series it spawned from might bring the lost media to light, and with it, Adrianne Palicki’s official transformation into Mockingbird.
All seasons of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. are now streaming on Disney Plus. Stay tuned for the latest news regarding the future of the Marvel Cinematic Universe and make sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel for more content!
