Entertainment Round-Up: Why the Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. spin-off didn’t happen, Agent Carter is LA-bound, Matt Fraction heads to Late Night, Valerian to get the big screen treatment

For us, we get to see Mad Max: Fury Road with the rest of the critics who are getting it screened tonight, for you, it is Tuesday. Did I just nail that Street Fighter reference or what? No? Okay…onto the news…

– Television talk continues to dominate most of the online discussion today, and in a recent conference call with the press, ABC President Paul Lee explained why the proposed Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. spin-off focusing on Adrianne Palicki‘s Bobbi Morse and Nick Blood‘s Lance Hunter didn’t come to fruition:

We absolutely love those characters on ‘S.H.I.E.L.D. We feel S.H.I.E.L.D. hit its creative stride this year, and we love it… We felt the right time now was to leave them on S.H.I.E.L.D., because it’s so strong at the moment.

To be fair, pulling the show’s most intriguing characters from its parent series seemed like a bad bet, there’s also a fairly good possibility that killing off this spin-off is what made room for another season of Agent Carter, which I’d say is the right move. Speaking of which, there’s a new synopsis making the rounds for Peggy Carter’s sophomore season, which finds her in a brand new city:

Marvel’s Agent Carter’ returns for a second season of adventure and intrigue, starring Hayley Atwell in the titular role of the unstoppable secret agent for the SSR (Strategic Scientific Reserve). Dedicated to the fight against new atomic age threats in the wake of World War II, Peggy must now journey from New York City to Los Angeles for her most dangerous assignment yet. But even as she discovers new friends, a new home — and perhaps even a new love — she’s about to find out that the bright lights of the post-war Hollywood mask a more sinister threat to everyone she is sworn to protect.

And for those Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. fans in the crowd, here’s the third season synopsis that was just released:

Director Phil Coulson (Clark Gregg) embarks on a deadly new secret mission to protect the world from new threats in the wake of SHIELD’s wars with Hydra and a rogue faction of Inhumans.

– In their recent Milkfed Criminal Masterminds newsletter, Matt Fraction and Kelly Sue DeConnick revealed that the former will be appearing on “Late Night with Seth Meyers” Thursday May 21st. How many comic book writers (or least writers that are primarily known for writing comics) have appeared as guests on American “late night” television at this point? We’ve had Harvey Pekar, Stan Lee, David Goyer and Brian Michael Bendis. Am I missing someone? Surely I must be. Bottom-line though, it’s a huge deal.

Their newsletter states that some big news regarding their deal with Universal will be dropping soon, so it’s very likely that this appearance will in promotion of that announcement. You can sign up for their newsletter here. I highly recommend it.

– On his Twitter feed, director Luc Besson (The Fifth Element) announced that his newest project will be an adaptation of the French comic series Valerian and Laureline entitled Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets, which Besson will write and direct. The series, which kicked off in 1967, was created by Pierre Christin and Jean-Claude Mezieres and has sold over 10 million copies worldwide and is described thusly per our friends at SuperHeroHype:

Valerian and Laureline are exploring Syrte, capital planet of a system of 1,000 worlds. Their mission is to discover whether the Syrtians could present a danger to Earth. What they find is a decaying empire led by decadent aristocrats, a population ripe for revolution, and a mysterious caste of masked wise men who discreetly pull the strings from hidden fortresses. Swept up by the winds of history, the agents of Earth will have to choose a side.

Dane DeHaan (Chronicle) and Cara Delevingne (Suicide Squad) will star in the film which is slated for Summer 2017.