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ABC has picked up “Agents of SHIELD” for a sixth season in 2018-19 — emphasis on the “19” part



Channing Dungey, president of ABC Entertainment, told reporters Tuesday that Season 6 of the show is slated for summer 2019 rather than during the traditional September-to-May season.

That will more or less coincide with the release of the next “Avengers” movie (currently set for May 3, 2019), but Dungey says Marvel didn’t dictate the release of “SHIELD” and whatever connection it still has to the Marvel movie universe.

“No one holds it closer to the vest than they do,” Dungey says of Marvel’s plans. “Whatever they have planned, I cannot say.”

Instead, she says, putting “Agents of SHIELD” in the summer can lower the ratings pressure on the show, and she hopes to “super-serve” the show’s fan base. She’s also not ready to say Season 6 will be it for the series

“I feel like Season 5 was creatively their strongest yet,” Dungey says. “I don’t have any plans to think of Season 6 as the last season.”