ABC Orders Pilot for Mockingbird Series MARVEL'S MOST WANTED

Remember that proposed Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. spinoff starring Mockingbird and Lance Hunter originally announced in April?  The one that was declared dead just a month later? Guess what, it's now getting a pilot.

Variety revealed yesterday that ABC is closing in on a deal to order a pilot for the proposed series, now titled Marvel's Most Wanted.  (Was Mockingbird not a good enough series title?) The series will feature Adrianne Palicki and Nick Blood, reprising their current roles of Marvel superhero Mockingbird and her ex-husband Lance Hunter.

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. producers Jeffrey Bell and Paul Zbyszewski co-created the project for Marvel and ABC Studios, and co-wrote the pilot.  They will serve as showrunners and executive producers together with Marvel’s head of television Jeph Loeb also executive producing.

According to the article, the series is "not a spinoff, per se, but rather an entirely new project solely focused on the two characters to continue their story.  Though plot details are scarce at this point, Marvel’s Most Wanted will follow the pair and their adventures together."

ABC hasn't made any decisions regarding a premiere date or how the new show will be set up, such as introducing the show as an episode of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

Hunter first appeared in the Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Season 2 opener, "Shadows," as a mercenary brought into S.H.I.E.L.D. by Isabelle Hartley together with Idaho.  He used to work for S.T.R.I.K.E. (Special Tactical Reserve for International Key Emergencies), the British counterpart to S.H.I.E.L.D. until Phil Coulson hired him as a mercenary following the events of Captain America: The Winter Soldier.

Mockingbird first appeared four episodes later in "A Hen in the Wolf House" as Barbara "Bobbi" Morse, an undercover S.H.I.E.L.D. agent posing as the head of security for Hydra Laboratories, but actually working for Coulson in order to monitor Jemma Simmons (who had also infiltrated Hydra).  When Simmons was compromised, Morse revealed her true allegiance in order to help Simmons escape and acquire valuable Hydra data.  She was later revealed to have been previously married to Hunter and to be good friends with Alphonso "Mack" Mackenzie.

The Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D. spinoff is one of two new Marvel series for ABC in the works, along with a drama written by John Ridley, that has been rumored to focus on the current Ms. Marvel, Kamala Khan.  ABC and Marvel also have the midseason drama Agent Carter returning for a second season during Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s midseason hiatus.