Deadline is reporting that Joss Whedon is picked Ming-Na Wen (ER, Stargate Universe) as one of the main leads in the new pilot for Marvel’s S.H.I.E.L.D., the TV extension of the Avengers film universe.
Whedon is co-writing and directing the pilot that is based on the international peace keeping force that has been a dominant fixture in Marvel comics for the last thirty years.
Ming-Na will play Agent Melinda May. Soulful and slightly damaged by her combat experiences, Melinda is an ace pilot, a weapons expert and a soldier who can — and has — gone beyond the call of duty. The character was originally listed on the pilot’s casting breakdown as Agent Althea Rice, aka The Calvary. Ming-Na is the second actor cast in S.H.I.E.L.D., joining Clark Gregg, who is reprising his Iron Man, Thor and Avengers role as Agent Phil Coulson.