# Marvel Agents of SHIELD **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 25, 2013, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marvel-agents-of-shield/669608 "2013-09-25T00:55:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 13
**Author:** ![AtomicDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ac91a4/32.png) [@AtomicDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AtomicDog)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2013, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marvel-agents-of-shield/669608/241 "2013-10-23T00:16:15Z")
Scorch? That’s a villain’s name! ---
**Author:** ![AtomicDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ac91a4/32.png) [@AtomicDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AtomicDog)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2013, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marvel-agents-of-shield/669608/242 "2013-10-23T00:43:21Z")
> [@AtomicDog](#): > > Scorch? That’s a villain’s name! I guess it fits, then. ---
**Author:** ![tripthicket](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripthicket/32/297_2.png) [@tripthicket](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tripthicket)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2013, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marvel-agents-of-shield/669608/243 "2013-10-23T03:12:20Z")
My vague recollection when Flower Dress gave him a codename was it was a tease for us: (paraphrasing) “How about…Sss(drawing out the ‘S’ sound for a second before continuing with the ‘C’ – I leaned forward in my seat, _knowing_ she was about to say ‘Sunfire’)scorch?” ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2013, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marvel-agents-of-shield/669608/244 "2013-10-23T04:06:05Z")
> [@tripthicket](#): > > My vague recollection when Flower Dress gave him a codename was it was a tease for us: > > (paraphrasing) “How about…Sss(drawing out the ‘S’ sound for a second before continuing with the ‘C’ – I leaned forward in my seat, _knowing_ she was about to say ‘Sunfire’)scorch?” Being as the character in the show was Chinese and Sunfire was Japanese, it would have invoked this [trope](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/FarEast) (although the actor is Japanese). ---
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2013, 7:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marvel-agents-of-shield/669608/245 "2013-10-23T07:27:36Z")
I doubt they could use Sunfire if they wanted. Too tied to the X-men. ---
**Author:** ![Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/prof.pepperwinkle/32/13627_2.png) [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Prof.Pepperwinkle)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2013, 12:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marvel-agents-of-shield/669608/246 "2013-10-23T12:15:39Z")
Just in the interest of due diligent geekery: there is (or was) a DC villainess named Scorch, and she was romantically interested in the Martian Manhunter (whose weakness was fire, naturally). ---
**Author:** ![JSexton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/96bed5/32.png) [@JSexton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JSexton)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2013, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marvel-agents-of-shield/669608/247 "2013-10-24T05:00:33Z")
More relevantly, there was a asian marvel villain named scorch with pyrokinesis. Tiny, minor character, but he existed. > **[Tommy Ng (Earth-616)](https://marvel.fandom.com/wiki/Tommy_Ng_(Earth-616))** > > Somehow, Ng got his powers strapped to a machine. He fought the X-Men numerous times, but failed to defeat them all. He is known for saying his catchphrase, "Crap you all.", during his battles \[citation needed\] Pyrokinesis A red SUV he drives. Tommy... ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2013, 8:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marvel-agents-of-shield/669608/248 "2013-10-25T08:39:43Z")
> [@tripthicket](#): > > My vague recollection when Flower Dress gave him a codename was it was a tease for us: > > (paraphrasing) “How about…Sss(drawing out the ‘S’ sound for a second before continuing with the ‘C’ – I leaned forward in my seat, _knowing_ she was about to say ‘Sunfire’)scorch?” The S was not drawn out at all. In fact, it was the shortest S _anywhere_ in her dialogue (at least in that scene). She is a very sibilant girl. > [@](#): > > ‘Leave now, and we’ll forget you, I promisse… But sso will everybody elsse. Ssstay, and you can be remembered. Known the world over.’ > > ‘You want to make Chow Hun Yi a famous name?’ > > ‘No. You need a ssssimpler name. A more powerful name. A name like…? Scorch!’ > [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Being as the character in the show was Chinese and Sunfire was Japanese, it would have invoked this [trope](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/FarEast) (although the actor is Japanese). Of course, since the Asian Scorch in the comics is Vietnamese, that still applies. (There are at least two other Scorches. One is white.) ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2013, 9:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marvel-agents-of-shield/669608/249 "2013-10-25T09:00:37Z")
I would’ve found a better name than Scorch. How about Firebrand, Enflame, Wildfire, Firestorm, Burner, Red Heat, Hotshot, Hazard, Blaze, Inferno, etc? Sure they may have been taken already, but so had Scorch. ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2013, 9:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marvel-agents-of-shield/669608/250 "2013-10-25T09:03:09Z")
They did lampshade the name in the episode, the guy himself called it ridiculous. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2013, 9:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marvel-agents-of-shield/669608/251 "2013-10-25T09:27:10Z")
> [@Kamino\_Neko](#): > > The S was not drawn out at all. In fact, it was the shortest S _anywhere_ in her dialogue (at least in that scene). She is a very sibilant girl. That could just be her natural Irish-Ethiopian accent. ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2013, 9:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marvel-agents-of-shield/669608/252 "2013-10-25T09:57:10Z")
> [@AK84](#): > > They did lampshade the name in the episode, the guy himself called it ridiculous. I’m pretty sure he was commenting on the concept of having a codename, at all, no matter what it was. She mostly convinced him by mentioning Cap, after all. > [@GuanoLad](#): > > I would’ve found a better name than Scorch. How about Firebrand, Enflame, Wildfire, Firestorm, Burner, Red Heat, Hotshot, Hazard, Blaze, Inferno, etc? Sure they may have been taken already, but so had Scorch. Firestorm is the name of a fairly major DC character (currently headlining his own book, AND a Justice League member), with no Marvel use of the name. That’s out. Marvel’s Firebrands are specifically Iron Man related, so that’s a possibility, but they’re fairly major, saving the name for something bigger than a born-to-die one-off villain makes more sense. DC’s Wildfire (long running member of the Legion of Superheroes) is significantly better known than Marvel’s (a one-off Power Man villain), so, while probably legally safe, and certainly a safe name to blow on a one-off, not a good name, for a show that’s aimed at an audience of comic nerds. Blaze is primarily associated with Ghost Rider (Johnny Blaze went by simply ‘Blaze’ when he wasn’t possessed), so, between being associated with an outsourced franchise, AND a hero’s name, it’s out. Inferno’s not bad. Maybe off the table since at least two uses of that name (a character and a story arc) are primarily X-Men related. Hazard is a fairly generic name…not a bad one, but nothing about it screams ‘fire’ (though the character who used that codename was pyro-kinetic - but probably had the name because he couldn’t really control his powers), which rather loses the point of helping to make him memorable. Also, primarily an X-Man character, so likely off the table. Burner’s probably caught up in the X-Men franchise, but it’s honestly a far worse name than Scorch to begin with, even if not, as are Enflame and Red Heat, which is probably why neither of them have been used before. Hotshot’s a hero, so that name’s out. ---
**Author:** ![shijinn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cc9497/32.png) [@shijinn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shijinn)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2013, 10:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marvel-agents-of-shield/669608/253 "2013-10-25T10:02:51Z")
on another note, the human torch’s Cantonese was painfully bad. it made it a joke when he was taken aback that the Flower Dress had understood him at all. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2013, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marvel-agents-of-shield/669608/254 "2013-10-29T20:50:04Z")
A warning to people: Hulu only holds five episodes of an ongoing series. There are currently five episodes of _Agents of Shield_ on the site. When they upload today’s episode a few hours from now, they will delete the pilot episode. So if you want to watch or rewatch the first episode, you should do it now. ---
**Author:** ![Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/intergalactic_gladiator/32/112_2.png) [@Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Intergalactic_Gladiator)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2013, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marvel-agents-of-shield/669608/255 "2013-10-29T21:24:15Z")
According to [TVGuide.com](http://TVGuide.com), tonight is a rerun of the first ep. ---
**Author:** ![Tangent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tangent/32/3098_2.png) [@Tangent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tangent)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2013, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marvel-agents-of-shield/669608/256 "2013-10-29T22:51:19Z")
Yeah, my Verizon guide shows the same. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2013, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marvel-agents-of-shield/669608/257 "2013-10-29T22:54:43Z")
> [@Intergalactic\_Gladiator](#): > > According to [TVGuide.com](http://TVGuide.com), tonight is a rerun of the first ep. Well, that sucks. Especially when Fox is running a two hour episode of _The X Factor_ and I won’t get a new episode of _Brooklyn Nine-Nine_ either. At least there’s a new episode of _Trophy Wife_. Disregard my previous warning. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2013, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marvel-agents-of-shield/669608/258 "2013-11-04T02:28:26Z")
A question occurs to me. In the movie, Coulson obviously “died” and in the pilot episode we saw that Shield has maintained this cover story. But in subsequent episodes Coulson has made no efforts to conceal his identity (despite classifying it a Level 7 Secret) and we’ve seen him encounter people who know him. 1. As far as I can recall, nobody has been surprised to see Coulson alive since Ward was in the pilot. Shouldn’t some of these people have heard he was dead and have had a second of surprise at seeing him? 2. If Coulson is going around in public, how long do Shield expect to keep the fact that he’s alive secret? How long before word gets back to Tony Stark or Steve Rodgers that Coulson’s alive and Fury lied to them? 3. Who were they trying to keep it secret from? Other than the Avengers, who is supposed to think Coulson is dead? ---
**Author:** ![bienville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4bbf92/32.png) [@bienville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bienville)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2013, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marvel-agents-of-shield/669608/259 "2013-11-04T02:44:23Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > 1. Who were they trying to keep it secret from? Other than the Avengers, who is supposed to think Coulson is dead? Well, of all the people kept in the dark about what happened to Coulson . . . it seems the most significantly “kept in the dark” person is Coulson himself. All your questions are valid and worth wondering about, but it’s clear that the _actual secret_ is far more complex than “Coulson died/Coulson didn’t die”. As the show slowly reveals the secret I suppose some of your questions will be answered and that we may find out that, given the actual truth, some of those questions turn out to be irrelevant. ---
**Author:** ![epbrown01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7ba0ec/32.png) [@epbrown01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/epbrown01)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2013, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marvel-agents-of-shield/669608/260 "2013-11-04T03:30:16Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > A question occurs to me. > > In the movie, Coulson obviously “died” and in the pilot episode we saw that Shield has maintained this cover story. But in subsequent episodes Coulson has made no efforts to conceal his identity (despite classifying it a Level 7 Secret) and we’ve seen him encounter people who know him. > > 1. As far as I can recall, nobody has been surprised to see Coulson alive since Ward was in the pilot. Shouldn’t some of these people have heard he was dead and have had a second of surprise at seeing him? I’m guessing the “Welcome to Level 7” line was just for that instance and the fact he was still alive was classified until they did whatever they did to resurrect him. He’s been seen interacting with the rest of SHIELD pretty regularly since then, so the words out. I expect someone out of the loop will Plissken him eventually… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marvel-agents-of-shield/669608.md?page=12) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marvel-agents-of-shield/669608.md?page=14)