The day of the bubblegum show is over imo.
You can't have a bubblegum drama. this show is a drama, there can be funny moments in dramas but overall you should be involved.
im not saying it won't happen, just the first episode didn't do a good job of immediately liking or disliking the characters. and that's ultimately why people watch shows, cause of either love or hate for specific people on the show. if they're meh about everyone, it won't impact you if something happens.
I don't think they want a direct link to the Marvel movie universe though. I think they want this to be the television show and it has no connection to the movie series aside from Coulson who i'm not even sure if he will be in the movie series or not anymore. We will never see Nick Fury or Tony Starks on here so why do this show? Not because you won't feature them but because you don't have any links to the movie universe? That's why I said I feel like yea they are trying to cater to a younger audience. To a potential demo they don't have yet or want to build on.
after reading these comprehensive well throughout and honest responses in this thread, I'm sure the Marvel/Disney producers and writers are felling like this...
WHERE WERE YA"LL A COUPLE OF MONTHS AGO!?!?!?!