The Shield creator Shawn Ryan has recalled the challenges he faced trying to get a movie spinoff made, as well as revealing his biggest fear if a revival series happens. The Shield follows the “Strike Team,” a corrupt unit of the fictional Farmington division of the LAPD, and its charismatic but morally gray leader, Detective Vic Mackey, played by Michael Chiklis. A gritty and unflinching look at LA’s seedy underbelly and rampant police corruption, the crime drama was a critical and commercial success for FX, with The Shield running for seven seasons, and earning six Primetime Emmy Awards.
In an interview with the LA Times, Ryan reminisces on the challenges he faced with developing a movie adaptation of The Shield, as well as his greatest fear if a revival of the show should happen. Ryan recalled the time he discussed a movie spinoff of The Shield with an executive, who later got fired, which ended any movie plans. He also discussed his fears that a remake of The Shield will happen without him, asserting that there is always a chance that it will happen, but the bar would be incredibly high. Check out Ryan’s full comments below:
There was a time where I flirted with an interested executive at Fox who loved “The Shield” with making a movie. Now my caveat for making that movie was that in the first 30 to 40 minutes of the movie, there’s not a single character from the show “The Shield” in the movie. And then at about minute 40, Vic Mackey shows up because somebody’s looking into something in the underworld. The guy who was interested in it got fired and that [idea] disappeared.
I’ve had a really awful thought creep into my head the last couple of years that someday I’m going to wake up and see that “The Shield” is being resurrected without me. Now that’s the reality of Hollywood, right? I was part of the team that resurrected “SWAT,” not the original creators of the show. So I’ve been on that end of my question. Disney owns the rights to “The Shield” and I’ve had to start contemplating, “Well, what will my reaction be if I wake up to that headline one day?”
First of all, I would hope that I would never wake up to the headline. I would hope that somebody would actually give me courtesy. But again, I don’t know that anyone ever made the call to the “SWAT” team. I think there’s a place for a “Shield”-type show.
Am I the guy to come up with it in the 2020s? Is it up to someone else? Does somebody do it, but it’s just not called “The Shield”? Does AI write something? I hope none of that stuff happens. Nothing would make me happier than to be like, “Oh my God, I’ve got this lightning-strike idea for how we can resurrect ‘The Shield,’ but the bar is incredibly high.
The Writer’s Career Has Evolved To New Places
Ryan’s comments suggest that he doesn’t want The Shield to be revived, but concedes there is a place for similar shows in the 2020s. This suggests he might not be wholly opposed to the idea under the right circumstances. Ryan is no stranger to revivals, having overseen the revival of S.W.A.T.‘s 8 season run on FX, but The Shield was certainly a show that felt like a product of its era. Whether it would have the same impact in the modern day is unclear, but Ryan is a different writer now, so it feels unlikely.
I don’t believe a revival would be as impactful or compelling as the original run of The Shield, but in an era where police brutality and corruption are a very real part of real life, a narrative exploration of this could prove intriguing.
After cutting his teeth as a showrunner on The Shield, Ryan is now an established name on network television, and the current success of The Night Agent season 2 suggests another long-term hit for Ryan. With Disney currently holding the rights to The Shield, there is very little that Ryan would be able to do if the company decided to revive the show, but there is the hope that if it did happen, he would be able to be involved at some point.
Our Verdict On The Chances Of A Shield Revival
In An Era Of Remakes, There Is Every Chance The Show Is Revived
The 2020s has seen multiple remakes and revivals of classic and successful shows of the past, and there is every chance a remake of The Shield could also happen in the future. I don’t believe a revival would be as impactful or compelling as the original run of The Shield, but in an era where police brutality and corruption are a very real part of real life, a narrative exploration of this could prove intriguing. Whilst a remake of The Shield could well happen, it feels unlikely that Ryan would be overseeing it.
Source: LA Times
The Shield
- Release Date
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2002 – 2007
- Directors
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Kurt Sutter
- Writers
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Kurt Sutter