According to Deadline, Marvel’s Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D. will be coming to an end after season seven airs next summer, with show’s official Twitter account sharing a little statement thanking fans and highlighting the fact that it’s “the longest-running Marvel TV series to-date.” That may seem like a dig at the unceremonious cancellation of Netflix’s Marvel shows, but it’s also probably true if you look at every Marvel show ever—the X-Men cartoon from the ‘90s ran for five seasons, so that’s probably the only real contender unless Cloak & Dagger runs for a long time.
The Deadline story features a lengthy chat with Marvel TV head Jeph Loeb about the end of the show, and he notes that there’s still a fair amount of episodes left to go (season six is still airing, for one thing) and knowing that there’s an end-date ahead of time gives the writers a chance to craft a proper conclusion. Loeb wouldn’t really give any proper hints, but it sounds like they have some kind of grand plan that plays off of whatever happens in the end of season six. He also says the finale will be “incredibly emotional” and hints that it will leave the door open in some way for the S.H.I.E.L.D. gang to continue having adventures—though he does says that “every great Marvel story ends to be continued,” and every comic reader knows that even seemingly definitive conclusions can easily be walked back.