We knew this was going to happen – “Avengers” director Joss Whedon is overseeing the series and directed the pilot episode, for pete’s sake – but ABC on Friday announced that it had picked up the “SHIELD” series.

So we got a couple of cool things on Friday, coolest of which is the cast photo above, with SHIELD agents flanking Agent Phil Coulson (Clark Gregg).

There was also a “leak” of a few seconds of footage labeled “Hulk Fire.” It looks like footage from “The Incredible Hulk” to me, a few seconds of the Abomination tearing up Harlem before the Hulk shows up. But maybe I’m wrong.

Here’s a screen cap.

The show – which will exist in the Marvel movie universe – has the potential to be cool, Whedon-y fun like “Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” “Angel” and “Firefly.”

It’ll be interesting to see how the series explains some things – the presence of Coulson, who was ostensibly killed in “The Avengers” – and how it gives us some superhero action without busting its budget.

Not to mention the possibility of cameos, and the mystery of who “Angel” alum J. August Richards is playing. Is he Luke Cage? And how many other Marvel characters will be introduced in the series?

Here’s ABC’s description of the series:

“Clark Gregg reprises his role of Agent Phil Coulson from Marvel’s feature films as he assembles a small, highly select group of Agents from the worldwide law-enforcement organization known as S.H.I.E.L.D. Together they investigate the new, the strange, and the unknown across the globe, protecting the ordinary from the extraordinary. Coulson’s team consists of Agent Grant Ward (Brett Dalton), highly trained in combat and espionage, Agent Melinda May (Ming-Na Wen) expert pilot and martial artist, Agent Leo Fitz (Iain De Caestecker); brilliant engineer and Agent Jemma Simmons (Elizabeth Henstridge) genius bio-chemist. Joining them on their journey into mystery is new recruit and computer hacker Skye (Chloe Bennet). From Executive Producers Joss Whedon (“Marvel’s The Avengers,” ”Buffy the Vampire Slayer”); Jed Whedon & Maurissa Tancharoen, “Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.” pilot co-writers (“Dollhouse,” “Dr.Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog”); Jeffrey Bell (“Angel,” “Alias”); and Jeph Loeb (“Smallville”) comes Marvel’s first TV series.  “Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.” is produced by ABC Studios and Marvel Television.”