Tonight, ABC unveils their most-anticipated new show of the fall season, Marvel’s Agents of SHIELD. Is it worthy of all they hype and expectations? Is it worth watching?

Marvel’s Agents of SHIELD is based on the super-secret spy organization from Marvel comic books and Marvel superhero movies like The Avengers. Agent Phil Coulson (Clark Gregg) pulls together a small team of agents to handle unusual new cases. The rest of the cast includes Ming-Na Wen, Brett Dalton, Chloe Bennet, Iain De Caestecker, and Elizabeth Henstridge.

It certainly sounds like a hit. Here’s what some critics are saying:

Variety: “There’s certainly no shortage of action and fabulous gizmos, as well as some sly comic-book references (Spider-Man’s ‘With great power comes great responsibility’ line gets a bit of a rewrite) thrown in for the faithful. Cut through the slick packaging, though, and this is yet another twist on a procedural, albeit with a few mythological elements to sweeten the experience.”

SF Gate: “The plot summary doesn’t begin to do justice to why the show is so appealing. For one thing, you have to experience the dry humor that enlivens the dialogue and keeps it from tumbling over into the pseudo-pompous pronouncement style of lesser fantasy shows. And then there’s Clark Gregg. Yes, all the performances are terrific, but Gregg is perfect in the central role because he looks even less like a superhero than Robert Downey Jr.”

Washington Post: “Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. launches with a plucky, adventuresome and remarkably non-pretentious pilot episode, but if you haven’t been reading Marvel Comics lately (or at all — Stan Lee first dreamed up a S.H.I.E.L.D. story line in 1965), then the show can feel somewhat exclusionary and, frankly, a little too cornball and cutesy about its own geekiness.”

NY Times: “The first week’s adventure feels perfunctory, though, even given the constraint of introducing characters and back story, and most of the team members are still strictly two-dimensional. Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. doesn’t need to emulate the Marvel movies, but it will need to show pretty quickly that it has at least as much wit and style as its TV comparables: shows like Heroes (the first season) and Alphas, on the superhero side, or Alias and Covert Affairs, on the spy side.”

Newsday: “The pilot, which can be a thicket in places, indicates dumbing down will not be an option. And if you didn’t like The Avengers, or don’t know who the Fantastic Four are (none of whom appear here), or superheroes put you in a deep snooze, then move along: S.H.I.E.L.D. isn’t for you. But if the success of the Iron Man/Avengers movie franchises is any indication, it should be for plenty of others.”

NY Post: “There are a lot of actors and actresses that have something special that came from nowhere. Why couldn’t Whedon and crew find one of them? Given the stakes behind this show, it is likely to be given a long leash by ABC. And given the pedigree of the producers, there’s a fair chance of improvement. There’s plenty of room for that.”

What do you think? Did you watch Agents of SHIELD? Did it live up to the hype? Would you recommend it?