A drifter named Malvo (Billy Bob Thornton) brings trouble to small-town Minnesota and influences insurance salesman Lester Nygaard (Martin Freeman) into murder. Meanwhile, a pair of local police officers are trying to piece together a series of murders which they believe is connected to Malvo and Nygaard.

From the Marvel Universe come the agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., ready to defend the citizens of the world. In the aftermath of the battle between invading aliens and the Earth's mightiest heroes, the Avengers, the special law-enforcement agency S.H.I.E.L.D. begins to intensively recruit new agents to investigate bizarre events and superhuman sightings. Led by Agent Phil Coulson (Clark Gregg), this mismatched team of super spies, geeky scientists, sneaky con artists and regular Joes with extraordinary gifts will have to come together as the first line of defense against the evil forces who seek to corrupt and destroy.