Tonight's Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D. features post-credits appearance, so you know what that means

From the moment it was announced, the creative team behind Marvel’s Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D. have been careful to suggest that major crossovers between the property’s film and television universes would be unlikely, preferring to keep the storytelling focus on its own, less expensively staffed characters. To which the response has been more or less, “Yeah, yeah, when are some Avengers or Samuel L. Jackson gonna be on this thing, and will it be during November or February sweeps?”

But, judging by hints dropped on the show’s Facebook page yesterday, it will likely be even sooner than that: As pointed out by Entertainment Weekly, a new network promo encourages S.H.I.E.L.D. viewers to “be sure to stay until the end of the credits on Tuesday. In true Marvel fashion, you never know what might happen.” Which is to say, in true Marvel fashion, you can probably surmise that Jackson’s Nick Fury character will show up, much as he has in so many post-credits sequences before.

Adding to the sort-of-mystery, both series star Clark Gregg and Marvel executive Ryan Penagos urged their Twitter followers to stay tuned past the credits, “proper Marvel style.” And most telling of all, the S.H.I.E.L.D. promo for tonight’s episode finishes by briefly flashing the image of an eye patch over the eagle in its logo, which can mean only one thing: Amblyopia, sometimes called “lazy eye,” is a condition that affects thousands of eagles every year, but there is hope in treatment. Also, Samuel L. Jackson will probably be on tonight’s Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D. But then, you already knew that.