It is set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) and acknowledges the continuity of the franchise's films and other television series.

With no help from S.H.I.E.L.D., the peacekeeping and spy agency that previously employed them, they enter into an uneasy partnership with rogue adventurer Dominic Fortune and his niece Christina Santos.

[1][2] At the 2011 San Diego Comic-Con, head of Marvel Television Jeph Loeb announced the series Mockingbird was in development at ABC Family.

The series, which was described as "Alias meets Felicity", would feature Bobbi Morse as a freshman science major at "a prestigious university in the Silicon Valley... [until h]er life changes when she is recruited by S.H.I.E.L.D.

"[11] By March 2012, Mockingbird was still in development, with Loeb saying, "as with anything that you're doing, particularly when you're starting up a brand new entity [like Marvel Television], things take time and we want to make sure we get it right.

[13] In August 2014, Adrianne Palicki was cast as Morse in a guest role,[14] and later promoted to series regular with the season two episode "Aftershocks".

[18] ABC entertainment president Paul Lee explained, "We thought the right thing now is to leave [Palicki and Blood] on S.H.I.E.L.D., because S.H.I.E.L.D.

"[21] In January 2016, Lee stated that the pilot was "absolutely" moving forward, praising the script and saying production would begin "in the next few months.

Bell compared Marvel's Most Wanted to the Buffy the Vampire Slayer spin-off Angel, saying the series would be more intimate than Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

because at the heart of the series would be the question, "What's the metaphor of the relationship that's going to dramatize over the course of the episode versus the larger machinations of the world that S.H.I.E.L.D.

"[27] Bell added that for Hunter, "laws are kind of suggestions, and if he's with them he'll follow them, and he's always been much more a loyalist to the guy in the trenches than to any ideology".

[6] That March, Oded Fehr and Fernanda Andrade were also cast in the pilot,[2] as a "well-known character" from the comics and Fortune's niece Christina Santos, respectively.

[2] Additionally, guest stars for the pilot include Mckenna Grace as Zoe Abel,[8] Laura Allen as Olivia,[9] and Damon Dayoub.

[24] Blood described the situation as "they're on their own, they can make up their own rules, just turn the phones on airplane mode and ignore the calls from back home".

[32] At that time, the producers were prepping "if-come" orders, "deals with writers that will come into effect in the event a pilot is picked [up] to series".