Marvel announced at New York Comic-Con that Clark Gregg's S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent Phil Coulson will be returning in the pilot of the upcoming ABC series, S.H.I.E.L.D., according to a report by Screenrant.
The announcement came via video message from Joss Whedon and Kevin Feige. According to Feige, "There was never going to be a 'S.H.I.E.L.D.' show without Agent Phil Coulson," with Whedon chiming in that "He's headlining the S.H.I.E.L.D. show and always was."
In 2008, Coulson first appeared as a member of the fictional agency S.H.I.E.L.D. in Iron Man. He will also be reprising the role in the animated television series Ultimate Spider-Man.
Agent Coulson is usually depicted as a supporting human character of the super hero protagonists and he generally provided the normal guys perspective in the films.
In the "Marvel One-Shots,"Coulson is given "shown to be courageous and capable of dealing with an imminent threat when there are no superheroes around. He has become a fan favorite in the Marvel Film universe.
According to the report, Whedon and Fiege did not give away details about how the character will be returning from the dead. In the film Nick Fury exaggerated his death in order to bring Captain America and Iron Man together as the leaders of the team. It could be that Coulson was still alive and that his death was used just as a motivational tool.
Other rumors have Coulson returning as the android Vision, but these rumors could be false if he will be a full-time character on the TV series. In the comics Vision was created with the then deceased brain patterns of Simon" Wonder Man" Williams. Whedon could use a similar story to turn Coulson into the android hero, by using a similar plot device.
If he used the brain patterns of Agent Coulson, Gregg could appear as either a computer that contains his memories or as a Life Model Decoy, an android body double.
Marvel's S.H.I.E.L.D. will air on the ABC network, and will be set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, sharing continuity with the films in that franchise. "The Avengers 2" will return to the box-office on May 1, 2015.
It is great news that Clark Gregg will be back but for now all we can do is speculate. Do you have ideas on how Whedon will bring back Coulson? Have you read the synopsis for Thor 2? Check it out here. Read about the "Ant-Man" movie here. Comment below...