We've known for a while now that Agent Phil Coulson, one of the many facets that tied together Marvel's Phase One movies before becoming the sacrificial lamb that finally spurred the Avengers to finally work together would be returning in ABC's spin-off TV series, "Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D," this fall. But what we didn't know, was in what kind of capactiy, and given his "death" in the Avengers, where exactly the show would take place.
ScreenRant was able to get a hold of Coulson actor Clark Gregg, who finally spilled the beans on how the agent's return would play out. Let this be your official warning that the following information is SPOILER heavy.
It was already explained in the film that Fury put one over on the Avengers, making it seem as though Coulson's Captain America card collection was on his person when Loki sent him to meet his maker, when the cards were actually safely tucked away in his locker. So what's to really stop a defense organization staffed with some of the best spies in the world with taking the deception one level further? This a sentiment Gregg agress with, saying, "It would be surprising to me if this was a world where there wasn't some reckoning for the fact that it'd be ... you know, some level of deception must have been perpetrated on the Avengers."
A source of SlashFilm's is claiming something similar to this idea. As SlashFilm writes, "The source claims that Fury faked Coulson's death entirely to motivate The Avengers to - as the foreign title of the film emphasizes -assemble. Other S.H.I.E.L.D. agents were involved with the cover-up but The Avengers (namely, Black Widow and Hawkeye) were not informed, not being of the proper "clearance" level. Coulson was put in hiding until for quite sometime until assigned his new task. Him faking the death and going silent is frowned upon by certain other S.H.I.E.L.D. members in the show."
If this is indeed the case, it means that the S.H.I.E.L.D show will likely take place in the same time frame as the movies, and opens up possibilities for more of Marvel's Phase 2 movies to consider, including the Avengers sequel. But no go for that whole Vision theory.
The show has already begun filming, and the show is expected to premiere on ABC this fall.
