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My Spidey Sense Is Tingling

Avenger’s Clark Gregg, Everyone’s Favorite S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent, Talks About His Future In Marvel Films

by Jill Pantozzi | 2:07 pm, May 17th, 2012


Actor Clark Gregg’s portrayal of Agent Phil Coulson has been one of my favorite parts of the Marvel films the last few years and I know I’m not alone in that. The best part is, Gregg seems to have just as much love for the character as we do. Read on to hear what he had to say about the future of Agent Coulson (Avengers spoilers to follow). 

In a recent interview with Ain’t It Cool News, Gregg talked about playing Coulson over the last few years and what it meant to him. “I’m lucky to be in this spot where of all the people with super powers or billions, there’s this one guy who is really just there because he’s kind of determined,” he said, “and the fact that Joss [Whedon] only kind of doubled downed on the audience connection by also revealing that he is a fan boy and that he kind of got into this because he grew up loving Cap in the comics, I think just so wisely connects him and really identifies who he has been for people just in time to cruelly crush them!”

Gregg is speaking of course of Agent Coulson’s untimely demise in The Avengers, which, some (including myself) believe may not be a clear cut demise. ”I love all of those theories,” said Gregg. ”I never know what Marvel is going to do, but I have to kind of feel like I’m trying to do my own business with ‘I probably won’t get to play this guy again.’ I love it, who knows? Who knows what the fans can make happen, you know what I mean? That would be hilarious to me if the fans somehow managed… It would be the fans who brought Coulson back to life, but I don’t think there’s any plans. They’ve got enough superheroes to now bring in to take his place, you know?”

You hear that, fans? Make. It. Happen.

Finally, I have to leave you with this bit of Gregg’s thoughts on his character and Agent Coulson’s death.

It feels like a really good fit, which made it sad to kind of read those pages and on the days leading up to shooting that scene and the day shooting that scene. I was like “Wow, I really love this guy. I’m really connected to this, because this feels heavy.” (Laughs)

I was kind of “Come on man, relax. It’s pretend!” But I was kind of like “You know here we go. We are going to do this now” and my hands would be shaking a little bit. It’s just, you know, you have to connect to a certain extent to any character you’re going to try to make feel real at all, but this guy with five years and four movies…. You’re right, it’s really gratifying, because I love what Joss (Whedon) did with it and I loved the idea that he could go from you know being kind of connective tissue to really being kind of a force that could really drive the audience’s experience and make it ideally more moving instead of just funny or snarky and to kind of be aware that there is the power of that reaction and to have been in some theaters where people kind of gasped or called out.

Ok, I lied, there’s one more thing. The interviewer brought up the fact that Scarlet Witch, aka Wanda Maximoff, was once depicted as a cellist in the comics. Coulson mentioned dating a cellist in The Avengers…you see where they were going with this. Could we see Scarlet Witch making an appearance on the big screen soon like we’ve hoped? “If they can come up with a scenario where it isn’t lame, I’m sure they will be open to it,” said Gregg.

Definitely give the entire interview a read if you have the time, it’s a fun one.

(via MTV)

Previously in Agent Coulson

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  • Anonymous

    Oh I see…Coulson was dating the ”cellist” who could be the Scarlet Witch…thereby making Coulson…Vision!!!

  • Anonymous

    *spoilers*
    *spoilers*
    *spoilers*

    Coulson wasn’t shown “dead,” only gravely injured.  Fury lied about the location of his Cap cards, and he could have just as easily lied about Phil dying to exploit the emotion and bring together the Avengers, as Phil himself suggested.

    That is my truth, and I’m sticking to it.  Especially as I adore Clark Gregg and his character.

    Oh yeah, and Wash Lives!

    I think that about covers my delusions enough.

  • http://wolfsilveroak.insanejournal.com/ Wolf

    They can’t use Scarlett Witch because Fox still owns the rights to the Xmen/Magneto chars and since Scarlett Witch is Magneto’s daughter, by proxy, they’d have those rights as well. Same with her brother, Quicksilver.

    There are a few other female chars they can use though-

    That said, we’dto see Wasp, but not Antman, and She-Hulk, IF Hulk wasn’t in there, because it’d be a kind of redundant char.  Or Spiderwoman but iffy on her, as, apparently, they went with chars that really didn’t have real superpowers other than Thor, but he’s supposed to be a god, so he doesn’t count. 

    Or there’s Mockingbird- who is Hawkeye’s wife. That’d… be interesting, considering the Black Widow/Hawkeye dynamic they’re setting up.

    Moondragon, but she falls under the whole has actual superpowers like Spiderwoman. But she’d be an obvious choice, if they’re going to introduce Thanos, as she’s had a history with him.

    Squirral Girl… ? I don’t even know.

    Ms Marvel. But again, real superpowers.

  • Anonymous

    Haha, that would be quite a feat for Wash though

  • http://twitter.com/Totz_the_Plaid Totz_the_Plaid

    Here are my thoughts on future Coulson appearances:

    1 – A “Hawkeye & Black Widow” movie taking place before Iron Man 2 or the Avengers could easily have Coulson as a secondary character.
    2 – If Ultron’s introduced in Edgar Wright’s supposed “Ant Man” movie, he could easily build the Vision to mimic Coulson in “Avengers 3″. This could also tie in with the Scarlet Witch speculation above.
    3 – Thanos is hooking up with Death in the comics, so the “Avengers” sequel could possibly have some sort of “Legion of the Unliving” thing going on with Coulson, Iron Monger, Titanium Man, some of Cap’s Howling Commandos, etc.

    Having options 2 AND 3 occur would be a bit repetitive, but 1&2 or 1&3 would probably work. What do you guys think?

  • http://profile.yahoo.com/K34DNMMHVLLYGTXFQDR2YTNSZM Lily Stormcrow

    Actually, it’s not all that delusional. Life Model Decoys exist in this world… That might not have been Coulson at all.

  • Adam R. Charpentier

    …ooh, I hadn’t thought about the Cap cards. Snap. …maybe!

  • http://www.facebook.com/rodimusben Ben Lundy

    I like idea 1. I LOVE Agent Coulson but I do not want him brought back to life. What they did with him in The Avengers was perfect– they knew audiences loved him, which made killing him have a real impact on us. We felt a genuine sense of loss and anger toward Loki. It’s been said a million times, but I think bringing him back would make all of that less meaningful.

  • http://www.facebook.com/jocelynplease Jocelyn Dugan

    I couldn’t help but say loudly, “This is just like that time you killed Wash. SCREW YOU, Whedon. SCREW. YOU.” 

  • Anonymous

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  • http://profiles.google.com/kitfoxtrot Christopher LaHaise

    But it wasn’t Whedon’s fault.  It was in the script before he even touched it.  But yeah, Whedon knew he’d be blamed for it.

  • Francesca M

    My story is still that he’s recovering in Portland with his cellist having little Coulson babies.

  • http://twitter.com/DoctorOddfellow Doctor Oddfellow

    How does one get “shown “dead”"? The man was laboriously breathing from a chest wound, probably a punctured lung and then just stops making noise and goes still for the rest of his screen time. Is he just mostly dead? Slightly alive? Help me out here.

  • http://profile.yahoo.com/BUTSQERNDTWBTJD4GLG7LSOOAI kill my landlord

    coulson will return as a  cyberg named”P.C.

  • http://twitter.com/timeinknots rachel

    Having your head blown off, being decapitated, having your entrails out, etc. There are lots of ways to be clearly “dead,” as opposed to seriously injured/passed out. Trust me, I grew up watching soap operas.

  • Anonymous

    I cried when he died in the movie. Like, really. I loved his character

  • http://profile.yahoo.com/KGPKSBUXJSIFIGY4NHYRSG27DM Shania

    Is it wierd that Phil was my favorite Avenger? ^_^

  • Rachel Krengel

    Oooo I like the idea of the scarlet witch as the cellist. Mainly because it lends some credence to the theory that he’s coming back as vision which would be super cool. But I don’t think they can use the scarlet witch without fox on board, because of that whole thing with fox owning the film rights to the x men.

  • http://twitter.com/HMSFox Susan

    Gregg’s mentioned before he has a deal for 6 movies–he’s been in 4? (unless the short films count, and I’d find that unlikely).  I would have thought that means he’s coming back in some capacity, and in post-Avengers-point-in-time movies (Iron Man 3, Thor 2), but I didn’t think about potential “pre-quel” to Avengers movies like Totz brings up.  Hmmm…maybe the cellist/Vision thing isn’t as much of a lock as we’ve all speculated.  But the cellist line got dropped what, three times? Maybe we do get Scarlet Witch, but not Vision.

    God, can we please have a Hawkeye/Black Widow movie in here somewhere?  Maybe the Bucharest adventure they both remember very differently?  As much as I love Iron Man and Cap, and Ruffalo’s characterization was amazing for all the crap he got for taking the role, I really found myself liking our minor, but more human Avengers this movie go-round.  Yay Joss for knowing how to make an ensemble film work, giving everyone something useful to do plot-wise and meaningful character development.

  • Anonymous

    Then again, it seems they’ll use Hill as the go to SHIELD agent in future movies, so he probably won’t be back

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