Phil Coulson

Phil Coulson
Marvel Cinematic Universe character
First appearance Iron Man
Created by Mark Fergus
Hawk Ostby
Art Marcum
Matt Holloway
Portrayed by Clark Gregg
Information
Full name Phillip Coulson
Occupation Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.
Director of S.H.I.E.L.D.
Title Director
Nationality American

Phillip "Phil" Coulson is a fictional character portrayed by American actor Clark Gregg and presented in his likeness. The details of his character vary between portrayals, but he is always a spy working for the fictional espionage agency S.H.I.E.L.D.. The character first appeared in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), a shared fictional universe that is the setting of several superhero films and television series produced by Marvel Studios, and, due to his popularity, has gone on to appear in the mainstream Marvel Comics universe, animated television series, video games, and more expanded media. Within the films, Coulson was originally used to represent S.H.I.E.L.D.'s involvement in the plot, to the point of being described as "the S.H.I.E.L.D. agent" by Gregg.[1]

The character originally appeared in Iron Man (2008), the first film in the MCU. Gregg then signed a multi-picture deal with Marvel and the character went on to appear in Iron Man 2 (2010), Thor (2011), and The Avengers (2012). He is a primary character of Marvel Television's ensemble spy-fi series Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (2013–), has appeared in two Marvel One-Shots, and has been featured in multiple tie-in comics, all also set in the MCU.

Characterization

Clark Gregg views Coulson as "the S.H.I.E.L.D. agent".[1]

In the Phase One films of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Agent Coulson is generally depicted as a supporting character of the protagonists and used to represent S.H.I.E.L.D.'s presence in the plots of the films, to the point that Clark Gregg has described Coulson as "the S.H.I.E.L.D. agent". However, in the "Marvel One-Shots", Coulson is given "a chance to stand in his own spotlight for once", when the character is put in a position where there is an imminent threat and no superheroes around. The decision to give more focus to Coulson was "a natural" for "Marvel One-Shot" co-producer Brad Winderbaum:[1]

First and foremost it was an opportunity to work with Clark Gregg. The guy elevates everything he takes part in and we knew that if he was into it, we couldn't pass up the opportunity to tell some stand-alone Coulson stories with him. Also, in the case of The Consultant, we wanted to paint a picture of S.H.I.E.L.D. pulling the strings and being responsible for some of the events we've seen in the films. What better character to represent this idea than Agent Coulson, the first S.H.I.E.L.D. agent we were introduced to in the first Iron Man film. [sic][1]

Gregg has stated, "I think of Agent Coulson, after all these years, as a guy with a full life. I think every day he's somewhere doing something for S.H.I.E.L.D., and yet I don't always know what that is... There's always a different twist. In this one he gets to show more of his wisecracking wit, and in this one he's a little bit more of a badass."[1] Despite Coulson being called "the most recognizable face in the Marvel Comics movie universe", he is depicted as an "everyman" in a universe full of superheroes—"the glue that binds" the characters together. In Thor, Coulson complains that Tony Stark "never tells [him] anything," while in The Avengers, Stark shows his disdain for G-Men (as well as some degree of jealousy of Pepper Potts' very amiable treatment of him) by insisting that Coulson's first name is "Agent" rather than "Phil". In an interview with WNBC, Gregg explained his portrayal of the character as "just a guy grumbling about his job":[2]

He's the guy who's tasked—a very disciplined guy in my opinion who possesses secrets that would turn your hair white—but at the same time he's tasked with handling these kind of diva superheroes, you know? "Oh, really, Asgard? Dude, just get in the car."[2]

Marvel Cinematic Universe

Feature films

"Agent Coulson was one of the guys who wasn't really in the comic books, and he [had] a very kind of small role in Iron Man. And I was just very lucky that they chose to expand that character and chosen to put him more into the universe of it. It's really a blast!... I get to do some exciting things in some of the new stuff."

—Gregg on the character's expansion in Thor[3]

Agent Coulson was introduced in the film Iron Man, in which he attempted to discuss the circumstances in which Tony Stark (Robert Downey, Jr.) returned from captivity in Afghanistan with Stark and Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow). At the climax, Coulson is one of several agents who accompany Potts in an attempt to arrest Obadiah Stane once his criminal activities are revealed. Coulson reappeared in the 2010 sequel, Iron Man 2. After S.H.I.E.L.D. Director Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) places Stark on house arrest in the film, Coulson is one of the agents assigned to supervise him. After presenting Tony with the work of his father Howard Stark (John Slattery), Coulson explains that he is reassigned to investigate a crisis in New Mexico. In both the film's post-credits sequence, and Thor, Coulson's investigation is revealed to be of the discovery of Thor's (Chris Hemsworth) hammer in a New Mexico desert alongside Jasper Sitwell (Maximiliano Hernández) and Clint Barton (Jeremy Renner). Coulson interrogates Thor after the depowered Asgardian attacks the S.H.I.E.L.D. facility that was erected around the hammer, believing him to be a mercenary and demanding to know who he was working for. When Thor's powers are restored in the course of the film, he tells "Son of Coul" that they are allies.

Coulson makes his final cinematic appearance in Marvel's The Avengers, revealed to be both a fan of Captain America with a deck of vintage trading cards and the one who recruited Tony Stark as a candidate for the Avengers Initiative. Coulson also now knows Pepper Potts on a first-name basis while talking about a romantic affair between himself and a cellist who moved back to Portland. Coulson is later fatally wounded by Loki (Tom Hiddleston) during his escape from the S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier, Fury using Coulson's death to motivate the Avengers to have something to fight for. But in reality, Coulson is revealed to have survived the events of the film as revealed in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. though his resurrection is yet to be referenced in the Phase 2 films. There had been considerations for Coulson to return in Iron Man 3 and Thor: The Dark World,[4][5] but the character is not slated to appear in any more films.[6] Whedon asserts, "As far as the fiction of the movies, Coulson is dead".[7] However, in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Coulson is revealed to have an indirect role in the Avengers finding Baron Strucker's base in Avengers: Age of Ultron.

Tie-in comics

In September 2008, Coulson made his digi comic debut in Iron Man: Fast Friends which was later published in print form in February 2009 in the comic one shot "Iron Man, Hulk, Fury." The comic was released as a tie-in to Iron Man and as such was set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, rather than the mainstream Earth-616 continuity, in which most Marvel comics are set. He subsequently appeared as a supporting character in other comics set within the Cinematic Universe.

Short films

Main article: Marvel One-Shots

In August 2011, Marvel announced that Coulson would be the subject of a series of direct-to-video short films called "Marvel One-Shots". The first two star Clark Gregg as Agent Coulson in two self-contained stories depicting a day in the life of a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent. Gregg stated of the short films, "Some [would be] the connective tissue between the movies [of the Marvel Cinematic Universe] and others are behind-the-scenes in the day of a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent... In one of them there's a daily crisis [in which] a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent deals with the World Security Council and one of our super heroes."

The first short film, entitled Marvel One-Shots: The Consultant, was released on the Thor Blu-ray and Blu-ray 3D on September 13, 2011, and takes place after The Incredible Hulk. In it, Coulson meets with Sitwell, another agent, and informs him that the World Security Council wishes for Emil Blonsky, The Incredible Hulk‍ '​s villain, to be released from prison in order to join the Avengers. The Council see Blonsky as a hero and blame his fight with Bruce Banner / the Hulk in New York City—seen at the end of the film—on Banner himself. They have ordered S.H.I.E.L.D. to ask General Ross (William Hurt) for Blonsky's release. Nick Fury recognises that Blonsky would make a poor Avenger and has ordered Coulson and Sitwell to follow their orders in such a way that they do not actually obtain Blonsky. Coulson suggests sending in a consultant who will irritate and offend Ross so that he does not hand over Blonsky. Reluctantly, Coulson sends in Tony Stark (Robert Downey, Jr.). The scene between Stark and Ross was partially depicted in the final scene of The Incredible Hulk, in which it gave the impression that Stark was recruiting Banner. It is continued here and Stark is shown to irritate Ross so much that he asks for him to be removed. In response, Stark buys the bar and schedules it for demolition. Coulson informs Sitwell that the plan was successful: Blonsky will remain in prison.

The second film, titled Marvel One-Shots: A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Thor's Hammer which takes place after Coulson leaves Tony Stark's lab during Iron Man 2, and before he arrives solo at the crater site in Thor, was released on the Blu-ray edition of Captain America: The First Avenger. Coulson is on his way to Albuquerque, New Mexico, when he stops at a Roxxon Oil gas station. Two robbers enter the station without noticing Coulson, and demand the money from the register. When the robbers ask whose car is outside, Coulson reveals himself and surrenders his keys. As he is surrendering his gun, he overpowers the robbers and nonchalantly pays for his gas and snacks, suggesting to the cashier not to mention his involvement.

Further One-Shots featuring other characters have since been produced. The first of these was Marvel One-Shots: Item 47 (2012), during the course of which S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent Blake accidentally referred to colleague Sitwell as "Coulson". Sitwell responded with: "We all miss him."

Television

Gregg reprises the role of Coulson as the lead protagonist of the television series Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D..[8][9] In the pilot episode of the series, Phil Coulson explains that he was immediately resuscitated by S.H.I.E.L.D. medics after dying at the hands of Loki and sent to recover in Tahiti while Nick Fury used his apparent death to motivate the Avengers to work as a team during the Battle of New York. Returning to service, Coulson is placed in charge of a large S.H.I.E.L.D.-upgraded military transport plane and given free rein to assemble a small team of his own. However, a conversation between Maria Hill (Smulders) and S.H.I.E.L.D. medic Dr. Streiten (Ron Glass) reveals that Coulson does not know the whole truth concerning his survival.[10][11] In subsequent episodes, Coulson begins to question how he survived the incident, and is troubled to learn that all records related to his injury and recovery can only be accessed by Fury's authorization. In "The Magical Place", while kidnapped by 'Project Centipede', a supersoldier development program under the direction of the mysterious 'Clairvoyant', Coulson learns his captors are also interested in learning more about his death. After they subject him to a mind-probing device, he discovers his memories had been altered by S.H.I.E.L.D. and that he was brought back to life by S.H.I.E.L.D. surgeons days after he was killed by Loki. In "T.A.H.I.T.I.", Coulson tracks down the facility where he was resurrected—as part of Project T.A.H.I.T.I.—after becoming desperate to save the life of his teammate Skye (Chloe Bennet) by the same method. He discovers that the drug that brought him back to life, known as GH-325, is of alien origin; however, the blue alien corpse is destroyed in an explosion before Coulson can investigate this further. In the episode "Turn, Turn, Turn", which ties into the events of Captain America: The Winter Soldier, he discovers that his teammate and longtime friend Melinda May (Ming-Na Wen) was assigned by Fury to monitor him, and designed the specifications for his team.

In that same episode, Coulson learns the evil organization Hydra had infiltrated S.H.I.E.L.D., and his old friend Agent John Garrett (Bill Paxton) is revealed to be both a Hydra agent and the Clairvoyant. In the resulting chaos, S.H.I.E.L.D. effectively disbands as they are now seen as terrorists, but Coulson and his team remain together and take refuge in a secret S.H.I.E.L.D. base in Canada, in "Providence". In "The Only Light in the Darkness", Coulson protects his cellist former lover Audrey (Amy Acker) from a supercriminal named Marcus Daniels (Patrick Brennan) who was released from S.H.I.E.L.D. confinement by Hydra. In "Nothing Personal", Coulson discovers that an agent on his team, Grant Ward (Brett Dalton), is a Hydra infiltrator working John Garrett. The Providence base is compromised and later May obtains and shares with Coulson a confidential flash drive by Fury concerning Project T.A.H.I.T.I.. Coulson is shocked to find video footage of himself addressing Fury on the drive, suggesting he was in charge of T.A.H.I.T.I. before his death. In his report, Coulson advises the project be shut down, as subjects treated with GH-325 all exhibit mental disorders ranging from aphasia to full-blown psychosis except in cases where their memories of treatment have been suppressed. In the season finale, "Beginning of the End", Coulson infiltrates Garrett's base with support from Nick Fury (Jackson) himself, and his team defeat Garrett and Ward and shut down Hydra's Deathlok program. Ward is arrested, and after attempting to escape confinement, Coulson disintegrates Garrett with the newly recovered Tesseract-powered raygun. After announcing his plan to go undercover for a while, Fury hands Coulson the 'toolbox', a small cube containing coordinates and a few other things, and appoints Coulson the new Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. with a mandate to rebuild the organization from the ground up. One night at their new base, the Playground, Coulson begins carving out a detailed diagram on the wall just as Garrett had done after taking GH-325.

In the second season premiere, "Shadows", Coulson is revealed to have been busy for months meeting with former S.H.I.E.L.D. agents in order to recruit them for his reconstituted S.H.I.E.L.D. However, Hydra infiltration, agents turning freelance, and detention of agents by the U.S. military have hampered his efforts. After discovering that the so-called Absorbing Man, Carl Creel (Brian Patrick Wade), was seeking a dangerous ancient relic on behalf of Hydra, he deploys all available field operatives to infiltrate U.S. brigadier general Glenn Talbot (Adrian Pasdar)'s base. They fail to recover the artifact, which is connected to the blue alien behind the GH-325 serum, but do steal back cloak-capable quinjets. In "Heavy is the Head", Coulson personally defeats Creel, recruits mercenary Lance Hunter (Nick Blood) for S.H.I.E.L.D., and convinces Talbot to scale back the United States' harassment of the new S.H.I.E.L.D. It is also revealed that Coulson has been having recurring episodes of carving the mysterious diagram. In the episode "The Writing on the Wall", Coulson subjects himself to the mind probing device and discovers that six other S.H.I.E.L.D. agents underwent Project T.A.H.I.T.I., all of whom had complete mental breakdowns after being healed by GH-325. Coulson relives his own breakdown after being revived with GH-325, but later discovers that the carvings he and the other T.A.H.I.T.I. subjects were creating were actually a blueprint to a mysterious city, based on the blue alien's memories. Coulson regains his sanity once he comes to this revelation and he and his S.H.I.E.L.D. team attempt to find this city before Hydra does. At the city, which was built by the blue alien Kree race, Coulson kills senior Hydra agent Daniel Whitehall (Reed Diamond), angering Skye's father (Kyle MacLachlan), who had sought his own revenge on Whitehall for the murder of Skye's mother, in "What They Become". Meanwhile, in the temple of the ancient city, Skye undergoes a metamorphosis after being exposed to the mists from the alien relic, activating her Inhuman ability to generate earthquakes, which Coulson later discovers in "Who You Really Are". Coulson chooses to defend Skye after learning of her heritage from a Kree warrior as well as from his Asgardian ally Sif (Jamie Alexander), who both fear she has become a dangerous weapon.

In the episodes "One of Us" and "Love in the Time of Hydra", it is revealed that Coulson's agents Bobbi Morse (Adrianne Palicki) and Alphonso "Mack" MacKenzie (Henry Simmons) are secretly working for a rival faction of S.H.I.E.L.D. which maintains that Coulson is unfit to lead S.H.I.E.L.D. due to what they see as his code of secrecy and obsession with superpowers. In "One Door Closes", the rival S.H.I.E.L.D. invades Coulson's base and take his team into custody, but Coulson escapes with help from May. Coulson, now on the run, receives help from Hunter, Fitz and cyborg agent Mike Peterson (J. August Richards) as well as renegade agents Ward and Agent 33. Eventually turning himself in, Coulson convinces the rival faction's leading member Robert Gonzales to let him and his team raid an Arctic Hydra base in "The Dirty Half Dozen". But Coulson had an ulterior motive in sending the coordinates of Baron Strucker's base to Maria Hill so that the Avengers can bring the Hydra scientist to justice.

Other appearances

Animation

Principal Phil Coulson on Ultimate Spider-Man

Comic books

Phil Coulson in Battle Scars #6.

Video games

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Strom, Marc (August 2, 2011). "Marvel One-Shots: Expanding the Cinematic Universe". Marvel.com. Archived from the original on September 26, 2011. Retrieved August 3, 2011.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Alt, Eric (September 2, 2011). "Clark Gregg: Marvel Movies' Man of Mystery". WNBC. Archived from the original on September 19, 2012. Retrieved September 2, 2011.
  3. ↑ Blair Marnell (April 28, 2010). "Clark Gregg's Iron Man 2 S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent Will 'Do Some Exciting Things' In Thor". MTV News. Archived from the original on May 1, 2010. Retrieved August 3, 2011.
  4. ↑ Bibbiani, William (September 5, 2011). "Clark Gregg on The Avengers, Marvel One-Shots, Iron Man 3 and more!". CraveOnline. Archived from the original on September 25, 2011. Retrieved September 7, 2011.
  5. ↑ Julian, Mark (December 5, 2011). "Exclusive: Interview with Clark Gregg about The Avengers and future Marvel endeavors". Archived from the original on December 7, 2011. Retrieved September 7, 2014.
  6. ↑ "Agent Coulson Will Not Appear in Avengers: Age of Ultron". ComingSoon.net. Associated Press. July 23, 2013. Archived from the original on July 26, 2013. Retrieved September 7, 2014.
  7. ↑ Schwartz, Dana (15 April 2015). "Q&A: Joss Whedon on Super Heroes, the Pop Culture Mainstream". Mental Floss. Retrieved 22 April 2015.
  8. ↑ "NYCC 2012: Coulson lives in Marvel's S.H.I.E.L.D.". Marvel.com. October 13, 2012. Archived from the original on October 13, 2012. Retrieved February 8, 2013.
  9. ↑ "NYCC: Coulson Lives in Whedon's S.H.I.E.L.D.". Comic Book Resources. October 13, 2012. Archived from the original on October 13, 2012. Retrieved October 13, 2012.
  10. ↑ "Pilot (Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.)". Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. ABC.
  11. ↑ Hunt, James (September 26, 2013). "Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. episode 1 review: Pilot". Den of Geek. Archived from the original on September 28, 2013. Retrieved September 7, 2014.
  12. ↑ Harris, Jeffrey. "SDCC2011: New Details and Voice Cast of Ultimate Spider-Man Revealed". Toon Zone. Archived from the original on September 18, 2012. Retrieved August 3, 2011.
  13. ↑ Collura, Scott (July 23, 2011). "Comic-Con: Ultimate Spider-Man Toon and Avengers Season 2". IGN. Archived from the original on November 8, 2012. Retrieved August 3, 2011.
  14. ↑ "Extremis". Iron Man: Armored Adventures. Season 2. Episode 16. March 14, 2012. Nicktoons.
  15. ↑ Truitt, Brian (April 24, 2012). "Agent Coulson charges into comics with 'Battle Scars'". USA Today. Retrieved April 24, 2012.
  16. ↑ Richards, Dave (October 14, 2012). "NYCC: Spencer's "Secret Avengers" are the Newest Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.". Comic Book Resources. Archived from the original on October 15, 2012. Retrieved October 15, 2012.
  17. ↑ "Thor: God of Thunder" #19 (April 2014)
  18. ↑ http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=54420
  19. ↑ "Ultimate FF: Fialkov Charts Future of Marvel's Ultimate Universe". Newsarama.com. January 13, 2014. Archived from the original on January 14, 2014. Retrieved April 7, 2014.
  20. ↑ Deadpool Bi-Annual #1 (2014)
  21. ↑ "LEGO Marvel Super Heroes Video — E3 2013: Character Walkthrough (Cam)". GameTrailers. June 12, 2013. Archived from the original on June 15, 2013. Retrieved August 20, 2013.

Other references

External links