Skip to main content

marvel cinematic universe - Did Agent Coulson die in The Avengers?


Given the upcoming Agents of Shield TV show, there has been some desire for a return of Agent Coulson. Is there evidence that he canonically died in The Avengers or evidence that this is another one of Nick Fury's manipulations?



Answer



Yes. Coulson died.


Joss answered this at the 2014 SXSW. From this article (emphasis mine):



Acknowledging the presence of seemingly-deceased Agent Coulson (Clark Gregg) on the panel – Gregg plays Leonato in the Much Ado ensemble – Whedon tried to explain how the S.H.I.E.L.D. agent returns from the dead.


“I’ll tell you guys this, Heimlich,” Whedon joked, before effectively clamming up about the show. “I can’t talk about it,” he admitted, but said that he did bring Coulson back from the dead for the ABC drama. “Yes. For realsies.”




Within the TV show


Agent Hill says that Coulson died for 8 seconds (though he claims 40) and that Fury faked a full death to unite the Avengers. Coulson was sent to recover in Tahiti.


However...



A short exchange between Agent Hill and Shepherd Book Dr. Streiten leads viewers to believe that there is still more to Coulson's "death" and "recovery" than Coulson or the viewer knows.



In Season 1, Episode 3: (The Asset)



A major point is made to demonstrate that Coulson has lost what should have been instinctive muscle memory when he is unable to take apart and reassemble a gun as quick as he normally could pre-impalement.




In Season 1, Episode 11: (A Magical Place)



Dr. Streitan explains that Coulson had been dead for days and that his memories had been altered. After being revived (by some still unknown means), his memories are altered to restore him to something closer to his original pre-death personality.



Within the movies


It's worth noting that while Coulson has been revived, and is alive and kicking in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Whedon still considers him dead for the purposes of the movies, explaining why he hasn't shown up in any of the MCU movies since his trip to TAHITI.


Whedon explained.



A lot of people come back in The Winter Soldier. It’s a grand Marvel tradition. Bucky was supposed to die. And the Coulson thing was, I think, a little anomalous just because that really came from the television division, which is sort of considered to be its own subsection of the Marvel universe. As far as the fiction of the movies, Coulson is dead.




However, since Whedon has stepped back from his position as one of the primary forces in the MCU creative team, The Powers That Be™ may change this.


Comments

Popular posts from this blog

futurama - How much time is lost in 'Time Keeps on Slippin''

In time Keeps on Slippin' , Farnsworth creates a basketball team which he matures by abusing Chronitons. This leads to time skipping forward by random, but ever increasing amounts. How much time was skipped in this way? Answer Unfortunately, I don't think a good estimate can be made for this, for two reasons: Many of the time skips move forward by an indeterminate amount of time. At one point, the Professor mentions localized regions of space skipping forward much more than others. We then see two young boys on the street below complaining about having to pay social security, only to suddenly become senior citizens and start complaining about wanting their money. Thus, each individual could have experienced a different amount of time skippage.

harry potter - How could Expelliarmus beat Avada Kedavra?

I want to be very careful about how I ask this question – I am not asking How did Voldemort die? [CLOSED] Below the text is the relevant passages from Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows if anyone wants to review them (I'm sorry for the amount of text). How did Expelliarmus beat Avada Kedavra and kill Voldemort? I feel the reason Harry's Expelliarmus overpowered Voldemort's Avada Kedavra curse has to do with who was master of the Elder Wand and how the Elder Wand works. I've always had trouble understanding fully how the Elder Wand works, though. How much did the fact that Voldemort never truly won or mastered the Elder Wand factor into how Expelliarmus reacted to Avada Kedavra and caused Avada Kedavra to rebound and kill Voldemort? An answer based in book canon would be especially welcome, but any canon source really is fine. Harry heard the high voice shriek as he, too, yelled his best hope to the heavens, pointing Draco’s wand: ‘ Avada Kedavra !’ ‘ Expelliarmus !...

game of thrones - Is Syrio Forel dead?

In the episode 'The Pointy End' (Season 1 Episode 8) when Arya runs from the Lannister guards you hear the sound of a sword being dropped (around 4:56): [embedded content] After that neither Syrio or Ser Meryn Trant is never mentioned or seen in the show again, except when Arya mentions to the Hound that Ser Meryn Trant killed Syrio. Is there any mention in the books that Syrio actually dies?

tolkiens legendarium - Difference between elves and dwarves blacksmithing in the Lord of the Rings

Both the elves and the dwarves were famous for their metal work in the Lord of the Rings trilogy, but what is the difference between what they made, and which one had the better skill of making amours and swords? Answer James Christopher's answer sums up the second part of your question well, but as to the difference in what they made, a little more detail is needed. Once the Elves learned to forge with steel, the shape of the sword changed, now being able to take on the form of a great broadsword or a light and agile curved sword. Additionally, they took great pride in decorating their swords. As we see in the Lord of the Rings , some swords like Sting had magical properties such as glowing blue when orcs are near. As far as the use of Mithril, lotr.wikia has two contradictory passages: Thus, Elven blades became renowned as great weapons, capable of performing deeds beyond the skill of their handlers and were even more glorious when the use of Mithril was allowed to the Elves. ...