Marvel’s Phil Coulson Is Still Alive, And Only The Original Avengers May Know About It

For many, April 26 will be a day of reckoning, especially when the premiere of Avengers: Endgame drops. It’ll be like a homecoming and graduation of sorts, especially with this film marking the end of a 22-movie run by Marvel Studios, as well as Phase Three of the larger Marvel Studios tapestry.

Reunions will be a large feature as well, and, if the fictional stars align, the return of certain longtime favourites. Specifically, a certain S.H.I.E.L.D Agent who lost his life in the very first Avengers film nearly seven years ago. Agent Phil Coulson (Clark Gregg) hasn’t featured on the big screen since Avengers, and was only recently featured in this month’s Captain Marvel, but only as a younger version of himself.

Between Avengers and Captain Marvel, Phil Coulson took centre stage in ABC’s Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D, which saw him get resurrected by Nick Fury using Kree technology, briefly became Director of SHIELD, and also (very) briefly took on the mantle of Ghost Rider, among other cool things the rest of the Avengers apparently know absolutely nothing about.

In a recent interview with Gamespot, Gregg imparted some of his insights with the larger community on who among the original Avengers might actually know of Coulson’s survival post-Invasion of New York.

“We know that Nick Fury knows, obviously, we’ve seen him”, shared Gregg. But not Captain America, whom he believes is the case but is a “bittersweet” thing, considering their relationship in the movies.

“And I feel like Tony Stark knows things–he just finds a way to know things – but I think the two of them have had a blunt conversation about it and decided not to share it further. And then we had Lady Sif promise not to tell Thor – but I don’t know how much I believe that. And Maria Hill knows, she’s spent time with him – but I think everyone else is just keeping it a secret.”

Being a beloved character in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Gregg feels a sense of “ownership” with Phil Coulson, and is proud of what he and his on-screen persona have achieved since his debut in Iron Man in 2008.

“Obviously, I feel a lot of ownership for the character. It’s very porous between the two of us. When he’s upset I get upset, but at the same time I am a little bit of passenger on a bus where the drivers change very often. I’ve tried to just keep the core thing that I like about him, which is his love of the game. He’s got this love of humans and this love of the game. I would say he believes in the idea of SHIELD and heroes, which is a choice. He’s come across a lot of people who don’t, who haven’t committed to a belief like that, and it doesn’t seem to go so well for their soul. That’s what I hope people recognize about him.”

It’s no secret that Agent Coulson is out there fighting the good fight, albeit behind closed doors. And it seems that he hasn’t been affected by The Snap, seeing as his role in Agents of SHIELD is still very much a prominent one. Now the question that remains is: will we get a reunion between him and the Avengers come Endgame?

Only one way to find out this April 26.