Introduced as a no nonsense federal agent from the Strategic Homeland Intervention Enforcement Logistics Division, he was assigned to debrief Tony Stark in the first Iron Man film, Agent Coulson quickly came to be recognized as the glue that held the Marvel Studios phase one series of films together. Audiences came to love this character that seemed to show up in every Marvel super hero movie. Not only was Coulson’s nonchalant attitude endearing, but his presence always foretold exciting plot twists and revealed a glimpse of what was to come.
I’ll never forget the excitement I felt when Stark asked Coulson for the Captain America shield prototype (which he used to level a particle accelerator) or the moment Thor’s hammer was found in the New Mexico desert.
Coulson’s interaction with Iron Man, Thor and Captain America over the course of Marvel Studios phase one franchise set the stage for his shocking and heart wrenching death scene in The Avengers movie.
I understand why the character was killed. The motivational momentum banded the Avengers and gave them a martyr to fight for.
Problem now is… how on Earth they resurrect this fan favorite.
Not only is Agent Coulson a cinematic hero, he has become a marketing cash cow with action figures, t-shirts and comic book appearances!
Joss Whedon has created a S.H.I.E.L.D. television series with Coulson headlining the show.
The Saturday morning cartoon Ultimate Spider-Man has incorporated Agent Coulson into its supporting cast. Coulson plays the unlikely role of an undercover high school principle assigned to act as a S.H.I.E.L.D. liaison to Spider-Man and his super powered teen aged friends.
With all of this post-Avengers exposure, how can Marvel reintegrate a dead man into their live action media?
Some say this is an easy task, given comic books predication towards the rebirth of deceased characters.
The Coulson we watched die at the hands of Loki on screen, may or may not have been the real McCoy! Perhaps we witnessed the sacrifice of a clone, android or Life model decoy. The latter choice seems highly likely given Tony Stark’s reference to life model decoys in The Avengers movie.
Life Model Decoys or LMD’s have been a stable of S.H.I.E.L.D. in the comics since 1965.
A Life Model Decoy is an artificial person with all of the original subjects identifying characteristics. Utilized to frustrate and curtail assassination attempts, this sparingly used plot device has been very effective in print but would it hold up on film?
Unless this plot device was decidedly applied from the inception of the films, complete with clues or hints to its authenticity,
I say NO WAY!
This smells like a bad cop-out! It opens the door to a virtual Port a Potty of lame excuses! Who is to say whether or not every character has or has not been replaced by an LMD at one point or another? Our faith as fans will be shaken beyond redemption! The fallout from this betrayal will rival the outage expressed in The Second Spider-Man Clone Saga, circa 1994-1996, that revealed Ben Reilly to have been the Spider-Man whose adventures the fans had read since the original Clone Saga, circa 1975!
If our beloved Peter Parker was an imposter all those years, what point is there to believe or accept anything that has been written during that 20 year span!
The same principle applies to our beloved Agent Coulson! If it was an imposter that we saw murdered on screen, what assurances do we have that the validity of other cinematic moments won’t come into question?
Maybe I’m making a mountain out of a mole hill. Perhaps the general public has become so desensitized to unimaginative script writing that this sort of infraction will be readily accepted and goes unchallenged.
If Agent Coulson suddenly appears in ANY of the Marvel Studio phase two films with a casual reference to his being somewhere else during the attack on the S.H.I.E.L.D. helicarrier, I for one will be highly disappointed! It is one thing to fool me with cinematic slight of hand and have me laugh at myself for being so gullible. It is quite another matter to insult my intelligence and laugh all the way to the bank after humiliating my sense of fair play!
Later this year when the S.H.I.E.L.D. television series airs on ABC, all my ranting may be academic. It will be very interesting to see if this series is treated as a prequel to the Avengers movie. If, by chance, Mr. Whedon saw me coming and has already prepared a viable explanation for Agent Coulson’s resurrection, my mind will be blown and the respect & admiration I already feel for him will be taken to a new level!
Like the guy in the Sonic commercials, I’m waiting for my mind to be blown!