Entertainment Weekly managed to grab a quick interview with Clark Gregg at yesterday's ABC Upfronts. Here's what the man of the hour had to say about Agent Coulson.
Clark Gregg Talks About Coulson's Return And The Show In General
GREGG: “I thought they were pranking me a little bit because there was so much blood on the set of The Avengers, I kept waiting to see, are we going to shoot a version where [Loki] misses? And they didn’t, so I was really surprised to get that call and I wanted to make sure it didn’t do anything to undermine what we achieved there and when [writer-director Joss Whedon] explained the mystery and how they planned to deal with it, with Agent Coulson being around, I was very sold.”
On how Agent Coulson survives? EW reports that fans will get a partial answer to that question in the pilot.
GREGG: “He’s [Coulson] back. He’s thinks he knows how he’s back. We’ll have to see.”
But is Agent Coulson immortal? Are his methods supernatural?
GREGG: “I have a feeling if they killed me off again it would be for good so I’m very careful to read the end of the script every time I get one. It’s like getting struck by lightning. I kind of hope it hits somebody else first before it comes back to me.”
Clark Gregg reprises his role of Agent Phil Coulson from Marvel's feature films as he assembles a small, highly select group of Agents from the worldwide law-enforcement organization known as S.H.I.E.L.D. Together they investigate the new, the strange, and the unknown across the globe, protecting the ordinary from the extraordinary. Coulson's team consists of Agent Grant Ward (Brett Dalton), highly trained in combat and espionage, Agent Melinda May (Ming-Na Wen) expert pilot and martial artist, Agent Leo Fitz (Iain De Caestecker); brilliant engineer and Agent Jemma Simmons (Elizabeth Henstridge) genius bio-chemist. Joining them on their journey into mystery is new recruit and computer hacker Skye (Chloe Bennet).
From Executive Producers Joss Whedon ("Marvel's The Avengers," "Buffy the Vampire Slayer"); Jed Whedon & Maurissa Tancharoen, "Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D." pilot co-writers ("Dollhouse," "Dr.Horrible's Sing-Along Blog"); Jeffrey Bell ("Angel," "Alias"); and Jeph Loeb ("Smallville," "Lost," "Heroes") comes Marvel's first TV series. "Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D." is produced by ABC Studios and Marvel Television.