EXCLUSIVE: Clark Gregg Talks How S.H.I.E.L.D May Factor Into Captain America: Civil War

With Avengers: Age of Ultron closing the door on the second phase of Marvel’s Cinematic Universe [...]

Agents of SHIELD captain america civil war

With Avengers: Age of Ultron closing the door on the second phase of Marvel's Cinematic Universe and opening the door to Phase 3, the status quo of the Marvel Cinematic Universe is in a state of flux. So where does that leave the the preeminent global peacekeeping task force of the Marvel Universe?

Ahead of tonight's episode of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., "Scars," we spoke to Director Phil Coulson Himself, Clark Gregg, who shared some thoughts about S.H.I.E.L.D.'s possible role in Marvel's next phase. Gregg brought up the upcoming third Captain America movie, Captain America: Civil War.

"If you've ever read any of the Civil War comics, you'll know that S.H.I.E.L.D. is very much part of a group that's trying to register the superheroes, and that really divides and forces some S.H.I.E.L.D. agents – especially those with connections to people who have powers that can feel personal – to really decide which side of that conflict they're on. Iron Man and Cap end up on, in the comics anyway, opposite sides of it. There's always changes in the way they do that in the cinematic universe. I think, with the S.H.I.E.L.D. 2.0, you're seeing some of the first ripples of those different points of view on what S.H.I.E.L.D. should be when it's rebuilt. I'm very, very curious to know which side Coulson will end up on in that struggle."

S.H.I.E.L.D. also has a little thing called the Index, which keeps track of known powered persons in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. It's quite similar, in concept, to the Superhuman Registration Act database from the Civil War comics. We asked Gregg about the possibility of the Index being used in the same capacity in Captain America: Civil War, perhaps even becoming the SRA database itself.

"If it isn't what it becomes, it's certainly going to be one of the main bibliography notes, you know what I mean?" Gregg said. "If Coulson sees a thing that he's been so instrumental in using and building in order to keep track of people with powers, if he sees that being used to persecute people he cares about, it's going to cause a real crisis of faith."

Sounds like Captain America: Civil War may be as much a turning point for S.H.I.E.L.D. as Captain America: The Winter Soldier was.

Stay tuned for our full interview with Clark Gregg before tonight's episode of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. airs Tuesdays at 9 P.M. on ABC.

Captain America: Civil War opens May 6, 2016.

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