Joss Whedon on S.H.I.E.L.D. and the Return of Agent Coulson

Agent Phil Coulson, last seen skewered through the back in Marvel’s The Avengers, will return to lead the crew of Marvel’s S.H.I.E.L.D., which will debut on ABC in the fall.In a speaking appearance transcribed by Assignment X (via CBM), presumably the same appearance at which Whedon dished about The Wasp and The Avengers, the filmmaker discussed the character’s death in The Avengers and his subsequent return in S.H.I.E.L.D.“Marvel was very clear what they wanted to do and they knew it was going to be these guys,” said Whedon. “There were some questions about Hawkeye and [Black] Widow and can we pull that off. The guys who had their own franchises, there was no doubt. They wanted Loki and nobody else. They wanted an alien invasion in the third act. They wanted the heli-carrier attack. I had enough sign posts to build on, and all I had to do try to make it matter and try to have reasons for all the conflicts. The Thor and Iron Man fight, it really is that scene [where he] ‘tells the cop he can’t bust the guy because it’s part of a bigger investigation.’ That’s just that. It’s a conflict, not just a fight and at least they both have a perspective. That was my entire thing, giving everyone a perspective going into the set pieces, so it’s not just punching and fighting.”He did say, though, that regardless of his reputation among the fans, he lost as many battles with Marvel as he won; not only did they not allow him to add a second villain to the film, but on top of that, he was told at the outset that Coulson had to kick the bucket in the film.”Coulson’s death was mandated in the first meeting by Kevin Feige,” reiterated the director. ” I can’t say that enough times. Apparently I have some kind of reputation that we won’t discuss right now, but I do love to kill people. Clark himself said when we were shooting that it was obvious that it had to happen, otherwise all of this becomes irresponsible. There’s no toll or actual downside to this very bad idea of bringing all of these people together. As a film it’s just irresponsible. That’s why we’re bringing him back for a S.H.I.E.L.D. series.”