Clark Gregg has been an important staple in the Marvel Cinematic Universe ever since he first appeared as Agent Phil Coulson in 2008’s Iron Man. After appearing in Iron Man 2, Thor, and The Avengers, the actor went on to play Coulson on Agents of SHIELD, which is currently in the midst of its final season. Of course, since Coulson died onscreen in The Avengers back in 2012, Earth’s Mightiest Heroes never learned that their friend was not only revived but went on to lead SHIELD. In a recent interview with Gregg, we brought up being sad about the fact that Tony Stark died without ever reuniting with Coulson, and asked which member of the team he’d like to meet again.
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“Well, I mean, you know, the crush on Cap never dies. But I always, I mean, I felt that same sadness, just because really, the whole thing started, and I think the reason Coulson became what Coulson was really, was about Robert [Downey Jr.] and those scenes together and the repartee,” Gregg explained. “He makes you that much better and brings out so much more than you might normally see in a scene. The way that he took those scenes and that character on, brought me to life, in a way, so that I didn’t get to have that.”
Gregg went on to share his idea of how Coulson could have reunited with the Avengers. “I was like, ‘Come on, you haven’t done a one-shot.’ Why couldn’t there be a really cool one-shot where they’re on a mission, we’re on a mission… ‘Oops!’ You know?”
We also asked Gregg if he remembered a specific moment when he realized Coulson’s significance within the franchise.
“No, it was so gradual,” he revealed. “It was so a series of moments, from being kind of pulled aside on Iron Man one and being told that they were adding more scenes and kind of making it clear that this guy was really a little bit more intimidating and in possession of more secrets than he’s masquerading as at the beginning. And then, being added to Iron Man 2, I thought, ‘Well, that’s cool. That’s cool, he has another scene.’”
Gregg added, “I’ve told this story… Being told to mention that I’m leaving Tony Stark, supervising him, and I will not be the one who tases him and watch his Supernanny, because I’m going to New Mexico. And saying, ‘Why am I saying that? What’s in New Mexico?’ In fact, it was Louis D’Esposito saying, ‘Oh, you, you’re going to New Mexico. You find Thor’s hammer.’”
Stay tuned for more from our interview with Clark Gregg, where he also talks about next week’s Agents of SHIELD episode. If you don’t want to wait to read all about it, you can also watch the full interview in the video above.
Agents of SHIELD airs Wednesday nights on ABC at 10 PM EST.
