It’s easy to forget how important S.H.I.E.L.D. is to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The organization appears in all of the Phase One movies, serving as a recruitment agency for superheroes. Nicky Fury knows there are threats all across the galaxy, and he doesn’t want Earth fighting with its hands tied behind its back when they come sniffing around. However, Fury isn’t working alone, as he has agents like Maria Hill, Clint, Barton, and Natasha Romanoff on his side. There’s also Phil Coulson, who lacks the skills of his colleagues but has a lot of heart. He’s never afraid to walk into the lion’s den, even when the monster inside is ready to tear him apart.
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Coulson makes several appearances in the MCU’s early days, but he doesn’t last as long as Fury or even Romanoff. No, he goes down fighting Loki in The Avengers, which, at the time of release, was a big deal. It was hard for fans to wrap their head around such an important character being gone, so they came up with a wild theory that set the stage for his return.
Phil Coulson Motivates Earth’s Mightiest Heroes When It Matters Most
Despite being Earth’s greatest defense system, the Avengers are rarely on the same page. Fury first brings them together because Loki is tracking the Tesseract after warping Erik Selvig’s mind, and the Asgardian also gets Barton on his side. The head of S.H.I.E.L.D. knows something big is going to go down and wants to cover all of his bases, which means having to do a little bit of manipulation. He puts Thor, Captain America, Iron Man, and Hulk on a helicarrier using a few white lies, but it doesn’t take the heroes long to figure out what’s really going on.
Before they can get answers out of Fury, though, Barton attacks the ship because Loki is being held captive after giving himself up in Germany. Iron Man and Captain America can’t worry about the God of Mischief escaping because the helicarrier is about to go down, leaving Thor as their only hope. The God of Thunder falls for one of his brother’s tricks and ends up in a cage, so Coulson steps up to the plate. He grabs a powerful weapon that S.H.I.E.L.D. developed after seeing the Destroyer in action and threatens the villain. Sadly, Loki gets the best of the agent and kills him. The Avengers are devastated and get their butts into gear to honor Coulson’s memory. However, the death was too convenient for one section of the fanbase, which thought that Coulson still had a big future ahead of him.
Fans Believed Phil Coulson Was Going to Return to the MCU as Vision
It was easy to be suspicious of Coulson in Phase One because he always seemed to be in the right place at the right time. Sure, his association with Fury, who always had his ear to the ground, could explain that, but it was almost like Coulson was robotic, never having to sleep or eat. When Coulson died, fans who felt that way doubled down and began spreading the idea that the character would return not as an agent but as a superhero. They believed that Coulson was going to become Vision, a character who was introduced a few years later in Avengers: Age of Ultron. The release of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., which put Coulson in the lead role, predated that movie, though, and the show took its sweet time revealing what really happened after The Avengers.
During the ABC series’ first season, the only logical explanation for Coulson’s return was that he was an android or, at least, an android version of the deceased agent. Either way, the Vision theory was alive and well until about midway through Season 1. Coulson discovered he returned to life thanks to something called Project T.A.H.I.T.I., spearheaded by Fury. It used Kree blood to jumpstart the agent’s body, but it left painful memories that had to be erased. The explanation wasn’t as cool as the one that fans cooked up in their heads, but at least Coulson got to come back and lead S.H.I.E.L.D. for a while.
The Avengers and Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. are streaming on Disney+.
Did you believe that Phil Coulson was going to be Vision? Are you happy about where he ended up in the MCU? Let us know in the comments below!
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