‘Agents of SHIELD’ Star Chloe Bennet Confirms Coulson Is Really Dead

The fifth season of Marvel’s Agents of SHIELD made a lot of shocking changes to the Marvel Television series, and fans are eager to see what’s next when it returns to ABC later this year.

And just as the character is about to make his return to the big screen in Captain Marvel, Agent Phil Coulson met his fate at the end of Season 5. And while some people are expecting his return in Agents of SHIELD, it seems like Coulson might actually be dead.

Daisy Johnson actress Chloe Bennet spoke with TV Line on the set of Agents of SHIELD, making it clear that Coulson’s absence will resonate in the new episodes.

“In my mind, she has a bit more of a peace to her,” said Bennet. “There is obviously the mourning of Coulson, but she’s also been through it all and she is genuinely stronger from it. She is not dealing with things as she has in the past. She has fully accepted her trauma and is moving forward in the most healthy way, for the first time.”

Coulson was able to live out his final days in the actual Tahiti, echoing the mystery of his resurrection from the beginning of the series.

While Clark Gregg is not listed as a cast member for the new season, he’s not abandoning Agents of SHIELD altogether. It was recently revealed that the actor would return behind the camera to direct the premiere episode of Season 6.

Some of Coulson’s circumstances might have came out of the fact that showrunners Maurissa Tancharoen and Jed Whedon had no idea if the show would continue when they crafted the character’s death in the season finale.

“We’ll never end something without the potential for more story,” Tancharoen previously said. “That’s how we’ve ended every season because, whenever we’ve come to the end of all the seasons past, we go into that mostly not knowing until the very last minute, so we’re basically doing the same thing to close out Season 5. It can fit well as a possible series finale, and it can fit well as just another season’s end.”

Whedon added, “You always want to leave the idea that there’s more stories, it’s a question of whether or not we will tell them. We have our end, and we’ll stick to it regardless, and we think it’ll work either way.”

There’s no word yet on the exact date Agents of SHIELD will return for its sixth season, but it should be on ABC later this summer.