While the thought of a Marvel TV show guided by the hand of Joss Whedon’s usual TV posse fills me full of glee, the sight of Agent Coulson walking and talking once more concerns me slightly.
Over the years, Coulson had been little more than a suit, a cameo part for Clark Gregg. Come The Avengers though and not only did Joss Whedon finnally give him a name, but also made him such a crucial part of the billion-dollar grossing film. In typical Whedon fashion though, just as he’d made us all love Coulson, he killed him off.
Now Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D is set to hit our TV screens and lo and before, Clark Gregg and Agent Coulson are front and centre of the production. While I really liked where Whedon and Gregg took the character, his death in the film was a signal that nobody was safe in this universe and that even established characters could meet their end at the drop of a hat. Now what does death mean if you can just come back from beyond?
While we’ve yet to find out how Coulson will make his return, I only hope that it doesn’t just cheapen the entire series and make death another problem that S.H.I.E.L.D have overcome, as then what threat can there ever be in the series?
While Joss has brought characters back from the dead before, most noticeably in Buffy The Vampire Slayer, but then at least the resurrection was shown as a horrific act that left all the characters scarred in various ways. Fingers crossed that Coulson’s will be as dark as that, or else the entire universe risks being cheapened forever.