WHO IS

PHIL

COULSON?

FUN FACTS

Full Name: Phillip J Coulson
Birth Date: July 8, 1964
Death: May 4, 2012 (later resurrected), mid-2018???
Ser. No. SKJ 08U7c42
Parents: Robert and Julie Coulson
His dad gave him the red Corvette (LOLA)
Hometown: Manitowoc, Wisconsin
Religion: Catholic
Grew up a big fan of Captain America and Peggy Carter
Played baseball in Little League
Attended college and studied history

Clark Gregg has had many names and many different characters during his acting career, but he has never played a character for as long as he has Phil Coulson.

Phil Coulson has been on the big screen and small screen for over 10 years now. Clark credits his fans and the #CoulsonLives movement to such a historic run within the Marvel Universe.

Phil Coulson is a former Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. Before that, he was one of the best agents and Nick Fury's right hand man. He was a primary operative in the Avengers Initiative following a Skrull invasion on Earth during the 90's (see Captain Marvel). During the attack on the helicarrier, Coulson was killed by Loki, God of Mischief. His death gave the Avengers the push they needed to band together and stop the Chitauri Invasion (see The Avengers).

"I can't think of anybody else who got the bad call that I got from Marvel, which was “Here, you're gonna have a lot of fun in The Avengers untill you don't” to then have people like you at cons and online just saying “No! No! F*ck you!” [And then there was] a hashtag #CoulsonLives and boom! - here we are seven years later [...]

To grow so close with this increadible bunch of people, to continue to grow together, to have that experience and to have that be something that was birthed by the connection with the fans with a character who I think represents – that was just something, probably the greatest thing that will ever happen to me, so I thank you, thank you!”

Clark Gregg, Agents of SHIELD panel at WonderCon

March 30, 2019

It all started when Jon Favreau - then Clark's "neighbor down the street" - asked him if he wanted to have a small part in Iron Man (2008). At the very beginning there was not much, no mention of S.H.I.E.L.D, not even a name for a role listed as "Government agent".

Thanks to Clark's charm and excellent chemistry with Robert Downey Jr and other actors, his Agent received more scenes, not just in Iron Man, but also in Iron Man 2 (2010), Thor (2011), Marvel one-shots The Consultant and A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Thor's Hammer (short stories included as special features in the MCU films' Blu-ray and digital distribution releases, both 2011), all the way to The Avengers (2012), later becoming one of the lead characters in Marvel's first live-action TV show - Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. - and even making a brief appearance in Captain Marvel (2019) as a young rookie S.H.I.E.L.D. agent in the 90s.

Phillip J Coulson was not an original comic character, but after his popularity sky rocketed, Stan Lee wanted him in the comics. He has now been featured in 15 different comics to date.

"I was wary about [Iron Man] because in the script it was a guy named Agent and he had about six lines, which I still would have done, because I love “Iron Man” and that was an amazing cast. But I think I had just been cut out of something except for like one thing. […] And I was afraid with that cast that would happen again.

So I had a very tiny moment of hesitation before my wife slapped me in the back of the head and said, “You love this stuff. Yeah, go do it. Maybe they won't cut you out.” And that thing happened that never happens that you always fantasize will happen where they go, “You know, we think we might add some more stuff for your character.”

Clark Gregg, Moviefone.com

March 7, 2019

"They’ve given me everything I ever could have wanted. I thought I’d had a great journey at the end of Avengers. I’d had a brilliant death and I was happy. That versus showing up to bother Tony Stark and Pepper Potts in four more movies—none of that was nearly as fun as what I did in Avengers.

And then to go as deep as Agents of SHIELD has, to have a new family for six years and to be able to come back to do more origin stuff, it’s just been a good run and Coulson’s had an amazing adventure.”

Clark Gregg, Gizmodo.com

March 12, 2019