Agent Coulson's Death In The Avengers Came From Marvel's Highest Levels

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"The Avengers" is largely remembered as a lighthearted affair, a movie that's less about the high-stakes melodrama and more about letting these character bounce off each other in fun, surprising ways. But despite its breezy nature, the movie did have one heavy moment: the death of poor Agent Phil Coulson (Clark Gregg). The S.H.I.E.L.D. agent was introduced in "Iron Man" and reappeared in "Iron Man 2" and "Thor," as well as some Marvel One-Shot shorts. He wasn't a major presence, but he was around enough that we missed him when he was gone. 

In the 2021 behind-the-scenes book "The Story of Marvel Studios: The Making of the Marvel Cinematic Universe," writer/director Joss Whedon revealed that the decision to kill Coulson off came from Kevin Feige, President of Marvel Studios. Feige, who Whedon described as "extremely expert in knowing what to keep, what to drop, and what to keep a silhouette of," reportedly gave Whedon a mandate pre-production to make sure Coulson ended up six feet under.

"It made perfect sense," Whedon said. "Because, first of all, you can't kill any of the Avengers, and you need some stakes — it's a very safe movie if you don't pull the rug out from under them. Second of all, I was able to use the word 'avenge' without it being meaningless."

Basically, Coulson was established enough that viewers would be sad if he died but expendable enough that he could be killed without turning the movie into a total downer. His death worked perfectly to create that second-act low point all superhero movies need, and it served as the wake-up call for the Avengers to get it together and finally take down the villain Loki as a team. 

Whedon acknowledged that Coulson's death was soon undone in "Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.," a TV show Whedon co-created that revealed Coulson had been resurrected in an operation ordered by Nick Fury. "Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D." was a well-liked show that went on for seven seasons, but Coulson's sudden revival was a sore spot for some fans during those first few episodes. When "Agents" premiered, it had been little over a year since "The Avengers" released in theaters, and to bring him back so soon felt awkward at best. 

Whedon defended this decision by asserting that it was a TV-only thing. While Coulson's revival might be canon in the larger MCU, because it's never mentioned in the movies, it doesn't undermine them: "It was really separate from the movies," Whedon said. "I was also clear: We can do it in the TV show, but we can't do it in the movies. 'Hey, this beloved character you thought was dead is back' is the worst thing the sequels could do."

This assertion is complicated by "Captain America: Winter Soldier," a 2014 movie that undid Bucky Barnes' tragic death scene in the first "Captain America" movie. This was still early in the MCU, and the series was already doing what Whedon called the "worst thing" they could be doing, but it's also a key storyline from the comic books. 

Although Barnes would turn out to be a long-lasting character in the franchise, he didn't show up in Whedon's next and final movie in the MCU, "Avengers: Age of Ultron." The MCU didn't follow Whedon's "no resurrections" rule very well after that, but Whedon himself stood by it.