Agent Phil Coulson

Gallery

Real Name

Phillip J. Coulson

Relatives

Robert Coulson (father, deceased);
Julie Coulson (mother, deceased)

Affiliation

S.H.I.E.L.D.

Base Of Operations

Mobile

Status

Alignment

Good

Identity

Public Identity

Citizenship

American

Marital Status

Single

Occupation

Government agent

Education

Military training

Characteristics

Gender

Male

Height

5' 10"

Weight

203 lbs (92 kg)

Eyes

Blue

Hair

Brown

Origin

Origin

S.H.I.E.L.D. agent

Universe

Earth-199999

Place of Birth

Boston, MA^[1]

Created by

Mark Fergus, Hawk Ostby, Art Marcum, Matt Holloway

First appearance

Appearance of Death

Iron Man
(May 2, 2008)

Marvel's The Avengers
(April 25, 2012
May 4, 2012 (U.S.))

HistoryEdit

Ms. Foster, I'm agent Coulson with S.H.I.E.L.D.

-- Phil Coulson ^src 

Special Agent Phil Coulson is an agent of the Strategic Homeland Intervention Enforcement and Logistics Division (S.H.I.E.L.D.) and Fury's right-hand man.

Work with Tony Stark

Phil Coulson was present during events surrounding the destruction of the Arc Reactor at Stark Industries, first making himself known to industrialist inventor, Tony Stark, and also trying to assist with investigating Obadiah Stane^[1].

Months later, he found himself personally tasked with keeping an eye on Stark, until being reassigned to New Mexico.^[2]

Thor's arrival on 'Midgard'

S.H.I.E.L.D.'s scientific branch had detected unusual electromagnetic disturbances in the vicinity of Puente Antiguo, New Mexico, which drew Coulson to the site of an impact crater.^[3] While traveling there, he stopped at a gas station and overpowered two robbers.^[4] At the crater site, he found a number of town locals trying unsuccessfully to pull a hammer from the earth in which it was embedded. He called in S.H.I.E.L.D. and had the area cleared and secured for further investigation of the object.

With the hammer secured, Coulson turned his attention to the surrounding area and soon discovered equipment which led him back to astrophysics researcher Jane Foster and her colleagues based in Puente Antiguo. He immediately confiscated the remainder of her equipment and research, and when she returned home to discover her possessions being hauled away, Coulson simply brushed her off and offered a check as compensation.

Coulson was later at the S.H.I.E.L.D. compound surrounding the hammer when alarms sounded, signalling an intrusion, and he became further concerned by a corresponding build-up of anomalous weather at the same time. An unarmed intruder battered his way into the compound, right to the hammer, leaving Coulson to make a choice on whether or not to use lethal force to prevent the man from reaching it. Intrigued, he allowed the intruder to reach it, only to witness the man struggle with it before crumpling in anguish. Ordering the man captured, Coulson confronted him, pressing for information on his background and apparent military training, although the stranger only offered limited answers in reply.

The following day, Coulson was approached by Erik Selvig who spoke on behalf of the stranger and claimed the man's name was "Donald Blake". Coulson quickly established that there were inconsistencies with Selvig's claim, but released his detainee before ordering him followed by S.H.I.E.L.D. agents to find out more.

Coulson was responding to another find in the New Mexico desert when he received a curious report from his agents in Puente Antiguo. An agent reported the presence of four strangely dressed newcomers, but before Coulson could give this much consideration he was faced with a more immediate problem when a wind vortex appeared at the site he was investigating. Something large thumped down into the dust nearby and when the dust cleared Coulson found himself face-to-visor with a ten foot tall humanoid metal construct. He challenged it on the basis that it appeared to be unregistered weapons technology, at which point it opened fire and scattered the assembled agents.

Coulson escaped serious injury from the encounter, but could do little more than watch as The Destroyer laid waste to Puente Antiguo. He witnessed a miracle when the hammer that he had been guarding in recent days flew from its resting place to the hand of the stranger he had been detaining and saw the destruction of the rampaging machine as the man, now possessing the full power of Thor, battered it with the hammer. Coulson approached the man in the aftermath, pointing out that 'Blake' had not been completely honest. Thor told him that their goals were the same and that Coulson could count on him as an ally, if he returned the items that were taken from Foster. Coulson accepted and pointed out that Foster would need the equipment to continue her research. He then watched as Thor and his four strange friends left town.^[3]

Later, Coulson met with Agent Sitwell in a diner to discuss the current situation involving the Avenger Initiative. While Nick Fury's superiors had approved it, they also wanted Emil Blonsky (now dubbed "The Abomination") recruited onto the team due to his military record and status as a war hero. Since he was still being held by General Ross, they planned to blame all the destruction he caused during his rampage in Harlem on Bruce Banner in order to clear his name and have him released. With Fury unable to outright refuse, Coulson proposed sending a patsy to meet with Gen. Ross in the hopes of unintentionally sabotaging the meeting so that he would refuse to hand Blonsky over. Sitwell suggested they send the "Consultant", who turned out to be Tony Stark; an idea that Coulson was adamantly against. He eventually relented, which proved to be the wiser choice as Stark succeeded in his task with Blonsky remaining in the general's custody and off the Avengers.^[5]

Avengers Assemble

Coulson's brushes with exceptional people were only beginning. He got to witness the revival of the World War II-era hero Captain Steven Rogers, famously known as "Captain America", before again being tasked to approach Tony Stark on a matter of dire urgency. Thor's brother Loki had stolen the Tesseract, an object of limitless power, and the gravity of this situation was such that the idea of bringing together a team of exceptional people had to be revisited.

After leaving Stark with a convincing portfolio of the situation, Coulson escorted Steve Rogers to the S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier, taking the time to request autographs of his hero. Once on board he took up other duties, including some involvement in ensuring that Jane Foster had been moved to a safe location.

He was present on the carrier long after the capture of Loki, when rogue S.H.I.E.L.D. agent, Clinton Barton launched a daring commando raid. Coulson procured an experimental gun from secure containment and went to one of the more obvious target objectives: Loki's holding cell. When he arrived, he found Loki outside of the cell, and Thor trapped on the inside. He threatened Loki and held him at gunpoint, but the Asgardian had created an illusion to distract Coulson while he slipped behind the S.H.I.E.L.D. agent. Coulson was shocked by the appearance of a blade bursting from his chest, a mortal wound dealt from behind, but scored a shot of his own with the experimental gun before Loki fled the Helicarrier.

Agent Coulson was slipping away when Director Fury found him. He tried to assure Fury that his death would provide the reason for the Avengers to assemble, but his words failed before he could complete them. Agent Phil Coulson died believing in an ideal, believing in the Avengers, and in his death those same people found the resolve they had sorely lacked.^[6]

Powers and AbilitiesEdit

Powers

Abilities

Highly trained in multiple martial arts and hand to hand combat.^[7]

ParaphernaliaEdit

Transportation

Weapons

Pocket explosive device, implied tazer and guns.

NotesEdit

• Clark Gregg portrays Agent Coulson in Iron Man, Iron Man 2, Thor, and Marvel's The Avengers. Gregg also portrays the character in the Marvel One-Shots "The Consultant" and "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Thor's Hammer," and in the upcoming television series Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
  

TriviaEdit

• Coulson grew up being a huge fan of Captain America, and collected a set of vintage Captain America cards over the course of two years.^[6]
• It was revealed that Coulson had been dating a cellist at the time of his death.^[6]
• Clark Gregg reprises his role in the Ultimate Spider-Man cartoon.
• Gregg was announced to star in the upcoming TV series created by Joss Whedon (the director and co-writer of Marvel's The Avengers) which will feature the adventures of Coulson and other S.H.I.E.L.D. agents, totally in canon with the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Gregg himself hinted the possibility of the Coulson killed by Loki being an Life-Model Decoy, one of the reasons why Coulson's death may have been edited in the DVD launch of the movie in the United Kingdom.
• Thanks to some of his fan-favorite moments in the movies, personality and his heroic death in Marvel's The Avengers Coulson is one of the few supporting characters with a strong fanbase, which lead to the creation of t-shirts, groups in social networks and even his introduction in the Marvel Mainstream Universe. One of the notorious campaigns through the Internet is "Coulson Lives", referring to his possible survival to his encounter with Loki.

LinksEdit

• 22 Appearances of Phillip Coulson (Earth-199999)
• 10 Images featuring Phillip Coulson (Earth-199999)
• 1 Quotations by or about Phillip Coulson (Earth-199999)
• Character Gallery: Phillip Coulson (Earth-199999)
• Fan-Art Gallery: Phillip Coulson (Earth-199999)

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Footnotes