In the new Marvel Series Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent Coulson isn’t the man he used to be, and Alex Yarde suspects he’s not a man at all.
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S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent Coulson started as a minor character in Jon Favereu’s original Iron Man, the film that ignited the recent Marvel movie hits that culminated in the 2012, two billion dollar juggernaut, The Avengers.
In the Avengers film, Agent Coulson is killed in action, confronting Thor’s evil stepbrother, Loki. The death of Agent Couson is used by SHIELD Leader, Nick Fury, as the catalyst to solidify the motley group of heroes into a formidable unit. However, somehow Agent Coulson miraculously appears on the small screen as leader of a new advance team of operatives in Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. televison series.
I propose that if Fury could use Agent Coulson’s death toward his own purpose, it follows that if he had the technology, he isn’t above re-animating Coulson to use his experience as an Agent. Or that Agent Coulson was never who or what we were led to believe in the first place.
Lots of little clues are apparent in the Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. show. One glaring example, is this almost “Manchurian Canidate” way Coulson repeatedly waxes nostalgic about his recuperation post Battle of New York in Tahiti. Is this a memory implant similar to Replicant Rachel’s spider under her window sill in Ridley Scott’s Bladerunner? Is Agent Coulson really a life model simulation or an android? Will we see a storage room full of Coulsons ready to replace the latest model out of a Tahitian S.H.I.E.L.D. facility? It then begs the question—was Agent Coulson ever a human being at all? Is he field equipment, like one of the Maguffins – his team spans the globe to acquire every week?
I wrote a speculative piece about Avengers Age of Ultron that was supported by the first teaser trailer of Avengers Age of Ultron where Starks armored Iron Man helmet is violently corrupted and takes the form of Ultron first shown at San Diego Comic Con The Avengers: Age of Ultron SDCC Teaser Trailer (HD) Marvel. Tony Stark, it seems, not Henry Pym, the Avenger Scientist, Ant Man, becomes the “Father”of Ultron. Since they have changed Ultron’s origin, it’s safe to say Marvel could change the Visions as well. Perhaps Ultron hacks Agent Coluson and modifies him and Agent Coulson becomes Ultron’s “Vision” used as a weapon against the Avengers?
My bias to see the Vision on screen aside, it makes sense. In the Age of Ultron comic, it’s the Vision that is used to defeat earths heroes controlled by Ultron from the future. Ultron historically used trusted figures, the Avengers human butler Jarvis for instance, in his nefarious plans. Who is a more trusted figure of the Avengers than “Son of Cole,” as Thor named him?
It also stands to reason that if both Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch are appearing in Avengers 2 and this is confirmed, Scarlet Witch’s future husband, The Vision, may be appearing as well.
I, too, thought Coleson could be the the Vision! I’m glad it’s not just me. I think that the fact that Joss Whedon has mentioned that the Scarlet Witch will be slightly different in the Avengers 2 movie than in the comics –mostly costume-wise, and much like Black Widow–gives me hope that the storyline can be manipulated enough for Coulson to become the Vision without completely disregarding the comics. I read the Avengers mostly in the late 80s and early 90s, so he was a big part of my comic experience. I have to wonder if the costume changes, which… Read more »