Bits and pieces of the ‘Captain Marvel’ puzzle have started coming together over the past few weeks, as the film inches closer to hitting theaters. (Keep calm, though. It still won’t be out until next May.) The trailer unveiled not just Brie Larson as Carol Danvers a.k.a. Captain Marvel, but we got glimpses of the various versions of her costume, and Jude Law, Samuel L. Jackson as a young Nick Fury, and for the first time, Clark Gregg as a young Phil Coulson during his earliest days with SHIELD.
Everyone is familiar with Gregg’s Coulson who was a scene-stealer in the earliest Marvel movies, starting with ‘Iron Man’, followed by ‘Iron Man 2’ and ‘Thor’. He was so popular with fans that he starred in two ‘Marvel One Shot’s, ‘The Consultant’ and ‘A Funny Thing Happened on the to Thor’s Hammer’. Finally, he had maybe his most instrumental role in a Marvel film with ‘Avengers’, but heartbreakingly for fans, it was his death that inspired the desperate heroes to look past their differences and work together.
Sure, he went on to be revived and headlined ABC’s ‘Agents of SHIELD’ but sadly, that show arrived just as tensions between Marvel Studios and Marvel Entertainment resulted in Marvel Studios (who make the films) breaking away and forming its own subsidiary under Disney and severing ties with the TV division. As a result, even though Coulson was alive on ‘Agents of SHIELD,’ his resurrection was never acknowledged in the films.
But at long last, he is back. Because ‘Captain Marvel’ is set in the past, Coulson appears in it, many years before his death. And thanks to movie magic, he has been digitally de-aged.
The most obvious difference between modern Coulson and the flashback version is the fact that he has a lot more hair. Maybe it’s just the hair, but he bears a slight resemblance to Ewan McGregor. But in other ways– the suit, the shades– he’s vintage Phil. (Also keep in mind, things will likely continue to be tweaked before it hits theaters. No shade, but they’ll probably smooth out his face a little more.)
It’s unclear how large a role he will play. It appears that Nick Fury has a larger part, but hopefully, film fans can get a decent dose of Coulson in the big screen, considering… well, it might be the last time.
Are you excited to see Coulson back on the big screen? How do you think he looks?
‘Captain Marvel’, directed by Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck, stars Brie Larson, Ben Mendelsohn, Gemma Chan, Clark Gregg, Djimon Hounsou, Samuel L. Jackson, Jude Law, Lashana Lynch and Lee Pace, and arrives in theaters on March 8, 2019.
