Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D. Clark Gregg

Fans who watched the season 5 finale of Marvel’s ‘Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.’ know that Agent Phil Coulson is dead. However, Coulson appeared in the trailer for season 6! Say what!?

ABC renewed ‘S.H.I.E.L.D.’ for another two years following the conclusion of Season 5. A move that surprised the cast just as much as the fans. Coulson actor Clark Gregg gave an interview while appearing at the Television Critics Association press tour on Tuesday, and spoke about the news, saying:

“We had this really wonderful end of Season Five — the [season finale] episode was even called ‘The End’ — and we had reason to believe that we were done. We’d had these wonderful five seasons and a very tight family, and it was very, very sad. And then they called everyone up and said, we’re actually gonna do two more short, 13-episode seasons, which is really the number we thought we always could do best at.”

This brings us back to the issue at hand, the fact that Agent Coulson died at the end of Season 5 following a run in with the Spirit of Vengeance that destroyed the Kree compounds in his system. Addressing this, Gregg said:

“I didn’t know if it was going to involve me, and if it was going to involve me, I thought it had to be something special, something very different. I didn’t want to just kind of like, go, ‘Oh, never mind, it turns out he was OK all along.’”

And, it turns out, that is exactly what happened. Whoever or whatever has taken over Coulson’s body mentions in the trailer that he has no idea what S.H.I.E.L.D. is. Gregg explained:

“What [producers] Jed and Mo Whedon and Jeff Bell came up with, with the other writers, fulfilled all those criteria. And I’m really excited for people to see what they came up with. It may be a little disturbing, but this is a very different person.”

He continued:

“There’s a big mystery here. And I think that this person is as surprised as they are, that they seem to recognize his face… I probably wasn’t supposed to say that.”

Most of the details must be kept under wraps, of course, but Gregg did give away a few details for Season 6, including Mack (Henry Simmons) taking over director duties in Coulson’s absence. He said:

“I know that Season Six starts out with the S.H.I.E.L.D. team on Earth, grieving, trying to take on on the duties of S.H.I.E.L.D. and dealing with these strange anomalies that have wreaked mass chaos, and they seem to get some images of people from somewhere else who are committing these things. The other half of the team is off in space, looking for the frozen Fitz from the future… And suddenly, it becomes clear that one of these people is wearing a very familiar face. I don’t know what people are going to think, I do not know. That’s what I like about the show. They have a great bravery in terms of throwing out all the rules and taking risks. And they’ve really taken one this year.”

All will (hopefully) be revealed when Marvel’s ‘Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.’ returns this summer! Check out the trailer below!