As soon as Marvel announced that they were moving forward with their S.H.I.E.L.D. TV series – officially titled AGENTS OF S.H.I.E.L.D. – that news was quickly followed up by the bombshell that Clark Gregg’s Agent Phil Coulson would be appearing. Last seen dead at the hands of Loki in AVENGERS ASSEMBLE, Coulson’s return left the geek world a tad puzzled. Would he appear in flashback form? Would his death have been a ploy? Dare I say, was he being set up to play an android of sorts (*cough* The Vision *cough*)?

Fear not, for the guys over at /Film seem to have an answer to this pickle. Be warned, spoilers lie ahead in the form of /Film’s report on ABC’s proposed Marvel series. And so it goes…

SPOILERS

In the pilot, it’s revealed Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson), the ultimate super spy, faked Agent Coulson’s death on purpose to motivate The Avengers. Some S.H.I.E.L.D. members were in on it (including, possibly, Maria Hill played by Cobie Smulders) but The Avengers were not. Their security clearance wasn’t high enough. Coulson was forced to hold his breath as part of the ruse and that’s a point of contention among his colleagues. After the fact, Fury moved him to a remote location until things died down, and then he was reinserted into duty at the time of the show.

Take it with a pinch of salt for now, but that’s the current rumour doing the rounds. ABC are looking at airing the Joss Whedon directed pilot of AGENTS OF S.H.I.E.L.D. later this year, with the hope that the series then gets picked up.

Expect more on this as it becomes available…

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