Now officially the longest running Marvel show on television, “Agents of SHIELD,” which is set to debut its sixth season on Friday, May 10, stopped by WonderCon Anaheim 2019 to discuss all things SHIELD, including secrets from the upcoming season.
It’s no secret that after being terminally ill last season, Phil Coulson (Clark Gregg) will return in season 6. However, the exact means behind his return have not yet been revealed to the fans, and Gregg has explicitly stated that this is “Not Coulson.”
“There’s a lot of versions of Coulson and they all feel comfortable,” Gregg said. “This one doesn’t feel comfortable. It was very confusing.” Executive producer Jeff Bell also weighed in on the arrival of Not Coulson. “That was the longest, most complicated conversation we had last season, and it lasted all year,” Bell said. “We wanted to bring him back in a way that wouldn’t make his death meaningless. People will be mad that Coulson’s gone. How can we engage Clark as an actor and the other characters have to deal with him a new, powerful way? Is he a bad guy? There’s all these juicy questions.
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Head of Marvel Television Jeph Loeb defended the decision to kill off Coulson (again) by saying, “First of all, we were pretty sure season 5 was going to be our last season! (Laughs) The story that was told about how he was revived made a promise that it wasn’t a fix. It was a borrowed time kind of situation and unless you pay that off, you’re not getting what you expect. And what that allowed us to do was what you’ll see in season 6 and season 7. Anytime story generates more story, that’s a good thing.”
Among the many lingering questions of season 6 is how Iain De Caestecker will return as Fitz, given that his character died last season. “They alluded to at the end of last season that theoretically there would be another Fitz in space,” Caestecker said, adding, “There’s also the idea that they changed the timeline and does that mean there’s a new future for that Fitz in space?”
Elizabeth Henstridge, who plays Fitz’s new wife, Simmons, revealed the extreme lengths Simmons will go to in order to find her husband. “She’s just a woman on a mission,” Henstridge said. “She’s determined to find him. She knows the odds are stacked against her, but she isn’t letting doubt creep in. I wouldn’t say that she’s mean, but she doesn’t think about other people’s feelings, which has been kind of nice!”
Another massive change for the new season is Mack (Henry Simmons) filling Coulson’s shoes as the new director of SHIELD. “I’m so honored by the fact that the writers gave me this opportunity,” Simmons said. “I had no idea, I thought they would give it to Daisy. I was really surprised. I know I can handle it, I just didn’t think they would give me that opportunity.” “The transition that Mack goes through is something I really enjoyed watching because getting that position changes his character,” said Natalia Cordova-Buckley, who plays Elena “Yo-Yo” Rodriguez. “It’ll be fun seeing SHIELD have a new director.”
Finally, Gregg talked his recent return to the Marvel film series in this year’s blockbuster “Captain Marvel.” “That made me really nostalgic, seeing the origins between him and Nick Fury and hanging out with Sam (Jackson). Even though none of that happened until last year, that made me feel nostalgic. And I never really thought about it, but if he doesn’t let them go in the stairway, none of this ever happens! Fury never pages Captain Marvel, ‘Endgame’ doesn’t happen and we’re all dead. You’re welcome, world!”
“Agents of SHIELD” returns for its sixth season Friday, May 10 on ABC.