For Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. fans, Phil Coulson is a character with a long and eventful history in the Marvel universe, but as far as your more casual MCU consumer is concerned, the man’s story pretty much ended with his death in 2012’s The Avengers. Fortunately, with Captain Marvel taking things back to the ‘90s, filmgoers can enjoy more from Clark Gregg’s character without having to be clued in about his later adventures, and according to this new fan theory, his return to the big screen could herald an important role in Avengers 4, and perhaps even a continued presence in the franchise as a whole.
The linchpin for this theory is a line in S.H.I.E.L.D. from one Robin Hinton, who prophesies that Coulson will ‘bring the pieces together.’ According to user StrawHatJedi, we have yet to see this prophecy fulfilled, dismissing the interpretation that the character helped keep the team together by arguing that this notion simply isn’t reflected in the events of the show.
The Redditor goes on to observe how the Captain Marvel movie not only puts Coulson back into the minds of filmgoers, but also establishes a connection between the character and the Kree for those who haven’t been keeping track of the TV series. And now that Phil looks to be practically on his deathbed, leaving S.H.I.E.L.D. at the end of AoS season 5 to spend his last days in Tahiti, StrawHatJedi sees the present-day return of Carol Danvers in Avengers 4 to be of some fortuitous timing.
Specifically, the suggestion is made that Carol might heal Coulson’s fatal injury, perhaps using Kree technology. What’s more, it’s allegedly here that the ‘bring the pieces together’ prophecy truly kicks in, as the Avengers’ old friend helps to reunite Earth’s Mightiest Heroes after Tony Stark and Steve Rogers’ falling out.
While this idea should be taken for the mere fan theory it is, it still seems like a pretty smart plan for how Marvel Studios could bring Coulson back into the present-day film saga in a way that requires only the quickest of catch-ups on the events of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. What’s more, now that the ending of Avengers: Infinity War has temporarily whittled the core cast down to mostly Phase 1 players, Coulson’s return could allow for a nice bit of symmetry with the team’s first ensemble outing.
In any case, we’ll see if Clark Gregg gets to be one of the many familiar faces to attend the grand finale when Avengers 4 comes out on May 3rd, 2019.