Agent Coulson is alive in “Captain Marvel” because it goes back in time, but is he alive in the present day in the movie’s timeline?
Uhh, Coulson is alive and on ABC once a week in “Agents Of Shield,” which you can check out—
Right, that’s TV though. I’m talking the movies. And to that end, when a Marvel character dies are they ever truly dead?
Yes, you’re right, “Captain Marvel” will be his first movie appearance since ‘Avengers 1’ in the MCU on the big screen. But to answer your question, it will vary. There are characters that have died that will stay dead. There are characters in the future films that will go away and stay gone, but when you’re dealing with characters that have had stories and comics for half a century, it always will vary. A character like Bucky Barnes who died in the early Captain America comics and for decades and decades people said—and I think it was even a rule within the bullpen of the Marvel publishing offices that you don’t bring back Bucky Barnes back to life. Bucky stays dead.
A lot of characters can come and go, and you kill Spider-Man and he comes back six months later and they all die, but Bucky Barnes stays dead. Until, Ed Brubaker and some folks had the idea to bring him back and we got Winter Soldier, and it was the best. It was great. So, I think it always depends. We certainly are, in ‘Infinity War’ and in the next ‘Avengers’ film heading towards the conclusion of 22 films in a way that will have permanence for many years.
People are gonna die, got it. Are we going to see characters that are still not on screen, but part of the larger ‘Avengers’ family-like Wonder Man or Namor, characters like that. Will we see them eventually?
I mean, it’s certainly my goal that we explore as much of the Marvel universe as possible and bring as many of those characters to the MCU as possible, all of them, everyone you’ve named has great potential. It still amazes me while in the junket room seeing all these characters on one poster. But, I do think that someday it would be amazing to explore every corner of the comics universe and interpret it into the big screen.
There’s the buzzer, last question. What do you feel about James Cameron’s comments today about superheroes and ‘The Avengers’?
You know, I haven’t heard it. Someone mentioned it in the press conference and I haven’t read it yet. But they said it involves him loving all the Avengers movies? I’m excited about that. That’s really nice.
[Laughs]. Well played.
“Avengers Infinity War” opens nationwide on April 27th.
