Marvel’s upcoming Captain Marvelmovie starring Brie Larson won’t just explore the eponymous character, but will color in the backstory of MCU fan-favorite Agent Phil Coulson as well, according to Entertainment Weekly.
“We’re seeing a version of Coulson that’s, what, eight or nine years, 10 years before Iron Man,” said Clark Gregg about his character’s portrayal in next year’s film. “He’s a bit of a new guy in S.H.I.E.L.D. He’s a lot younger. It’s the earliest we will have seen him, so when he says, ‘Mr. Stark, this isn’t my first rodeo’ in Iron Man, this is maybe the rodeo he’s talking about.”
The film’s premise centers on Carol Danvers, who transforms into one of the most powerful characters in the Marvel Universe, amid a chaotic galactic war being fought between two alien races. Gregg’s Coulson isn’t the only vintage Marvel character to return to the screen here—Samuel L. Jackson will reprise the one-eyed Nick Fury role. Bloodline actor Ben Mendelsohn, who played Rogue One: A Star Wars Story's ruthless Orson Krennic, will lend his villainous talent to Marvel this time, with Jude Law as an additional MCU newbie as well.
For Gregg, the mere notion that Brie Larson—a personal favorite actress of his—will get to spearhead a big budget superhero movie is a special moment in history. It’s not just Gregg's admiration for Larson or the joy of seeing women empowered more onscreen, but the fact that his daughter will get to see a representation of herself in the theater in this light.
“Getting to see Captain Marvel come to life, I mean—it’s a really cool character,” he said. “And at least in the comics, one of the most powerful characters in the Marvel Universe. Perhaps more powerful than any character we’ve seen, with the exception of Thanos. So to have that be Brie Larson is cool for me. I’m excited to go with my daughter to see it.”
