Phil Coulson

Phillip Coulson is a long-serving field agent working for S.H.I.E.L.D. He served as Director Fury's second-in-command for some of the Division's most important missions. One of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s most decorated operatives, Coulson was put in charge of surveillance and served as the primary operative in the Avengers Initiative. As of the finale of Season One, Fury at least considers Coulson the Director of the new version of S.H.I.E.L.D. which is now needed.

Phil is a Caucasian male with a muscular build and brown hair. He has blue eyes, and is about 6'0" tall. He usually wears a business suit, with a white shirt underneath and a tie. Coulson exhibits a "by the book" personality; and shows a great deal of maturity and discipline in handling very dangerous situations. He has an appreciation for traditional "things" like vintage collectibles, such as his collection of official Captain America trading cards and his 1962 Chevrolet Corvette, informing Ward as they get on The Bus that "people tend to confuse the words 'new' and 'improved'". Coulson greatly values the members of his team; and often cares for the well-being well beyond the protocol and guidelines that have been laid down by S.H.I.E.L.D.

Publication Information

S.H.I.E.L.D. : Phil Coulson
Version : Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
Known As : Phillip J. Coulson
Alter Ego :
- Phil : By Melinda May
- Son of Coul : By Thor and Lady Sif
- A.C. : By Skye
- Agent Coulson : By Tony Stark
- Zombie Robot Back From The Dead : By Antoine Triplett
- Robot Hand : By Professor Elliot Randolph
- Ghost rider
- Hot Lips : By Daisy Johnson
Type :
- Formerly director of S.H.I.E.L.D. agent
- S.H.I.E.L.D. agent
Relative :
- Julie Coulson : Mother/li>
- Dead Robert Coulson : Father/li>
- Rosalind Price : Former love interest
Affiliation : S.H.I.E.L.D.
Gender : Male
Origin : United State
Season :
First Appeareance : Iron Man
Last Appeareance :
Number of Appeareance :
Potrayer : Clark Gregg
Main View : Full Movies

During a press conference following Tony Stark's escape from the custody of the Ten Rings in Afghanistan, Coulson approached Pepper Potts to schedule a meeting with Stark. He later approached Stark himself at a benefit for the Firefighters' Family Fund to arrange a meeting, and Stark dismissively agreed; Coulson arrived at Stark Industries headquarters for the debriefing, but encountered Potts as she hurried from the building, having downloaded incriminating files that showed that Obadiah Stane had sold Stark Industries weapons to terrorist organizations as well as having arranged the abduction of Tony Stark by the Ten Rings.

Thor's arrival on Midgard

After S.H.I.E.L.D.'s scientific branch detected unusual electromagnetic activity in the vicinity of Puente Antiguo, Coulson was dispatched to the site of an impact crater. In transit, he stopped at a gas station and overpowered two robbers. At the crater site, he found a number of town locals trying unsuccessfully to pull a hammer from the earth. Coulson notified S.H.I.E.L.D., who cleared and secured the area for further investigation. With the hammer secured, Coulson turned his attention to the surrounding area and discovered equipment which led him back to astrophysicist Jane Foster and her colleagues. He immediately confiscated the remainder of her equipment and research, and when Foster returned to her home to discover her possessions being hauled away, Coulson offered her a check as compensation.

The Avengers

At some point following his time in New Mexico, Coulson began a long-distance relationship with a cellist who lived in Portland, Oregon. This relationship was known of and approved by 'Pepper' Potts, who considered Phil a friend, discernibly more so than Tony Stark. Coulson was later assigned to the Project P.E.G.A.S.U.S. facility where the Tesseract, a relic of unimaginable power, was being studied by Selvig's team. When the object began releasing erratic power surges, Coulson led an evacuation of the facility shortly before the Tesseract activated and teleported Loki into the facility. Coulson, Fury, and Agent Maria Hill were unable to prevent Loki from stealing the Tesseract prior to the destruction of the facility.

Level 8

Despite the common belief that he had died, Coulson returned to active duty in September of 2013, assembling a team consisting of agents Melinda May and Grant Ward, biochemist Jemma Simmons and engineer Leo Fitz, and hacktivist Skye. Coulson and Maria Hill later explained to Agent Ward that Fury "faked Coulson's death to motivate the Avengers"; Coulson claimed that he "stopped breathing for about forty seconds," though Hill indicated that Coulson was clinically dead for just eight seconds before being revived. He then spent time recovering in "a grass shack in Tahiti," which he keeps describing as "a magical place"; the story of Coulson's survival, however, is almost certainly a fabrication.

The Bus

As a reward for his "above and beyond" service on the Helicarrier, Fury provided Coulson with his own transportation, a S.H.I.E.L.D. Globemaster, and gave him free rein to assemble a team for ops of his choosing and liking. However, his hand was 'guided' by May, according to what she says in "Turn, Turn, Turn", since she needed "Someone who could repair your body, a technician who could reprogram your brain, and a specialist to help me put you down if it had to be done". In their first mission out the dynamic is changed drastically by the addition of Skye, who causes the entire team to individually reassess what they are doing and why. Coulson sees immense potential in her, describing her as an 0-8-4. He empathizes strongly with Mike Peterson's sense of powerlessness, having been dead for the best part of a minute at the hands of a "god".

Related