ABC recently dropped the season 6 trailer for Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D and did it drop some bombs. First, the trailer reveals that Agent Coulson passed away after season 5. The trailer then shows the team trying to move on after his death. Then, towards the end of the trailer, we see that Phil Coulson is alive but doesn’t know who S.H.I.E.L.D is. Take a look at the trailer for yourself below.
After reviewing this trailer, all sorts of questions came up. Why is Coulson alive? Why does he not know who S.H.I.E.L.D is? Is this an imposter? After pondering these questions for a few minutes, there is only one possible theory that makes sense. The Phil Coulson that we have followed since 2008’s Ironman has been a Skrull imposter who we will meet in March’s Captain Marvel!
Now, before you start hitting up the comments stating that the MCU and Marvel Television don’t have anything to do with each other, just hear me out.
We were introduced to the character in 2008’s Ironman. Since that movie, Coulson appeared in several of the Phase 1 films and met his untimely death in 2012’s The Avengers. After that, we were reintroduced to the character in season 1 of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. During that season, we were dragged along waiting on any tidbit the show would give us to reveal how he survived. Finally, in the episode titled “The Magical Place”, we learned that Coulson had been dead for several days and Fury “moved Heaven and Earth” to bring him back.
In what way did Fury “move Heaven and Earth?” Well, he had doctors and scientists use a drug called GH.325 on Coulson which regenerated Coulson’s heart tissues. It is later learned that the drug GH.325 was extracted from the body of a Kree corpse.
Why all this back story? Because you need to know the setup of why this theory is plausible. We all know that Agent Coulson is set to appear in Captain Marvel. That movie is set to feature the Skrulls in a big bad way. We also know that the Skrulls can shapeshift into people and are indistinguishable from that person when they are disguised.
The theory here is that the Coulson we see in Captain Marvel will be a Skrull that has taken over the real Phil Coulson. When he was killed by Loki in The Avengers, his body was taken to the Guest House and was examined for 7 days. It is quite possible that the reason Fury “moved Heaven and Earth” is because they found out that he was a Skrull in disguise. We know that not all Skrulls are bad and it is possible that this one is good. Fury, being the betting man that he is, brought this one back to life, collecting intel and altering its memories.
If this is even remotely close to what is going to happen, that means the Coulson we are seeing at the end of the season 6 trailer is the real Coulson who does not know anything about S.H.I.E.L.D and is going to have to be brought up to speed on everything that has happened since 1995. But what do you think? Does this theory hold any merit? Do you think the show will take a different route? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!
