Clark Gregg Confirmed To Return As Phil Coulson In ‘Captain Marvel’ Movie

“The Avengers” killed Phil Coulson, but he was brought back to life on “Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.” Unfortunately, the movies still haven’t acknowledged Coulson’s return from the dead, but the Marvel Cinematic Universe hasn’t forgotten about the agent.

Marvel Studios confirmed Monday that Clark Gregg is a cast member in “Captain Marvel,” due out next year. According to the press release, “The film stars Academy Award winner Brie Larson, Samuel L. Jackson, Ben Mendelsohn, Djimon Hounsou, Lee Pace, Lashana Lynch, Gemma Chan, Algenis Perez Soto, Rune Temte, McKenna Grace, with Clark Gregg, and Jude Law.”

Most of those names had been announced before, but Gregg’s name was certainly a surprise. However, it makes sense. The Marvel TV shows and movies don’t crossover largely because they work on different schedules (“Agents of SHIELD” Season 2 was just starting when “Infinity War” was announced), but this won’t interfere with any continuity.

“Captain Marvel” movie takes place in the 1990s, long before Coulson’s deadly run-in with Loki. It looks like S.H.I.E.L.D. will be in full force when Carol Danvers (Larson) gets her superpowers.

Gregg will have to play about 20 years younger than he is, but “Captain America: Civil War” proved that Marvel has the budget to age actors down when Robert Downey Jr. appeared in a flashback.

Earlier this month, Gregg played dumb when asked if he’d ever return to the movie portion of the MCU. “When they feel like it’s time to start connecting any of these worlds, they will,” he told Entertainment Weekly. “I feel like I’ll hear from them then, but in the meantime, I have my hands full trying to do a good job on [‘Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.’]”

No word yet on if Melinda May (Ming-Na Wen) will be his partner in the flick, but expect S.H.I.E.L.D. to have a big presence. Samuel L. Jackson’s Nick Fury is also set to appear. It isn’t clear if Fury will be S.H.I.E.L.D. director by the time Captain Marvel’s story starts. However, it has been announced that he’ll have both eyes, so it seems like Fury will get some backstory in the 2019 movie.

Among the familiar new additions are Lee Pace and Djimon Hounsou. They’ll reprise their roles as Kree aliens, Ronan the Accuser and Korath the Pursuer, respectively. Both characters were introduced in “Guardians of the Galaxy,” so it’s safe to say they’ll survive the Kree-Skrull war that will be explored in “Captain Marvel.”

Also on the cast list is McKenna Grace, who might be familiar to some fans. The 11-year-old appeared with Chris Evans (Captain America) in last year’s “Gifted.” She also appeared in “I, Tonya,” which co-starred Sebastian Stan (Winter Soldier). It isn’t clear what her role is, but she could easily play a young Carol Danvers.

“Captain Marvel” hits theaters March 8, 2019. Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck will direct the script, which they’re credited as writing along with Meg LeFauve, Nicole Perlman, Geneva Robertson-Dworet, Liz Flahive and Carly Mensch.