Comic Con: Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. panel with Joss Whedon, Clark Gregg, and more!

Last Updated on August 2, 2021

Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. TV show is one of the most anticipated of the Fall line-up, especially since it’s the company’s first attempt at taking their Cinematic Universe to the small screen. However, it’s not a complete shot in the dark, as you have a number of principal creative individuals working on the show who helped make a little movie called THE AVENGERS last year. Not a bad start at all.

The panel, which took place in Ballroom 20, was hosted by Marvel’s Head of Television, Jeph Loeb (rocking a Coulson Lives t-shirt no less!) and introduced the entire cast, including newcomer Brett Dalton, Chloe Bennet, Iain De Caestecker, Elizabeth Henstridge, Ming-Na Wen, and of course, Agent Coulson himself, Clark Gregg. The production team of Jed Whedon, Maurissa Tancharoen, and Jeff Bell were there as well to represent the show.

Naturally, Gregg’s entrance set the ballroom on fire, which was really cool to see. Of course, Joss Whedon followed, which rocked the house even more. Gregg was humble and proud of his newfound geek stature and when asked what it was like to put the suit back on, he simply turned and gave Whedon a hug, then said, “I didn’t like being dead. But I really loved my death. I never thought anything could top that. And then I met Lola [his S.H.I.E.L.D. car].”

Gregg said that he is a “longtime Marvel fan” and that he “couldn’t believe” that the experience of being Agent Coulson was happening to him. He went on to explain how he got the call from Marvel that he was going to be in THE AVENGERS, but that he would be killed. Although, not happy about being killed off, Gregg accepted his fate. Until the geeks got involved, that is. Gregg, calling those who rallied and helped spread the #Coulson Lives word as “bad ass geeks” that ultimately resurrected the character. “That just mean’s everything to me,” he said.

The first question asked was the one everyone wants to know and that’s how much of the existing Marvel Cinematic Universe will play into the show and if we’ll see characters from the other films and/or comics make appearances. The cryptic answer, given by Whedon was basically a confirmation that we would see characters and themes from the existing cinematic universe, but also that we’d see new characters and potentially existing ones that have yet to grace the big or small screen.

Then, Joss dropped the hammer on us when asked if we could see a clip of the show, starting off with an apology and saying that because of Disney legal, etc. that they couldn’t show a clip…so they were just going to show the whole pilot. So, yeah, there were no boo’s because of that one. And so, we all settled in for our first look at Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (Check out our review here). After the screening, everyone “reassembled” and talked a bit more about their characters and gratitude for being a part of the show. Whedon said that he hasn’t felt this good about an ensemble cast in a long time and everyone was excited to get the ball rolling.  Gregg left it with, “Wait until you see episode 2!” which brought thunderous applause.

Coulson is certainly alive and well.

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. premieres on September 24, 2013 on ABC.