Coulson Is Among The World’s Most Wanted

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. has gone on a brief hiatus, and ABC has released a trailer to whet fans’ appetites for the return. The last episode, ‘Past Life’, saw S.H.I.E.L.D. return to the past. Although the episode itself ended on a cliffhanger, deliberately leaving fans wondering whether everyone made it back in one piece, the trailer for All the Comforts of Home’ answered that question; Coulson and his assembled agents are back in the present day.

Unfortunately, they’re also the world’s most wanted. Season 4 ended with S.H.I.E.L.D. believed to have gone rogue. Jeffrey Mace was dead, and a postmortem had proved he wasn’t an Inhuman after all. Worse still, an LMD of Quake had shot General Talbot, leaving him in a coma. The season actually ended with the S.H.I.E.L.D. team settling down to eat in a diner, expecting an imminent arrest. Instead, they were scooped up by Enoch, and transported to the future.

So far as the world is concerned, S.H.I.E.L.D. has been on the run for over six months. Their pictures have been sent to every police officer and FBI agent in the world. Coulson has lived in the shadows for years, but now he’s been brought out into the light. He is now public knowledge. His face has been given to every law enforcement agency in the world is looking for him. It’s a safe bet that international news has reported on him.

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The Avengers May Now Be Aware Of Coulson

The secrecy of Coulson’s resurrection has, for four seasons, been a neat way of explaining why he never interacted with any of the Avengers. Only S.H.I.E.L.D.’s former top brass, such as Maria Hill, knew he’d returned from the grave. Even when Coulson crossed paths with Sif, he asked her not to tell Thor, clearly hoping for a moment to talk with the God of Thunder himself. Now, though, the secret is out.

Steve Rogers is another of the “world’s most wanted,” hunted down after he decided to ignore the Sokovia Accords. The Avengers: Infinity War Prelude comic has revealed that Steve has been leading Falcon and Black Widow on covert missions across the globe. They’ve been following intelligence to stop threats from escalating; in one sequence, the trio prevented Chitauri weapons being obtained by terrorists. It seems hard to believe Rogers wouldn’t be part of a six-month-long global manhunt for a mysteriously-resurrected S.H.I.E.L.D. agent.

Elsewhere, it’s less certain Tony Stark will have realized Coulson is still alive. According to the Infinity War Prelude comic Stark has locked himself away and is trying to build new armor and weapons for the alien invasion he believes to be imminent. He’s in the middle of one of his more creative phases and will be minimizing contact with the outside world. Pepper is more likely to have tuned in to the news sometime in the last six months, however.

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Season 5 Now Faces A Problem

From a narrative viewpoint, the trailer for ‘All the Comforts of Home’ leaves Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. faced with a very difficult problem; how does it address this? In an ideal world, Coulson would reach out to either Tony Stark or Steve Rogers. To contact Stark, he’d simply have to go via Maria Hill. With Hill in the loop, Coulson should be able to go up through the ranks to Pepper, and through Pepper to Stark. Meanwhile, in regards Steve Rogers, Coulson likely shares some of Black Widow’s contacts. The official tie-in comics have strongly suggested that the two worked together frequently, so it would make sense that they still had contacts in common.

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Unfortunately, this isn’t an ideal world. When Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. was first launched, Marvel Television and Marvel Studios were both part of the wider Marvel Entertainment group. That’s why Seasons 1 and 2 featured cameos from the likes of Samuel L. Jackson, Cobie Smulders, and Jaimie Alexander. Then, in 2015, Marvel Studios parted ways with the rest of Marvel Entertainment. It’s now a separate entity, and it’s telling that there have been no more direct cameos since Marvel Studios and Marvel Entertainment parted ways. Given that context, the show was always going to struggle connecting to the wider MCU. So far, that issue has been explained away the simple narrative conceit that none of the Avengers knew Coulson was even alive. That no longer works.

So, from a narrative viewpoint, Coulson really should be reaching out to the Avengers. In practical terms, however, that simply can’t happen. How do we resolve this problem?

Finding A Solution For This Tricky Problem

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. needs to establish a reason why Coulson wouldn’t reach out to the Avengers. Only one reason seems to work: He doesn’t know who to trust anymore.

Imagine, for example, that Coulson tries to contact Stark. The problem is that Stark is a signatory to the Sokovia Accords, and as such he’s now compromised. He can’t simply suit up as Iron Man and jet to the rescue anymore. Instead, any superhero actions Iron Man takes have to be approved by a United Nations panel. They’re unlikely to sign off on a mission to help out the remnants of S.H.I.E.L.D.. Worse still, even if Stark chose to break the rules for a friend who’s concealed his resurrection for years, there’s no telling whether or not this would simply make matters worse.

And Steve Rogers is even more problematic. Coulson may well have a lot of old contacts, but as far as they’re concerned, he should be dead. With a global manhunt underway, they’re unlikely to help.

Five seasons in, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. has just backed itself into a corner. Key members of the Avengers simply have to know Coulson is now alive, and it’s time for Phil to ask for help. If he does so, this could turn Season 5 into the most exciting tie-in with the films since Season 2.

MORE: Unanswered Questions from Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.’s Mid-Season 5 Finale

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. season 5 continues Friday, March 2, at 9pm EST on ABC.

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