Today’s first trailer for Captain Marvel gave us a lot to chew on. From revealing new plot details to showing off Carol Danvers’ breathtaking powers to that weird moment where she punches an old lady. Amongst all the excitement, though, one brief moment you might have missed in the teaser was our first look at the return of Phil Coulson.
The fan favorite has been entertaining us on the small screen in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. for years, but he hasn’t appeared in the movies since 2012’s The Avengers. Captain Marvel will see him return to the cinematic side of the MCU though, but due to the 1990s setting, it’ll feature a Coulson twenty years younger than the one we know.
The trailer reveals just how he’ll appear in the prequel, and it looks like he’s got one fine quiff. You can catch a glimpse of him at the 1:33 mark in the video above, or in the gallery below (which also includes some other screenshots pulled from the preview).
As with Samuel L. Jackson’s Nick Fury, Coulson’s youthful appearance was realized with the help of CGI. Well, that’s what we’ve previously been told, at least. Clark Gregg took to Twitter today to reveal that, actually, the character’s revitalized look was all down to him taking a long nap.
Didn’t use any. Just took a 4 day nap.
— Clark Gregg (@clarkgregg) September 18, 2018
As for how Phil will factor into things, well, Gregg has previously stated that Coulson will be a rookie S.H.I.E.L.D. employee when Captain Marvel begins. Presumably. his work alongside Fury and Captain Danvers will give him a career boost, setting up his role as one of Director Fury’s top men in years to come. It’s also likely that this is the “first rodeo” he mentioned to Tony Stark back in Iron Man.
We know that Fury’s part in Captain Marvel will lead to another supporting part in Spider-Man: Far From Home, so hopefully the same will be true of Coulson as well and we can look forward to him becoming a regular face in the MCU again. Though if he doesn’t, at least we’ll always have the quiff.