One of the main things tying together the likes of Iron Man and Thor was Clark Gregg’s Agent Coulson, but as those who’ve seen Avengers will know, it appeared that film would be the last we’d see of Clark Gregg’s character.
However, New York Comic Cong 2012 brought forth the surprise news that Gregg and Agent Coulson, will return for Marvel’s S.H.I.E.L.D., the new Marvel TV series set to air on ABC. At the event, it was only confirmed he’d appear in the pilot of the show, leading to speculation the entire show will either be a prequel to The Avengers, he survived that film (which has been speculated upon since the movie’s release), or that the pilot will be based around the events of the Battle Of New York, and therefore Gregg will only appear in the opening episode.
It was also confirmed that Joss Whedon will be co-writing the pilot with Jed Whedon and Maurissa Tancharoen. (Source: Marvel)