Clark Gregg Says Captain Marvel Is an ‘Origin Beat’ For People Who have Seen the Other MCU Films

– Clark Gregg spoke with Uproxx about his return to the film side of the Marvel Cinematic Universe in Captain Marvel. After being stunned with the idea that it has been eleven years since he first played the role (“No! Is that true?…2008. You’re right. Jesus Christ.”), Gregg opened up as much as he could about playing the younger version of Coulson. Highlights are below:

On when he first realized people really liked Coulson: “It’s funny, I guess … I don’t know! I’m really not sure. I certainly kind of couldn’t believe Joss wanted to give him all this stuff to do in that cast, in The Avengers. I thought for sure that was going to all end up on the cutting room floor. He said, ‘You know, people are going to be so sad.’ And I said, ‘I don’t know. He’s a little bit snarky and annoying. They might be kind of glad to see him go.’ And so, to see the fans just not having it, and doing the whole Coulson Lives thing, to this day, it’s one of the most moving things that’s ever happened to me as an artist or a human. To have it be something that’s turned into 125 episodes of a TV show that, to me, has only gotten better as it’s gone along. It’s really just been a gift as an artist, just to be able to do all that stuff and go all those places and explore a character in that many universes. It’s been really, really fun. And to kind of go back in time. There’s something really cool about going back in time to the beginning of it, before he knows all that stuff. And to get to do some of the origin story beats with him and Nick Fury, that was really a kick.”

On Coulson being an optimist in the film: “Yeah. Well you know, we all start there. To me, the tone of the really good script, it felt early days of S.H.I.E.L.D. It’s post-Red Skull. They don’t know what they really know about yet. So it feels like the world is about to crack open for them, and he’s the kind of wide-eyed tour guide for the audience, in a way. Even Nick Fury seems to adjust a little quicker.”

On Coulson being in the films for the first time since The Avengers: “Well, I mean, I feel like, if anything, it’s just an origin beat for the people who’ve seen the other movies. Because the cool thing about the Marvel story that they’re telling, is one story across, God knows, 20 some movies?…Twenty-one movies. The people who fall in love with Wakanda, they go back and they start watching what led up to it. Same thing has always been true. The people who stop me to talk about this, they want to talk about the ways these things influence each other. They’re interested in it as a giant run of comics, where it’s all part of the same thing. And that’s what Marvel’s done. It’s one thing that they’ve had a batting average like this, doing great films, but to do this one giant story that all connects, I think is amazing.”