NYCC: Coulson Lives In Whedon's "S.H.I.E.L.D."
Introduced by Director of Communications Arune Singh, Loeb took the stage to raucous applause. After a late start to the panel and a brief introduction testing the audience on their noisemaking abilities, Loeb reiterated that recording deceives are taboo, reinforced by the cadre of suited S.H.I.E.L.D. agents lining the doors. Loeb also gave a huge shout-out to his Marvel TV compatriots, who stood up and took a bow.
"It's crazy out there in Los Angeles," Loeb said. "We're so incredibly silly, we do this." Loeb played a clip of "Marvel Mash-Up," followed by the annoucnement that it's Spidey's birthday tomorrow and Marvel will be presenting a giant Birthday card for fans to sign.
Loeb segued to "Ultimate Spider-Man" and introduced Agent Coulson himself, Clark Gregg! The audience went crazy as Coulson took the stage.
"I have to thank Cobie Smulders because courtesy of the gag reel, everyone says, 'Coulson! Coulson! You will be avenged!" said Gregg, who is currently working on a film that he wrote and directed, "Trust Me."
Loeb also hyped "Much Ado About Nothing," Whedon's Shakespeare production that Gregg participated in.
"I don't know how you make a great movie of Shakespeare with the cast of Firefly in ten days at your house, but Joss is amazing," said Gregg, segueing to "The Avengers" (after an audience member shouted out "Cabin in the Woods.") Loeb said Marvel had something special for Gregg, something that's never been seen before. It featured a trailer of Coulson's moments starting with "Iron Man."
"This is not like Tinkerbell, you don't get to clap!" said Loeb.
And then, suddenly, Joss Whedon showed up onscreen amongst applause.
"We all love Clark Gregg, there's no doubt about that," Whedon said. "From before we made 'The Avengers,' we discussed whether there was a way for him to be a part of the Marvel Universe, perhaps a part of a TV show even after his death. … The fact of the matter is, as much as we love him, now that I'm really running Marvel, I like to keep a type of artistic integrity, which means we don't stretch the bounds of reality."