# Marvel Agents of SHIELD **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 25, 2013, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marvel-agents-of-shield/669608 "2013-09-25T00:55:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 8
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2013, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marvel-agents-of-shield/669608/141 "2013-09-27T03:21:35Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > On the other hand, there’s always an outside chance we’ll see a scene like this: > > Coulson: Mike Petersen is dead. We need to build you a new identity. What would you like your new name to be? > Mike: Uhh… I never thought about it. > Coulson: Well, who’s your favorite movie character? > Mike: Luke Skywalker? > > Disney marketing would love it, at least. 😃 Luke Cage’s an alias, anyway - I don’t even remember if we got the actuall full original legal name in his first run (and if we did, I don’t think it wasn’t in the introductory story). ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2013, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marvel-agents-of-shield/669608/142 "2013-09-27T13:54:53Z")
> [@epbrown01](#): > > I was thinking he’d turn out to be The Falcon, in part because of Coulson’s interest in Captain America. I doubt it - the Falcon has been cast for Winter Soldier, the next Captain America movie. I met Jim Steranko at Heroes Con this year. He’s… an original. (He thinks he can see in the dark.) ---
**Author:** ![FlyingDragonFan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c89c15/32.png) [@FlyingDragonFan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlyingDragonFan)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2013, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marvel-agents-of-shield/669608/143 "2013-09-27T15:15:35Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > I’m just happy they have a pretty product with pretty people in it doing fun things with amazing equipment and snappy dialog. I’m easy to please that way. Me too, I loved it. WAG: Coulson is currently a Life Model Decoy. He was really killed in Avengers, and Fury had his memories uploaded into an LMD. That’s what “he must never know.” His memories of Tahiti were implanted to cover the transfer. ---
**Author:** ![Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/prof.pepperwinkle/32/13627_2.png) [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Prof.Pepperwinkle)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2013, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marvel-agents-of-shield/669608/144 "2013-09-27T15:22:41Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > Luke Cage’s an alias, anyway - I don’t even remember if we got the actuall full original legal name in his first run (and if we did, I don’t think it wasn’t in the introductory story). Original name: Carl Lucas (so sayeth the Marvel Wiki). ---
**Author:** ![asterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4da419/32.png) [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2013, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marvel-agents-of-shield/669608/145 "2013-09-27T16:36:25Z")
> [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](#): > > Original name: Carl Lucas (so sayeth the Marvel Wiki). When I saw him in the opening scene (and I have no idea who Luke Cage is) I said “If this was the 70s, his name would be Black Something.” Am I too cynical? ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2013, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marvel-agents-of-shield/669608/146 "2013-09-27T19:38:07Z")
> [@FlyingDragonFan](#): > > WAG: Coulson is currently a Life Model Decoy. He was really killed in Avengers, and Fury had his memories uploaded into an LMD. That’s what “he must never know.” His memories of Tahiti were implanted to cover the transfer. For what it’s worth, Clark Gregg has said he’s read a bunch of the online theories and he hasn’t seen the right one yet. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2013, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marvel-agents-of-shield/669608/147 "2013-09-27T19:42:17Z")
Maybe there never _was_ a real Coulson. All clones from the very start. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2013, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marvel-agents-of-shield/669608/148 "2013-09-27T19:46:12Z")
> [@asterion](#): > > When I saw him in the opening scene (and I have no idea who Luke Cage is) I said “If this was the 70s, his name would be Black Something.” Am I too cynical? I’ve read more than one African American comic book critic note that one of the reasons they first got into Luke Cage as a kid was that he was the first black superhero they saw that didn’t have the word Black in his name. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2013, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marvel-agents-of-shield/669608/149 "2013-09-27T19:56:01Z")
> [@Zsofia](#): > > I met Jim Steranko at Heroes Con this year. He’s… an original. (He thinks he can see in the dark.) Yeah, I read the story of his slap fight with Bob Kane. Steranko tries to make it sound like he was taking a big risk by challenging somebody bigger than him… > [@](#): > > But this time, there was no elevator door closing between us. I stood there for about 15 seconds, waiting. He did nothing. I turned and left. But I regret it now. I regret that he didn’t do anything about it, even though he was at least a head taller than me. I wouldn’t have minded bleeding at all for one more opportunity to give Kane the kind of Bat Lesson that Finger, Robinson, Sprang and others only dreamed of. …but what Steranko doesn’t mention is that Kane is more than twenty years older than him. It’s also worth pointing out that Bob Kane died in 1998 but nobody apparently heard of this incident until Steranko reported it in 2013. ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2013, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marvel-agents-of-shield/669608/150 "2013-09-27T20:06:33Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Maybe there never _was_ a real Coulson. All clones from the very start. There was an old theory that the kid with the painted trash can lid at the very end of “Captain America” was Coulson - apparently if you turn up the audio you can hear his mother call “Phil!” But that would make him 80ish. So maybe they started cloning Coulson back in the 70s. Or maybe [this wacky theory](http://comicbook.com/blog/2013/06/16/agents-of-s-h-i-e-l-d-could-a-year-old-fan-theory-explain-coulsons-survival/) is true - Coulson was one of the subjects for testing super-soldier serum. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2013, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marvel-agents-of-shield/669608/151 "2013-09-27T20:21:18Z")
That would be sooooo cool! Of course they’ll never do it. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2013, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marvel-agents-of-shield/669608/152 "2013-09-27T22:46:38Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > For what it’s worth, Clark Gregg has said he’s read a bunch of the online theories and he hasn’t seen the right one yet. So what theories can we eliminate then? - Not a clone. - Not a robot/cyborg. - Not a LMD. What’s left? Some shapeshifter emulating Coulson? ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2013, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marvel-agents-of-shield/669608/153 "2013-09-27T22:53:50Z")
It happened exactly as Coulson remembers. Except it wasn’t Tahiti. It was Fiji. They can’t tell him, because while he’s generally a really nice guy, Coulsen gets absolutely infuriated when people correct his knowledge of geography. ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2013, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marvel-agents-of-shield/669608/154 "2013-09-27T23:28:00Z")
So, you’re saying Coulson is a descendant of Dave Lister’s cat? That seems unlikely. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2013, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marvel-agents-of-shield/669608/155 "2013-09-28T03:37:28Z")
> [@Kamino\_Neko](#): > > So, you’re saying Coulson is a descendant of Dave Lister’s cat? That seems unlikely. I KNEW it! ---
**Author:** ![Grumman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/43a26b/32.png) [@Grumman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grumman)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2013, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marvel-agents-of-shield/669608/156 "2013-09-28T03:49:54Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > So what theories can we eliminate then? > > - Not a clone. > - Not a robot/cyborg. > - Not a LMD. > > What’s left? Some shapeshifter emulating Coulson? He’s a Skrull? ---
**Author:** ![gonzoron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a6a055/32.png) [@gonzoron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzoron)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2013, 6:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marvel-agents-of-shield/669608/157 "2013-09-28T06:04:03Z")
Got it: Coulson’s been dead the whole time. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2013, 6:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marvel-agents-of-shield/669608/158 "2013-09-28T06:47:18Z")
The season finale will be Coulson pulling off his mask and revealing he was actually Neil Patrick Harris all along. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Q](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/898d66/32.png) [@Johnny\_Q](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Q)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2013, 7:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marvel-agents-of-shield/669608/159 "2013-09-28T07:03:41Z")
Or Captain Hammer. ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2013, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marvel-agents-of-shield/669608/160 "2013-09-28T13:11:28Z")
I’m posting this without checking out the thread first. Don’t want to be influenced by anything I read. Finally watched this on demand and I gotta say, this was the best premier I’ve seen in forever. Loved the comedy duo that is Fitz Gerald, routed for Skye the rebel fighting against the man, Ming Na and Ron Glass? Excellent! By the way, is Ron Glass a favorite of Jose Whedon? The very best was deadpan agent Colson back from the dead. I hope he and Lola have a long second life together. Hubby wonders if the series can keep up with the funny, fast and suspenseful pace of this first episode. The only note that struck me as sour was the pan of all the smiles after disgruntled factory worker-hero took one to the forehead. There could have been a less heavy-handed and saccharine way to show that it didn’t kill him. Poor NCIS. It’s now demoted to on demand status on hubby’s must watch list. Now to read everyone else’s take on the show. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marvel-agents-of-shield/669608.md?page=7) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marvel-agents-of-shield/669608.md?page=9)