One of the joys of being a comic-book fan in the current media landscape is wondering which of your favorite characters will hit the mainstream next, and what they'll look like when they do. Whether it's thrilling to Howard the Duck somehow appearing on the silver screen multiple times or encountering a cult character like Elsa Bloodstone in Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3, it's fun to witness characters you've loved for years make their big break. But as every comic-book fan also knows, there are exceptions to this rule - brand new characters like Harley Quinn and Agent Phil Coulson - who make such a big splash in the mainstream that comic creators eagerly make room for them in the comics.
Sometimes they're well received, sometimes not, and Phil Coulson has been a strangely controversial figure ever since he hit comics continuity in Battle Scars #1. To some fans, the MCU comic fan stand-in was a welcome addition, and a great example of the comics knowing a good thing when they see it. To others, Coulson was just another example of the comics warping their own history to look more like the movies, especially since decades-old heroes started acting like they'd always known and loved the newly relevant agent of SHIELD.
Thankfully, Marvel's newest event - Heroes Reborn - has found a way to please both camps, as Agent Phil Coulson seems to be the next major villain the Avengers will have to tangle with. Or, he would be, if there still were Avengers. Marvel recently revealed the event, coming May 2020, will take place in a reality in which the Avengers never formed, or even gained their powers, with their place as Earth's Mightiest Heroes taken by the Squadron Supreme, which fans of the ongoing Avengers comic series know are tightly controlled by Coulson to be obedient heroes who put American interests first.
Coulson's hatred for the Avengers is relatively recent, following on the heels of his murder by Deadpool prior to Marvel's Secret Empire event, which was ordered by an evil version of Captain America who had taken Steve Rogers' place. Coulson has returned since as the handler of the Squadron Supreme, though it's since been revealed he's a "maggot" - a servant of Marvel villain Mephisto, who has pledged allegiance to the fiend in exchange for his heart's desire.
It's likely Marvel will eventually reveal that Coulson isn't quite in control of his actions, but for now, Coulson fans and haters alike can look forward to a story in which the secret agent seems to have engineered a reality where he's both the president of the United States and the secret hand guiding the country's heroes. Whether Coulson is the true overarching villain here, or whether Blade - the only Avenger who remembers how things should really be - will reveal a darker force at work as Heroes Reborn unfolds, it certainly seems like he'll be Earth's most influential villain when the event begins, especially because most of the country seems to think of him as a hero. Love Phil Coulson or hate him, it's fun to see Marvel do something so bold with the character, giving him the kind of evil turn that any comic-book character worth their salt has to go through at some point in their career.