COULSON LIVES!

Photos by Pete Labrozzi

Marvel Television spans a vast array of projects from American animated series like "Avengers Assemble," "Ultimate Spider-Man" and "Hulk and the Agents of S.M.A.S.H." to anime versions of "X-Men" and "Blade." At New York Comic Con 2012, Head of Marvel Television Jeph Loeb took the stage to inform fans about all the latest developments in the world of Marvel TV.

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."

"An Honest Man. An Honorable Man. A Man of S.H.I.E.L.D." the trailer read interspersed between some of Coulson's best moments. "We thank him for his bravery."

The reel went to his heroic death scene. "We remember his Legacy. Always," said the trailer. "Rest in Peace, Agent Phil Coulson 1969 - 2012." At the end of the trailer, Gregg looked to be crying.

An emotional Gregg took the stage.

"I grew up loving comics," he said. "One of the greatest things about it is that I got to connect with people like you, so thank you for being apart of it."

The crowd began chanting "COULSON! COULSON!"

"I just want to say because I won't have another chance to ask this -- 'Have you heard of a Life Model Decoy?'" asked Coulson. "I don't know if you've read the theories from the people on Twitter, but there's this guy called the Vision. I don't know if you saw the UK version of the DVD, but the blade wasn't coming out of his chest. There's a tesseract!

"All around the globe you can see graffiti, bumper stickers that say 'Coulson Lives!' You have the power, Jeph! I feel like we could make this happen right now!"

Jeph Loeb and Clark Gregg play to the crowd

"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."

"There was never going to be a 'S.H.I.E.L.D.' show without Agent Phil Coulson!" said Feige, who appeared behind Whedon, wearing a COULSON LIVES shirt.

"He's headlining the S.H.I.E.L.D. show and always was." said Whedon.

Loeb confirmed Clark Gregg is the first member cast in Whedon's "S.H.I.E.L.D."

With that, Gregg exited the stage to incredible applause. Loeb transitioned to the Marvel Animated Universe on Disney XD, beginning with "Hulk and the Agents of S.M.A.S.H."

"Instead of me talking about it, how'd you like to see the animation test for this show?" asked Loeb. He then showed the same animation test shown at WonderCon earlier this year.

The next animation text Loeb showed was for the upcoming "Avengers Assemble" animated series. It featured a giant monster roaring in the middle of the city. Iron Man analyzed it on the Avengers Quinjet as Thor. Hulk, Cap and Hawkeye jump out of the jet and all the Avengers tackle the beast together.

Voice talent includes Laura Bailey as Black Widow, Adrian Pasdar as Iron Man, Travis Willingham as Thor and Roger Craig-Smith as Captain America and more. The roster will also include the Falcon. The show will be helmed by Man of Action studios.

Marvel Knights animation was up next and Loeb showed a clip that included images from Whedon's "Astonishing X-Men" run, "Inhumans," "Wolverine Origins," "Wolverine Weapon X," "Ultimate Wolverine Vs Hulk," and Neil Gaiman's "Eternals."

Loeb transitioned to Marvel Anime, saying the banner had an "incredible run" and announced for the first time an original DVD and Blu-ray, "Iron Man: Rise of the Technovore," which includes a cast of Iron Man, Hawkeye, War Machine and the Punisher. Loeb showed a clip of the upcoming home video release, which began with a sequence of Iron Man donning his armor and a number of hi-tech jets taking off from an aircraft carrier. Iron Man and War Machine tangled amongst an avalanche and there were ben sequences in space. The clip ran down the cast -- Nick Fury also made an appearance. It will drop Spring 2013.

"This has been one of the most fun panels I've ever had a chance to host," said Loeb as he wrapped up the panel. "If you think the fun is ending, you're wrong!"