Coulson lives — but how? Marvel’s Agents of SHIELD Season 6 has a lot to answer for, including how Clark Gregg is still on the show even though the Season 5 finale left his character Phil Coulson in a terminal state. At WonderCon, Clark Gregg, Chloe Bennet, Elizabeth Henstridge, Iain De Caestecker, Henry Simmons, Natalia Cordova-Buckley and Jeff Ward, along with executive producers Maurissa Tancharoen, Jed Whedon, Jeff Bell and Jeph Loeb, took to the Arena stage for an exclusive screening of the Season 6 premiere followed by a Q&A session.
Jeph Loeb came out to introduce the panel and the date of the premiere: May 10th.
The crowd sang "Happy Birthday" to Clark Gregg, whose birthday is coming up.
In addition to introductions, Jeph Loeb also announced that Ming-Na Wen and Chloe Bennet couldn't be at the panel today due to work.
Clark said his birthday wish was "I'd like to know what song everyone just sang... I mean, I was really lucky in season 6 that I got to direct the first episode. Is there a way we could see a few minutes of that?"
Jeph Loeb then introduced the first episode of Season 6 for the crowd to watch to be followed by fan Q&A.
The cast then came back on the stage. The first fan question was for Iain about the monkey he deserves. "I actually adopted one for myself in real life. It's not at home with me, it's not sitting and having breakfast with me... I would love one in the show as well," he said. To all this, Jeff Bell shook his head.
Maurissa talked about her fondest SHIELD memory which was the birth of her daughter during the show. For Natalia, her fondest memory was she'd never been on a show with this kind of fandom, and meeting the fans is always a wonderful memory. Elizabeth says, "Iain De Caestecker. Any scene with him." She then talked about her first talk walking on set, as well as meeting Stan Lee.
Clark talked about getting a call from Marvel about "getting to have fun with the Avengers until you don't" and then "seven years later... and to grow so close and grow together and having that birthed from the connection that the fans have with a character that represents them." Henry also recalled his first day on set, "there were so many people, so many names... then I graduated to my first scene with Iain, which I absolutely loved.. quite honestly, I can't say one scene or one episode because it keeps getting better and better."
Jeff Ward said, "I think it was my very first day. It was an amazing experience, and we were filming a scene with Clark, Elizabeth, Chloe, me and Ming, and we kept laughing, and it was the first day, and we didn't even know each other... when I got the call that they wanted me to be a regular, it was very surreal."
About the connection to Endgame, Jeph Loeb said, "You saw today -- it's one year later!" and encouraged everyone to watch the film.
Jeff Bell and Elizabeth Henstridge mentioned Bobbi and Hunter for characters they miss from the show, while Jed said that they missed Grant Ward as writers because they knew they could always get a reaction out of the fans by sticking him at the end of an episode.
Addressing a rumor that Season 7 is the end, Jeph said, "We're not ending."
About fond memories with Stan Lee, Jeph also said, "I met him a long time ago for the first time, and then when I met him again, literally 20 years had gone by... he said, 'I know who you are, Jeph' and somehow I'd stayed in his memory. That was just awesome for me."
Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. is set to return to ABC in May with 13 new episodes. The series stars Ming-Na Wen, Chloe Bennet, Henry Simmons, Iain De Caestecker, Natalia Cordova-Buckley, Elizabeth Henstridge and Clark Gregg.