Agents of SHIELD: Clark Gregg talks life post Coulson

Phil Coulson is dead, but Clark Gregg is still involved in Agents of SHIELD.

Clark Gregg is no longer Phil Coulson. Or maybe he is. No one’s quite sure who Gregg’s mysterious new character, the decidedly non-heroic Sarge, is on Agents of SHIELD season 6 just yet.

In an interview with Den of Geek, Gregg talked about Coulson’s ending and what it’s like behind the camera and inside the head of a new character.

Coulson’s deal with the Ghost Rider (Gabriel Luna) in season 4, episode 22 (“World’s End”) involved the Rider burning through the rest of the GH-325 that was keeping him alive, as the team discovered in season 5, episode 12 (“The Real Deal”).

This was partially what led to his offscreen death between seasons 5 and 6, though a stab from a poisoned Kree weapon didn’t help, either.

Despite the writers plunking Coulson down into various settings and layers of danger, it was a gradual process.

“Suddenly, all those bets are off,” Gregg told Den of Geek about playing Sarge, noting that Coulson probably wouldn’t care for Sarge’s leadership style of ruling through fear.

“That would have been a great death match,” the real-life Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt noted, picturing a fight between the two characters.

Gregg has directed two episodes of the show so far (season five, episode six, “Fun & Games,” and season six, episode one, “Missing Pieces“). but they were his first experience in TV directing, though he had been behind the camera for independent films in 2008’s Choke and 2013’s Trust Me.

He had his Whedonverse family to lean on for advice during the process, though.

"I sat down with Jed Whedon and Kevin Tancharoen, and also with Billy Gierhart, who also directed a number of episodes of our show. They had really done the most compelling episodes for the most part, and I just kind of soaked them for their tips. He [Whedon] and Maurissa [Tancharoen] were really generous in terms of giving me the time and the resources I needed. t’s really about trying to find a way to tell the story in the style of our show and find what’s different about that episode that you’re doing and really do it justice."

Gregg also pointed out parallels with season 1 Coulson in Sarge’s storyline, as others get a strange vibe around them, causing them to wonder what they don’t know about themselves.

Just as Coulson couldn’t understand why he automatically replied “It’s a magical place” whenever Tahiti was mentioned, Sarge isn’t sure why everyone thinks he looks so familiar.

Gregg also teased a heartwarming reunion coming for FitzSimmons (Iain De Caesticker and Elizabeth Henstridge) and a brutal showdown between May (Ming-Na Wen) and Sarge.

Clark Gregg and the rest of the Agents cast are back in action Friday, June 14, at 8 p.m. ET on ABC with season six, episode five, titled “The Other Thing.”