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When it was first announced that Agent Coulson (Clark Gregg) would be returning for ABC's S.H.I.E.L.D. many assumed that it would be as a hologram, Life Model Decoy or that the show would take place before The Avengers. However, when ABC network president Paul Lee stated that the show would takes place after The Avengers there was a puzzling outcry from the Marvel fanbase. There's been small but growing chatter that Coulson might turn up in Iron Man 3 as a quick reestablishing of his character before the pilot aired. However, Feige has lowered the odds of that happening significantly with his response to a question during Marvel Iron Man 3 roundtable Q&A with various press outlets. Does he know that Phil Coulson is alive and on S.H.I.E.L.D., was the question put to Feige who responded, Does Tony know that? No. For those having fun cooking up theories about how Coulson returns, you probably shouldn't expect to get any answers in Iron Man 3.