10 Biggest MCU Controversies Ever
9. Coulson Gets Resurrected - Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D.
One of the most shocking moments in The Avengers is the death of Agent Coulson (Clark Gregg) - an entirely original character created for the MCU who nevertheless quickly became a fan favourite supporting fixture.
His demise at the hands of Loki (Tom Hiddleston) served to unite the Avengers against him and the Chitauri, and therefore served a potent, affecting narrative purpose.
And so many fans were miffed, then, when it was revealed that the character would be returning barely a year later in the TV show Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
Speculation loomed large about how Coulson would be brought back into the fold, with it eventually being revealed that he was resurrected by Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) with the help of alien technology.
As great as Gregg was on the show, the fact that the "proper" movie MCU failed to mention Gregg's revival made it clear that Kevin Feige and company wanted to have their cake and eat it too: bring a popular character back to lead a TV show, but still let his death mean something in the mainstream picture.
Though Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. is officially canon to the MCU as a whole, it almost acted as though it was embarrassed of Coulson's return to life.
By not acknowledging it in any of the movies, anyone who only watched the films - that is, a lot of people - could still believe he died and that it had real meaning.
Yet Coulson's resurrection was the first point at which fans began to majorly criticise the MCU for a lack of palpable stakes, because if any dead character can just be magicked back to life, why should we care when they're put in "peril"?