10 Marvel Movie Characters We All Thought Were Dead

2. Phil Coulson

Probably the most well-known case of "he died, then came back to life" in the Marvel Cinematic Universe is S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Phil Coulson. The likeable agent - played by the inimitable Clark Gregg - started off as a minor character, but as his popularity grew so did the extent of his appearances. However, in the Avengers movie, in a somewhat shocking move, he was killed confronting Loki on board the S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier - having been stabbed with Loki's sceptre through the heart, via his back. Of course, inexplicably (at first, at least), he reappeared as the star character in Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. - a television series set after the events of the Avengers - and it would take almost a whole series to discover how the hell that happened. It would turn out that Nick Fury had demanded that Coulson was injected with an alien serum that healed his fatal wounds, bringing him back to life - albeit with no recollection of how or when it had happened.