MCU: 14 Things You Learn Rewatching The Avengers

8. Coulson Should Have Died

He might be brilliant - particularly when he awkwardly fanboys over meeting Captain America and announcing that he's watched him sleeping - but there's a reason why Phil Coulson's death was so great in The Avengers. It's the same reason why retconning it for Agents Of SHIELD ruined one of the MCU's best moments.

Coulson is the human heart of The Avengers. He's charming and courageous beyond his limits and his likeability - which is key to uniting the Avengers is infectious. His death cuts deep and it brings the Avengers together in an even more concrete manner: he's essentially their trigger and removing that is incredibly disingenuous. After all, he says himself that it was never going to work unless they had something to fight for.

It's no wonder Whedon wasn't happy with it.