In another thread some of us were venting our fears that Agent Coulson could be killed off in The Avengers. For me the fear was based on rumors about the stolen script and Joss Whedon's propensity for killing off major characters. Fortunately, Whedon himself has allayed my fears greatly in an MTV interview wherein he said he has a "man-crush" on Clark Gregg and that Coulson's role will be greatly expanded.
http://www.mtv.com/videos/movies/679...rk-gregg.jhtml
Whew! Now I can breathe a little easier. The possible death of the Son of Coul had been worrying me. At least Whedon likes both the character and the actor, which gives me a lot of hope for Coulson's continued existence.