Do any of the Avengers know this about Agent Coulson?

Question

One of the ongoing plot points of season 1 of Agents of SHIELD is that everyone still thinks Coulson is dead.

For example, in the episode where Sif comes to Earth, the agent asks her to not reveal to Thor that she knows he is still alive. However that hasn't really been brought up this season and with each passing episode it seems that more and more people know the agent is alive and that Fury left him in charge of rebuilding SHIELD.

It seems impossible that at the very least Stark would know about this agent. With the long reach that JARVIS clearly has and Maria Hill always knowing the agent was alive, it seems likely. Since there was no mention of him at all during Age of Ultron

(even with the arrival of the Theta Protocol helicarrier Fury only mentions "friends"),

And season 2 of Agents of SHIELD hasn't addressed this, is there anything that lets us know where this situation stands?

Answer 1

No, none of the Avengers know that Coulson is still alive. Joss Whedon did some interviews around the time Age of Ultron was released, and he mentioned that this would undermine the importance of Coulson's death in Avengers. So instead, the status quo is maintained where Coulson's resurrection is kept secret.

A couple of quotes from Joss Whedon:

Talking with mental_floss:

A lot of people come back in The Winter Soldier. It’s a grand Marvel tradition. Bucky was supposed to die. And the Coulson thing was, I think, a little anomalous just because that really came from the television division, which is sort of considered to be its own subsection of the Marvel universe. As far as the fiction of the movies, Coulson is dead.

But I have to say, watching the first one with my kids—I had not watched the first one since it came out—and then watching it with my kids and watching Coulson die but [thinking], “Yeah, but I know that he kind of isn’t,” it did take some of the punch out of it for me. Of course, I spent a lot of time making sure he didn’t. And at the time it seemed inoffensive, as long as it wasn’t referenced in the second movie, which it isn’t.

Talking with Buzzfeed:

Whedon called the decision to bring Coulson back a “no-brainer,” but despite Marvel’s exacting commitment to creative uniformity, do not expect to see Coulson show up in Age of Ultron, either. “As far as I’m concerned, in this movie, Coulson’s dead,” he said. “If you come back in the sequel and say Coulson’s alive, it’s like putting fucking John Gielgud in the sequel to Arthur. It mattered that he’s gone. It’s a different world now. And you have to run with that.”

Answer 2

At least one Avenger knows, but its probably not who you think. When Coulson finally got to confront Fury, after venting over being put through the hell of T.A.H.I.T.I. against his will Coulson reminded Fury it was only to be used to revive a fallen Avenger, and Fury responded "It was". So yes, one Avengers knows Coulson is alive and running Shield, Coulson himself.

Answer 3

No. In the main MCU universe (aka “616” or the “Sacred Timeline”), Agent Coulson never came back from the dead.

The book Marvel Studios’ The Marvel Cinematic Universe: An Official Timeline confirms this by providing an official, chronological account of the events in the main MCU universe (also known as “616” or the “Sacred Timeline”). The book only mentions Coulson's death and does not mention anything about Coulson’s resurrection or the events and characters from Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., suggesting that the TV show is not part of the Sacred Timeline. Therefore, none of the Avengers know that Coulson was resurrected because it never happened in their timeline.

Spring 2012 | The Death of Phil Coulson

Loki escapes from his holding chamber when his minions board the Helicarrier. Natasha Romanoff battles the mind-controlled Clint Barton, hoping to snap her old friend out of his spell, and Agent Coulson confronts Loki with one of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s prototype weapons. Loki distracts him with an illusion and spears him through the chest with his scepter. "You're going to lose," a dying Coulson says. "It's in your nature … You lack conviction." After Loki's escape, Nick Fury uses Coulson's death (and the hero trading cards he doctored with blood) to inspire that sense of conviction in his perpetually clashing Avengers.

Phil Coulson's sacrifice is a defining moment for the Avengers.

Notice that the book's section about Coulson's death has the symbol for "Major Character Dies", suggesting that Coulson died for real.

Answer 4

Surely Barton and Romanoff would know once Coulson becomes Director. I mean, they're superspies, but they can't figure out that senior agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. Phillip J. Coulson who was their friend and died is the same senior agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. Phillip J. Coulson that is now director of their organisation. And due to the frequency with which Stark hacks into S.H.I.E.L.D.s databases, I'm sure he would figure it out too. It just seems a little odd that people who are praised for working things out can't figure out something like this. And is Stark still supplying funding and weapons for S.H.I.E.L.D.? Because I'd love to see how the paperwork for that works out without letting him know that Coulson is alive. It just has a tenacious grip on feasibility is what I'm getting at.

Sorry, I don't have Marvel-interested friends that I can talk about this stuff to. Sorry.

Answer 5

Like phantom42 said, the Captain might have the clearance, but it does not mean he knows Coulson is alive, doubt the Captain browses every file he has access to, the Captain had level 8 clearance in Hydra/SHIELD, but that does not mean all the information that he should have had access to was available to him. Also level 10 clearance Colonel Fury could also have locked up everything on Coulson being alive.

Answer 6

In season five "the real deal" when dream Mike Peterson is telling Coulson everything was a lie (it wasn't) the people operating on Coulson in his [dream/memory?] said something along the lines of "stark said to use anything we need" which led me to assume that Stark now knows he's alive, however I may have interpreted it wrong and the operation may have been a dream instead of a memory so I might be wrong?

Answer 7

Steve, Natasha and Clint have level 7 clearance and above so it would be weird if they didn't know considering people are told that Phil is actually alive when they reach that level and I think they are more then capable of figuring that out on their own considering all the information they have the ability to get.

Answer 8

In The Winter Soldier, when Captain gets in the elevator with Fury, it shows he has a level 8 clearance. It would be very weird if he didn't know, also including the super-spies that worked for that organization. Don't you think after it went public people would be asking questions? Or maybe Clint and Natasha would want to go back to shield? They most likely either know and don't care or they they're suspicious but don't want to/have the time to look into it.