6 Years Ago Today, Marvel's Longest Live-Action TV Series Ended Exactly Where It Began

On August 12, 2020, ABC's "Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D." wrapped up its final season with a heartfelt full-circle moment. The Season 7 finale ends with Agent Phil Coulson (Clark Gregg) riding away in his flying Chevrolet Corvette called L.O.L.A., the Levitating Over Land Automobile. This is exactly how the show's pilot ended; it was a callback that executive producer Jed Whedon hoped fans would appreciate.

"To see him get in L.O.L.A. is then the promise for him of a new adventure, and you know, of course it's souped up just like he is," Whedon said in Deadline. Co-showrunner Maurissa Tancharoen told the New York Times, "That iconic image at the end of Coulson, flying off into whatever lies ahead? I'm just going to cry."

Agent Coulson had at that point been one of the longest-running characters in the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe. He starts "Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D." as its leading man and maintains a major role in the series even after he dies in Season 5. Coulson's longevity as a character might surprise casual MCU fans, seeing as how the movies never actually confirm that he survives the events of 2012's "The Avengers."

The two-part finale, titled "The End Is at Hand" and "What We're Fighting For," was watched by nearly 1.5 million viewers; nothing spectacular, for sure, but not too shabby for a TV show sometimes dismissed as an afterthought by its core demographic of Marvel fans.  

Only five months after "Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D." concluded, Marvel released its first Disney+ show "WandaVision," followed by a string of Disney+ Marvel series with shorter seasons and large production values. None of the Disney+ shows, however, got to explore a character for over 100 episodes like "Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D." did with Coulson. 

Speaking to DiscussingFilm in 2020, Clark Gregg reflected on all the fun, surprising places "S.H.I.E.L.D." goes with his character. "There were times when I knew they had plans for what was going to happen, whether he was going to come back as this doppelgänger, alien killer," he said. "They were always very clear with me that they felt that Coulson was the heart of the show."