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Phil Coulson is the heart of the MCU (and it's time it starts beating again)

Move over Robert Downey Jr., the real center of Marvel Studios' Avengers franchise is right here

The MCU's most popular hero Iron Man returning as its next big bad Doctor Doom is a gutpunch - both in the casting announcement, and invariably when the marketing begins and into the movie itself. While Robert Downey Jr.'s Tony Stark is framed by some to be the beating heart inside the larger MCU, I'd argue that's not true.

Clark Gregg's Phil Coulson is the heart of the MCU.

And much like RDJ, his MCU character is dead - and much like RDJ he was revived in a shocking twist (oh, those later seasons of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.), but with Downey's Doctor Doom returning in a big way as the centerpiece of the next two Avengers movies - it also opens the door to Coulson returning as well.

In this edition of Popverse's weekly series Marvel Matters, we delve into

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Chris Arrant

Chris Arrant: Chris Arrant is the Popverse's Editor-in-Chief. He has written about pop culture for USA Today, Life, Entertainment Weekly, Publisher's Weekly, Marvel, Newsarama, CBR, and more. He has acted as a judge for the Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards, the Harvey Awards, and the Stan Lee Awards. (He/him)

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