Though he’s only appeared in two Marvel Cinematic Universe properties so far, Jimmy Woo has become a fan favorite. With his puns, desire to get his job done, and great performance from Randall Park, fans can’t get enough of him. After his recent search for a missing person turned into one very strange investigation in WandaVision, plenty of fans are clamoring on social media for a series focused on the character.
This isn’t the first time a government agent with no special powers has taken the spotlight in the MCU. Before there was FBI agent Jimmy Woo , there was SHIELD agent Phil Coulson. Just as Woo found himself assigned as Scott Lang’s handler in Ant-Man and the Wasp, Coulson found himself assigned to Tony Stark in the Iron Man movies. Both men have the same charm, making Woo the perfect candidate to become the character connecting some of the MCU’s heroes beyond their team-ups. In fact, both characters have a lot in common.
Part of the appeal of Phil Coulson is that he’s a fan, just like much of Marvel’s audience. Coulson is inspired by the same heroes he fights alongside. Not only does he admonish Tony Stark for using a Captain America shield as a leveler, but he has Captain America’s trading cards.
Coulson is a collector. He holds on to things that belonged to heroes and spies he admired as well. From Lola – a flying car initially created by Howard Stark – to prototypes of old SHIELD technology, Coulson’s got it. Truly fascinated by the advancements made by his heroes, Coulson gives these things new life. He even keeps some of them in his Agents Of SHIELD office. That’s not unlike Woo’s interest in Scott Lang’s “magical” skills.
When Jimmy Woo manages Scott’s house arrest, he’s impressed by the latter’s sleight of hand tricks more than his Ant-Man abilities. He wants so badly to find out how Scott does it that, by the end of the movie, he enrolls in online magic school himself. At some point, Jimmy Woo learns the trick and uses it to show his business card to Monica Rambeau in WandaVision. That moment is a small one, but it goes a long way in demonstrating how much fun Woo has in the things he learns, much like Coulson’s love for superhero history.
Likewise, Woo is genuinely fascinated by the sitcom that is WandaVision. With Darcy Lewis, he enjoys sitting and watching the events play out just as much as he wants to unravel the mystery. The two can enjoy a sitcom binge and chips while they theorize about just what’s going on.
Built on the personalities of superheroes, the Marvel Cinematic Universe is full of flashy powers and god-like characters. It needs those supporting characters who can’t fly into a star or alter the fabric of reality to ground it. That’s where the Coulsons and the Woos come in.
It’s Phil Coulson’s role as the everyman that makes him vulnerable in The Avengers. While the audience doesn’t necessarily need to see Jimmy Woo meet his end at the hands of a powerful villain, the idea that the heroes don’t always win raises the stakes in the MCU. If every character has superhuman power, those stakes aren’t the same. What’s more is that characters like Coulson and Woo are well aware of where they stand against superpowers.
Coulson understands the risks of going up against someone like Loki in The Avengers, but he does it anyway. That kind of determination extends into Agents Of SHIELD as well, though Coulson is even more conscious of his limits. Instead of rushing into situations himself, he defers to team members more skilled, like Melinda May and later, Daisy Johnson’s Quake, for the fight.
While the MCU audience hasn’t seen much of Woo just yet, he rapidly proves himself to be of the same mindset. Though he rushes after Scott Lang, who fights in his giant form, he doesn’t rush into events in WandaVision. Instead, when things get strange, he calls SWORD for help. Woo defers to both Monica Rambeau and Darcy Lewis, understanding that he isn’t the most knowledgable person for the job. He doesn’t just want to do his job; he wants to do it well.
Beyond his everyman status and his endearing nature is the fact that Jimmy Woo asks the right questions. He is very much the stand-in for the real audience of WandaVision when he and Darcy begin watching the un-reality of events that play out.
While Darcy begins identifying Westview inhabitants, Woo takes notes about everything the task force knows so far. He also lists the many questions he has about just what’s happening in Westview. Amongst those questions are whether Vision is even alive, if Skrulls could be responsible, and why the perimeter of the force field is hexagon shaped. Jimmy Woo is a Marvel fan dissecting the television show for clues.
At no point in the MCU’s decade-long history has any character understood the audience as well as Jimmy Woo does outside Westview. If future MCU properties employ Woo in the same manner, he’ll be drawing connections between properties that involve more than just his presence. How Woo would react to being on a task force with the Winter Soldier in one setting or meeting with Wakandan dignitaries in another would make for some fascinating entertainment while doubling as connective tissue.
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