'The Avengers' Agent Coulson won't appear in the film's sequel.

The beloved character played by Clark Gregg was seemingly killed off in last year's summer blockbuster, but will be resurrected in a new TV show, 'Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.' However, director Joss Whedon has revealed there are no plans to bring Coulson back for the film's 2015 sequel, 'The Avengers: Age of Ultron'.

Quizzed on whether the secret agent may return in the follow-up film, Whedon said: ''He could. Right now it's not something I'm pursuing because I have so much going on in 'Avengers 2'. Finding out that Coulson is alive would be an entire B story. And I already have too much movie.''

Whedon also claimed there will be some crossover between 'The Avengers' and its TV spin-off - which will launch in the US in September - but the show won't detract from the franchise's big screen adventures.

He added: ''We have the movies and we have TV and we need to make sure there's some crossover, but not so much that people go, 'Well, I don't need to see that movie. I saw it on TV.' If we do that [Marvel Studios president] Kevin Feige is going to come after me with a pitchfork.''

All of the core 'Avengers' cast are set to return for the 2015 follow-up film including Robert Downey Jr., Chris Hemsworth, Chris Evans, Mark Ruffalo, Samuel L. Jackson, Scarlett Johansson and Jeremy Renner.