The debate about Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s "canon" status continues to rage, especially with conflicting reports and comments about whether the ABC series took place on Earth-616.
Early seasons tied heavily into MCU movies thanks to appearances from characters like Nick Fury and Sif. The show's leads, meanwhile, played a pivotal role (in the background, at least) in Captain America: The Winter Soldier and Avengers: Age of Ultron.
However, as tensions between Marvel Studios and Marvel Television continued to rise, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. became increasingly more standalone felt like a completely separate entity when it ended.
Talking to Screen Rant at D23, Marvel Studios' Head of TV, Streaming, and Animation, Brad Winderbaum, largely danced around whether Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. should be considered MCU canon.
"I think that S.H.I.E.L.D. is a really great show and there was a long time where some of the best reveals in that show were during the Winter Soldier era where Hydra emerges and you're like, 'Oh my gosh!' I remember that feeling, even knowing what was happening, just being a fan, [going] 'It really is connected!'"
"I think that there is, in a crazy way, like you said, it does feel like it fits into The Multiverse Saga in an incredible way," he added. "I want to go down this road with you, you know I do, but we're just gonna take a deep breath for a second. Just know that I love that cast, I love Clark Gregg and I love that show."
Marvel Television's Netflix TV shows were made canon earlier this year, though it's still thought that Marvel Studios will pick and choose what they want from those, reimagining or recasting characters as they see fit.
For casual fans, Agent Coulson's death was a long time ago and bringing him or anyone from Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. back now feels like it would serve a very small section of the fanbase; still, anything is possible in the Multiverse Saga.
For Marvel Studios, questions about the canon status of any previous project will soon be a moot point as Avengers: Secret Wars is expected to softly reboot the MCU, making it easier to move on from any problematic continuity issues or characters Kevin Feige and company weren't in charge of.
"[Coulson isn't dead] in every timeline!" the actor said earlier this year when asked about his MCU future. "Look, you are playing in a Multiverse scenario in various timelines without you being like, 'I don't know, there's many Multiverses here...' People are very upset about whether things are canon [or not], and I love that Kevin is [like] The Oz."
As for fans hoping we could see him in Avengers: Secret Wars, Gregg said, "That's really sweet. I just love that there's a connection with Coulson, I think, because he was such an early part of the thing and the kind of human face of the world."
"But the canon of people that they feel that way about has grown and there's plenty...It's hard for me to go, 'Yeah, it's alright, I had 10 great years, maybe 12,' but yes."
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