Why ‘Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D.’ Is Still MCU Canon
Whoa, boy, there's only so much one can take. As an Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. fan, it's been disheartening seeing so many fans of the Marvel Cinematic Universe dismiss its place that persisted to its very end. Nevertheless, I want to show that there was no divergence. So let's run through the major points. I'll be starting off with a soft reminder, but it's probably going to get harsher as we go.
Let's start with the Sokovia Accords from Captain America: Civil War. They didn't just pass on the show, but there was debate among the characters here as well. It was even what reestablished S.H.I.E.L.D. as an organization by the start of season 4. Heck, we spent most of season 3 with Gideon Malick, played by the late Powers Boothe, which started as a minor role in the first Avengers film. Admittedly, it makes Malick the last movies-originating character, but that's fine. Season 4 kept its aesthetic connections, like the portals being identical to those which Doctor Strange could conjure. Season 5, for the most part, has its references stay up through Phase 2. That is, until the finale arc.
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In season 5, episode 20, The One Who Will Save Us All, the Kree confederacy warns Admiral Talbot, who at this point had become Graviton, of Thanos's imminent invasion. And on a minor note, Deke, who was Fitzsimmons's grandson from the future they had all returned from at the halfway point of the season (and started the season at), spends his time living the day as his last. I'll get back to that soon. But then, season 6 starts, and there's no Snap. It's not explained until the very end of the series that they traveled into another timeline through the Quantum Realm, but I'm here to tell you that if they hadn't, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. actually risked stepping all over canon.
First off, if they let the snap happen, they would've needed to cut a serious amount of cast to be impactful. Not necessarily half, but they would've had to have been cut permanently without knowing what the movies were doing. Dedicating any story to trying to bring them back as they most recently were and succeeding would trample all over the five-year-jump and all the effort over the Time Heist. Using time travel to pluck them would turn them all into Daniel Sousa (more on him later).
Having them appear in flashback only turns them into some degree of season 7 Fitz. It would've been a logistical mess that would've angered everyone. Oh, and Jeff Ward was back as Deke in season 6, which meant he wasn't erased from the timeline with the bad future averted. The present-day became his future. Endgame time travel rules without any communication. Sure, it might be a coincidence lucked into, but it sure beats contradiction.
Now, there are two more minor moments that I'd like to spotlight that illustrate that less is more. That even without communication, they would not and will not shut the door completely. First, we have the ending of Captain Marvel, the conversation between Fury and Coulson. There is no way that the discussion, through dramatic irony, was comparing Fury losing his eye to Coulson's death.
It had to be at the very least to Coulson losing his hand, if not the broader everything he had been through to that point. You know Gregg would bring that sort of detail to his performance. And then we have Loki. Specifically, Mobius's presentation to him in the first episode, which refused to clarify that Coulson stayed dead, would've stamped out the show. Besides, even a long-winded explanation would have derailed things when they have such business to get to. Face it, it would've been clunky even if it made for amusing banter.
Moving onto season 7 and its Endgame connections. In Out of the Past, the team picks up Daniel Sousa, played by Enver Gjokaj, who originates from the Agent Carter series. Avengers: Endgame notably finally featured a T.V. connection when James D'Arcy reprised his role as human Jarvis, also from Agent Carter. This means S.H.I.E.L.D. re-affirmed its connection to a show that the movies affirmed its connection to, that Peggy Carter's supporting cast is one and the same, yet people still think S.H.I.E.L.D. is somehow non-canon at this point? It boggles me that they could believe it.
In the series finale, the agents utilize the Quantum Realm to bring themselves back to the main timeline, which sure looks more populated than it should... if they actually went to 2020 and not post-Snap 2023. But biggest of all is a recent revelation, reported in late March by places like ComicBook, ComicBook Resources, and ScreenRant, that Daniel Whitehall was featured in concept art for the Time Heist briefing.
Now, just because it didn't make the jump doesn't mean the show is discarded as a whole. In fact, it means that Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. never left the filmmakers' consideration. That it is and always has been in continuity and never exiled. I look forward to the day when Mack and Yo-Yo are contacted or that Quake gets involved in things. I hope it comes. But until then, I'm content knowing all these factors that mean they haven't been forgotten, and even Kevin Feige knows that. Don't give up hope, and I hope those who read this and had been denying it have learned something. Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: it's a magical place.
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