An Agents of SHIELD actress has finally settled the MCU canon debate. Long before Disney+, Marvel Television launched the franchise's first major TV show on ABC with Agents of SHIELD, releasing in 2013. The show brought the shocking twist that Clark Gregg's Phil Coulson had survived supposedly being killed by Loki in The Avengers, sending him off on global adventures with a brand-new team. Notably, this series was produced by Marvel Television under the purview of Jeph Loeb, not Marvel Studios and Kevin Feige, which is just one of many factors that have sparked a debate as to the series' canonicity. This makes it tough to tell whether those introduced in the show, such as Chloe Bennett's Daisy Johnson, aka the Inhuman hero Quake, exist in the MCU or not.
Agents of SHIELD began firmly in MCU canon with appearances from Samuel L. Jackson's Nick Fury, Cobie Smulders' Maria Hill, and more familiar faces. It even featured tie-in episodes to Thor: The Dark World and, most notably, Captain America: The Winter Soldier. That said, as the years went on, the connections dampened, and fans became increasingly convinced that Agents of SHIELD was not truly MCU canon. The back-and-forth debate reached a head in Season 5 when the alien confederacy confirmed that "Thanos and his force [had] begun an assault on [Earth]," and yet there was no Blip that followed in further seasons.
During an appearance at Dragon Con 2025 (via @dailybennet), Quake actress Chloe Bennet may have finally settled the debate on Agents of SHIELD, giving one of the first outright statements from a key figure in the show, declaring, "We are not really considered canon." In doing so, the actress may have ended a debate that has been going on for almost a decade.
The comment came as she cast doubt on returning to the MCU, saying that "they haven't asked [her]" and insisting she was being truthful and revealing her hopes for SHIELD to make a "weird, random comeback:"
"I'm not playing a bit. This isn't a joke. I don't know anything; they haven't asked me. If they would, you know me, I can't keep a secret, I would tell you guys. We are not really considered canon. I think the show will make some weird, random comeback. Like if it gets put on another streamer or something."
Bennet also threw shade at Marvel Studios by saying her character "could have been in Secret Invasion" and that it "probably would have been better:"
"But as of now, no, and I agree that I could have been in 'Secret Invasion,' but I wasn't. Probably would have been better."
Kevin Feige issued his own statement on these canon disputes in Marvel Studios' official timeline book, recognizing the existence of stories created by others in "different periods of Marvel's history" and hinting that, as the Multiverse Saga continues, "You never know when timelines may just crash or converge."
Fans thought they finally had their answer on Agents of SHIELD's canonicity when it was omitted from the MCU's official timeline book. However, that book also left out Daredevil and the other Netflix shows, which have since been confirmed as MCU canon after Echo and Daredevil: Born Again.
WandaVision stirred up further questions as it introduced the Darkhold, which appeared in SHIELD, and yet looks completely different in more recent projects and has histories that may not align. The Disney+ series' director even noted they were "not looking at that book" from SHIELD when crafting the 2021 show.
Agents of SHIELD's Complicated MCU Canon May Have an Explanation
Notably, Agents of SHIELD started playing with time travel from Season 4 onward, which is when the biggest canon conflicts arise. There is every chance that the show's earlier seasons took place on the MCU's Sacred Timeline, before everything post-time travel shot them off to a branched reality.
This could offer a path for the Multiverse Saga to bring back the Agents of SHIELD character in a future project, if they so choose. However, as the ABC series has been over for more than five years, it's tough to imagine Marvel Studios being eager to pick up these obscure threads that casual viewers may not know exist.
The Inhumans prompt another problem in reviving Quake and the Agents of SHIELD lore, as Kevin Feige seems eager to avoid using the superhero group, even changing Ms. Marvel's origins to turn her from Inhuman to mutant.
Unfortunately, whether Agents of SHIELD is canon or not, it seems doubtful those characters will ever return to the MCU. Any dangling threads of their existence could be scrubbed away with Avengers: Secret Wars' rumored soft reboot.
After all, Marvel Studios may want to avoid further confusion to come whenever it wants to introduce Ghost Rider. Fans saw Johnny Blaze pass the mantle to Robbie Reyes in Agents of SHIELD while most expect the former to be used in future projects, possibly played by Ryan Gosling if all goes to plan.
