Chloe Bennet sets the record straight on her thoughts about Marvel Studios' treatment of Agents of SHIELD's place in the wider MCU canon (and she gets brutally honest). Agents of SHIELD launched on ABC in 2013 as a direct spinoff of The Avengers, focusing on the resurrection of Agent Phil Coulson (Clark Gregg) after Loki stabbed him before the Battle of New York and the creation of his own team that changed SHIELD forever. Agents of SHIELD ran for seven seasons and 136 episodes before ending its run in 2020, and it was clear from the start that the show was part of the MCU, thanks to appearances by Nick Fury and Maria Hill, as well as a direct setup for the opening sequence of Avengers: Age of Ultron in 2015. However, later seasons further strayed away from the MCU due to time travel and alternate timeline shenanigans, leaving its MCU canon placement in doubt.
Speaking in a new interview with Elle, Chloe Bennet pointed out that she is still "low-key angry" at Marvel Studios for not fully acknowledging Agents of SHIELD's MCU canon status despite its obvious connections, noting that she is willing to return as Daisy Johnson, acknowledging, "I feel like I am Daisy."
Elle: If Marvel called tomorrow and asked you to bring Daisy Johnson back, would you say yes?
Chloe Bennet: "Totally. I’m obsessed with Daisy. I feel like I am Daisy. I would be so protective of her. I’m still low-key angry that they don’t fully acknowledge this as canon—the real followers will understand that. We were the first MCU TV show, and we did 130-something hour-long episodes."
Bennet also reflected on Agents of SHIELD's long tenure on the small screen and years of playing Daisy Johnson (Quake) on-screen:
"We spent a lot of time in people’s homes, and I spent a lot of my life playing this character and this young woman growing into her power. There’s a lot of symbolism in that, especially looking back now. I would love to play her with the growth that I’ve had since I’ve had a break from the role."
In September 2025, Chloe Bennet already settled the debate on Agents of SHIELD's MCU canon placement in an appearance at last year's Dragon Con, pointing out that the show "is not really considered canon," echoing her most recent comment about the show's place in the wider MCU, but this time, it felt more personal.
"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. 'Even though we are.' I think the show will make some weird, random comeback. Like if it gets put on another streamer or something."
At the time of its debut on ABC, Agents of SHIELD and Marvel Television made it clear that "it's all connected," indicating that the show was truly part of the MCU. However, Bennet is mad that the MCU films and other TV shows didn't really acknowledge what was happening in Agents of SHIELD, despite the fact that there were truly game-changing events in the series.
Adding fuel to the fire, Marvel Studios already folded the Netflix Defenders shows into official continuity in Daredevil: Born Again, leaving Agents of SHIELD in a gray zone. The fact that there are also events from Agents of SHIELD that were quietly overwritten, such as the inclusion of the Darkhold in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (a MacGuffin that played a pivotal part in Season 4), raises questions about its canon status.
Marvel Television's Echo also brought back two Agents of SHIELD actors in totally different roles, potentially cementing the idea that the show takes place in an alternate Earth adjacent to the MCU.
Why Marvel Studios Needs to Address Agents of SHIELD's Canon Status Soon
Marvel Studios needs to address its Agents of SHIELD canon problem sooner rather than later, and finally settle the debate over the show's place in the wider MCU. This needs to happen so that the various comments, rumors, and reports will be finished, and the perfect project to address this is bound to arrive in the form of Avengers: Secret Wars.
In February 2026, Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige pulled back the curtain on what the "reboot" truly means when dealing with the fallout of the events of 2027's Avengers: Secret Wars, hinting that it would lean more on a reset of the singular timeline:
"Reboot is a scary word. Reboot can mean a lot of things to a lot of people. Reset, singular timeline — we’re thinking along those lines."
Alex Perez of Cosmic Circus clarified that Marvel Studios' soft reboot strategy will allow the MCU to let go of the events it wants to completely redo, meaning that there is a chance that Agents of SHIELD is included in the potential do-over, allowing Marvel to keep the pieces from the show that still serve the MCU, such as Daisy Johnson's introduction and Agent Coulson's resurrection.
Still, this strategy might be the only way for Agents of SHIELD to survive: a selective do-over becomes its realistic path to keep the characters that still work and leave the rest behind.
The Multiverse Saga is winding down, and the arrival of the Mutant Saga doesn't really complement the canon placement status of Agents of SHIELD. Secret Wars needs to fully address the show's canon status by either bringing Daisy Johnson and Agent Coulson back into the fold and integrating them properly into the rebooted MCU or confirming that the show is staying outside the main continuity.
