Marvel Studios' Echo added two notable Agents of SHIELD actors who played important roles in the 2024 Disney+ series.
Agents of SHIELD's place in MCU canon has been on the minds of many Marvel fans, especially after confusing timeline placements.
While the Marvel series featured major cameos like Samuel L. Jackson's Nick Fury and Jamie Alexander's Sif in its first two seasons, the wider MCU connections became lesser as it progressed.
Who Are the Agents of SHIELD Actors in Echo?
Two Agents of SHIELD actors appeared in Marvel Studios' Echo, namely Andrew Howard and Thomas E. Sullivan.
Andrew Howard appeared as Luther Banks of the Advanced Threat Containment Unit (ATCU) in Agents of SHIELD Season 4. The actor served as Rosalind Price's (Constance Zimmer) loyal right-hand man, helping her track down Agent Coulson's team.
In Echo, Howard plays a character named Zane, one of Kingpin's loyal henchmen who goes to the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma in pursuit of Maya Lopez. Zane is seeking revenge against Maya after she placed a bomb in one of the freight boxes that blew up in one of Wilson Fisk's facilities.
Thomas E. Sullivan played Nathaniel Malick in Agents of SHIELD Season 7. Malick was the final season's big bad and a HYDRA loyalist, going up against Chloe Bennett's Daisy Johnson (aka Quake) in an epic battle in the finale.
Sullivan is part of Echo as Victor “Vickie” Tyson, an employee in Henry's local skating rink who contacted Kingpin's men about Maya Lopez's arrival in exchange for an expensive bounty.
Wait, Is Agents of SHIELD Part of MCU Canon?
The inclusion of Agents of SHIELD actors Andrew Howard and Thomas E. Sullivan should raise some eyebrows among the show's loyalists, considering that the pair played integral parts in the Marvel series.
It is important to note, though, that just because an actor has played two characters, it does not mean that those characters have to exist in two separate universes.
The MCU has an exclusive club of actors who have played two different Marvel Studios characters, such as Gemma Chan (Kree warrior Minn-Erva and Eternal Sersei) and Michelle Yeoh (Aleta Ogord and Ying Nan).
This means that it does not make one of those characters non-canon to the MCU. Still, it is quite eye-catching that these two Agents of SHIELD actors portrayed entirely different characters.
The debate of whether or not Agents of SHIELD is canon to the MCU or not may have been answered by the Marvel Studios’ The Marvel Cinematic Universe: An Official Timeline book since it did not acknowledge Agent Phil Coulson's involvement in the show's events.
Some would say never say never, especially after Marvel Studios unveiled a historic trailer for Echo featuring footage from Netflix's Daredevil series.
Echo is now streaming on Disney+.
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