Avengers: Secret Wars will give Marvel Studios the perfect opportunity to resolve Agents of SHIELD's canon confusion in 2027. Marvel Studios took strides to canonize some of these pre-Disney+ shows when it finally brought Daredevil and other Netflix heroes back to the wider MCU. That said, despite crossing over with recent movies during its run, Agents of SHIELD's canon status remains in question, largely due to conflicts with major MCU events found in the later seasons - namely the omission of Thanos' Snap.
Speaking with press at a round table event attended by Variety, Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige confirmed that Avengers: Secret Wars will usher in a "reset" of the MCU when it arrives on December 17, 2027:
"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."
Scooper Alex Perez addressed Feige's comments in The Cosmic Circus' monthly Q&A and suggested this soft reboot will allow Marvel Studios to let go of events it wants to "forget and redo." He indicated the resulting universe will be "75-80% the original timeline," minus certain events that bother fans and Feige:
"It’ll just be a quick scrub of details the MCU wants to sort of forget and redo. This will involve the resurrection of some heroes and villains as well as the erasure of some minor events that bother fans (and Kevin Feige), but all in all, it will be like 75-80% the original timeline, with some minor changes."
Despite bringing heroes and villains from Netflix's Defenders Saga into recent projects, Marvel Studios has shown an aversion to the characters and events from Agents of SHIELD's seven seasons. Even when introducing the Darkhold in WandaVision, it came with a vastly different design to the one from the ABC show.
Ultimately, after years of debate as to whether Agents of SHIELD truly takes place on Earth-616, or rather an alternate universe with somewhat similar events, the whole show could simply be brushed away with this soft reboot.
Quake actress Chloe Bennet recently addressed Agents of SHIELD's status and stated the show is "not really considered canon." Regardless, this reset will finally offer an in-universe explanation for abandoning the show.
It's unclear what other changes will be made when the MCU is "reset" into this soft reboot, beyond finally bringing to X-Men into the main timeline. Some have speculated that dead MCU heroes like Tony Stark's Iron Man and Natasha Romanoff's Black Widow could be resurrected and recast.
Why Marvel Studios Needs to Erase Agents of SHIELD (But It's Still Sad)
Agents of SHIELD explored many aspects of the Marvel universe, such as Ghost Rider and the Inhumans, that have yet to appear in the wider MCU. Going into the next saga, Marvel Studios may want to put its own stamp on some of these elements, free from the baggage of what came before.
Most notably, Marvel Studios is reportedly planning for Ghost Rider to lead an ensemble movie, and most expect them to follow the Johnny Blaze iteration. This in itself could risk some conflict with Agents of SHIELD, as Gabriel Luna's Robbie Reyes was indicated to have inherited the Spirit of Vengeance from Blaze.
There are no signs that the MCU will be taking another stab at the Inhumans, especially after erasing Kamala Khan's Inhuman roots. Regardless, if Marvel Studios were to enter that rabbit hole years down the line, it seems likely they would want a fresh start, as opposed to picking up from a years old ABC show.
While leaving Agents of SHIELD behind may be for the best for MCU canon, that's not to say there aren't some unfortunate casualties with that erasure. Characters like Inhuman hero Daisy Johnson and legendary science duo FitzSimmons quickly became beloved, making it rather unfortunate to leave them behind.
