Despite featuring characters, actors, and places that are canon in the MCU, Marvel Studios' latest release is not a part of the franchise's Sacred Timeline, meaning that the events have no implications on the greater MCU. Throughout its first three Phases, Marvel Studios spent all its time crafting an interconnected storyline that spanned across multiple films. However, when that saga (the Infinity Saga) ended, Marvel Studios began branching out and releasing projects that were not canon.
Marvel Studios recently released all four episodes of Marvel Zombies on Disney+. With its release, it became the fourth Marvel Studios Animation project to be set outside of the Sacred Timeline, which is more commonly known as the MCU's canon.
Marvel Zombies features a plethora of MCU characters who look and act just like their live-action (and canon) counterparts. The same actors who portray some of those characters in live-action, such as Florence Pugh (Yelena Belova) and Iman Vellani (Kamala Khan), even returned to voice the characters in the new series, despite the series not taking place within canon.
It is important to note that the series is technically still semi-connected to the MCU in a weird way, though. Marvel Zombies takes place in a different universe. However, thanks to projects like Loki, which have explained the Multiverse, fans know that all of the alternate universes are still technically connected with one another in some way, and it is possible to access them in certain ways.
However, the Marvel Zombies universe and the Earth-616 Universe (the main MCU timeline) have not crossed over with each other in any way, so the main MCU canon does not include Marvel Zombies or its universe.
As mentioned, Marvel Zombies is not the first Marvel Studios project to accomplish this feat. Specifically, three other Disney+ shows fall under the same umbrella.
Marvel Zombies is streaming on Disney+. The show is a continuation of a Season 1 episode of What If...? and follows a group of heroes as they battle against zombified versions of Earth's Mightiest Heroes and other Marvel characters.
Every Marvel Studios Project That Is Not Canon
What If...?
Marvel Zombies is a spin-off of one What If...? episode, so, by default, What If...? also takes place in a different universe and is not canon to the MCU. However, a lot of the stories told in What If...?'s three seasons are not connected and take place in different universes, with none of them being canon.
That's not to say that characters who have appeared in the MCU canon have not been featured in What If...?, even if they are technically different versions from different universes. For example, the Captain Carter who was in What If...? Season 3 looked and acted extremely similar to the Captain Carter who was in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, even though they were technically different characters.
At the same time, though, there are a lot of instances where What If...? does not connect at all to the main MCU. For example, What If...? introduced original characters like Kahhori. She has not been featured in any MCU project set in the Sacred Timeline, so there is absolutely no connection between her in MCU canon.
X-Men '97
X-Men '97 is definitely the project that has the fewest ties to the Sacred Timeline in the MCU. In fact, there really is not any ties between the two except for real-world locations on Earth and someone called the Watcher, aka Uatu, and even that is a bit of a stretch.
The Watcher has connected to all of Marvel Studios' animated projects. While his role in What If...? was the most substantial, he has still popped up in the background for eagle-eyed fans to spot.
X-Men '97 is a continuation of the X-Men series that was released in the 1990s, so it is set in the same universe as that show. While it is not a part of MCU canon, it is still getting MCU fans familiar with some of the characters who will likely be appearing in Jake Schreier's X-Men film, which will likely be a part of Phase 7.
Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man
Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man is yet another project that is not set within the Sacred Timeline of the MCU. That means that the show's Peter Parker is not Tom Holland's version of the character. However, some of the same characters that appear in the animated Disney+ entry have already appeared in the MCU or are expected to be joining it soon.
For example, Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man Season 1 introduced fans to a character who took on the moniker Tombstone at the end of the installment. According to recent reports, Tombstone will be featured in Spider-Man: Brand New Day, which is currently in the midst of filming (however, filming had to recently be halted due to an injury to Tom Holland).
BONUS: I Am Groot
I Am Groot is an interesting Marvel Studios entry because it seems as though no one can give a concrete answer to if it is canon or not. Obviously, it features Groot in the same manner as Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 did, and that has been commented on by Marvel executives, but everyone has been pretty tight-lipped when it comes to giving a clear answer.
James Gunn himself (who seemed not to be involved that much with the creation of the project) was specifically asked at one point if it was canon to the Sacred Timeline or not, but his answer was more confusing than anything.
It is possible that I Am Groot takes place within the Sacred Timeline. If that is the case, then the other shows on this list are even more connected to the greater MCU than fans thought due to the Watcher appearing in I Am Groot. Since he shows up in all of the other animated projects, that would implement direct connective tissue between them and the main MCU timeline, but only if I Am Groot is considered canon as well.
