Since its inception, the Marvel Cinematic Universe has always been praised for how intricately connected its entire mythology has been across the myriad of big screen blockbusters, with lines of dialogue or visual cues sometimes being paid off years in the future, but several issues arose when Kevin Feige ascended to the position of Chief Creative Officer and officially folded Marvel Television.
Up to that point, the various TV shows were considered official canon, with Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and Agent Carter taking place in the same world as the movies, to the extent that there were countless references and cameo appearances to tie them even closer to the theatrical arm of the franchise. Even the Netflix roster was loosely set in the mainline MCU, with The Avengers‘ Battle of New York glimpsed in several newspaper headlines across the early series like Daredevil and Jessica Jones.
However, after Feige confirmed that none of the previous episodic adventures were considered canon and the MCU’s small screen expansion would begin in earnest with WandaVision, it put Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and Agent Carter in a precarious canonical position, especially when Phil Coulson and Peggy Carter had played significant roles in several feature films.
To hammer the notion home even further, Disney Plus has now moved the aforementioned shows to the Marvel Legacy collection alongside Fox’s Fantastic Four and X-Men pics, making it clear that whatever took place across the multiple seasons of each doesn’t play an official role in continuity anymore. Of course, there’ve been rumors that Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. could be revived as a proper MCU entry, but until that happens, it looks as though Coulson and the gang have been existing in a pocket universe of their own this whole time.
