Warning: This article contains spoilers for several MCU movies and TV shows. Proceed with caution.
There is a lot of confusion about Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., the popular ABC television show about Agent Phil Coulson and his A team. After the events of the first Avengers movie, many fans were left confused about how the series weaves into the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent Phil Coulson, as portrayed by Clark Gregg, made his MCU debut in 2008’s Iron Man. Viewers would later find out he was Nick Fury’s (Samuel L. Jackson) most trusted agent, right-hand man and all-around nice guy. He was seen throughout Phase 1 and viewers learned in the first Avengers movie that he greatly admired the First Avenger (Chris Evans) so much that he had input into the design of Steve’s updated Captain America uniform.
Black Widow (Scarlett Johannson) rats him out when she reveals to Steve that he has vintage Captain America trading cards that he wants Steve to autograph. Unfortunately, before Steve has an opportunity to sign his John Hancock on the collection that Coulson said took him years to collect, Coulson was stabbed in the back (literally) by Loki (Tom Hiddleston).
Coulson’s untimely death had a profound impact on all the Avengers, as well as the fans watching as the MCU killed off its first hero. Before the last tear-stained tissue had a chance to hit the trash can, fans were left perplexed when it was announced Gregg would be returning to the role of Coulson in his own television show. While it was initially assumed it would be a prequel, it wasn’t, which left viewers more confused. After Coulson’s death, he was mentioned as a fallen hero several times, without anyone mentioning he somehow miraculously survived.
Over the course of the TV series, it was finally revealed that Coulson did not survive Loki’s attack, but he was revived through an experimental program called Project T.A.H.I.T.I. While it’s a great way to bring the character back, the existence of Project T.A.H.I.T.I. proves that Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. is definitely not part of the normal MCU universe. The program was designed as a fail-safe to bring back any fallen Avengers. It could be argued that Pietro Maximoff (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) was not part of the official Avengers team when he died in Avengers: Age of Ultron, so they would not have used it on him. The same could not be said for Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.), who was definitely part of the Avengers when he died in Avengers: End Game. If Nick Fury didn’t test Project T.A.H.I.T.I. out on Tony, then it’s probably a good assumption that it did not exist.
In the Disney Plus series Loki, Agent Mobius (Owen Wilson) also highlights Coulson’s murder as one of the reasons Loki is such a bad person. Although Loki solidifies the fact that Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. cannot be in the main universe, it also helped set up the possibility of it happening in the future. When Loki and Sylvie (Sophie Di Martino) get through Alioth during the final episode of the first season, they come face to face with the man pulling all the strings and maintaining one timeline. Of course, it all ends with the timeline splitting, which, in turn, creates — or recreates — the multiverse.
With the multiverse now in existence in the MCU and the Timekeepers unable to do anything about it, the alternate timeline where Project T.A.H.I.T.I. brought Agent Coulson back to life is now a real possibility. It could be expected that at least some of the stars of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. could reprise their roles in the MCU. It could just as easily be another timeline with things being slightly different from the actual established timeline. Part of the fun of having a multiverse is that it gives the writers free reign to do pretty much anything their imaginations can think up. So, is Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. canon? Not at the moment, but one little change to the timeline and Coulson’s death, rebirth and happily ever after could be officially canon. Only time will tell if Agent Coulson will grace our movie screens again. If he does, hopefully old man Cap will finally fulfill Coulson’s fanboy obsession and autograph his cards.