The official lore of Marvel’s Cinematic Universe can be confusing when compared to some of its pre-Disney Plus television properties.
Nowadays, with The House of Mouse now having its own streaming service, modern shows like WandaVision and Loki are firmly cemented within the MCU canon, with both of those shows even potentially setting up storylines for films to come.
The same can’t be said with as much certainty for the various Marvel shows that appeared on Netflix—such as Daredevil and Jessica Jones—and ABC, including Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and Agent Carter.
While it’s possible some of these shows or narrow aspects of them might be canon, and indeed that was the assumption for a long time for many fans, our understanding of the official mainline MCU narrative is getting revised thanks to the release of a new book, The Story of Marvel Studios: The Making of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
The book was fully authorized by Marvel and gave us the previous revelation that Kevin Feige and Marvel Studios had little or no control over the pre-Disney Plus era shows. In addition, Marvel Entertainment, the studio that was then charged with producing the television content, was kept as a separate entity that operated fairly independently of the films and whose grasp of properties like Daredevil and Ghost Rider precluded Feige’s ability to use those characters in the movies, despite his expressed desire to do so.
Now the author of the book, Tara Bennett, is clarifying for fans that one show, in particular, has been confirmed as canon to the MCU: Agent Carter (per TheDirect). However, the other Marvel show that aired on ABC, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., is not considered canon.
Check out a response from a fan on Twitter amidst a debate over what shows are considered canon or not:
She further clarifies that the book explains in further detail how each show works within the MCU.
Agent Carter is distinct from Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Bennett explains.
The book sources Marvel insiders themselves about the how and why of whether a certain show is considered canon or not.
The insight about Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.not being canon is explained in the book by Joss Whedon, who said Agent Coulson’s death in The Avengers was “definitive.”
What pre-Disney Plus or Marvel show do you think they should bring into the MCU?