MARVEL TV: THE RETURN

Hey Marvel & fans! Excuse my jumbled mess here everybody, but I’m here today to make my case as to why Agents of SHIELD (alongside other Marvel TV properties) is still canon in the main timeline of the MCU on Earth 199999 & to pitch the basic idea on how to bring them back into the main stories on Disney+. I won’t go super in-depth on some of the timeline arguments, as I feel that’s been done to death, but I’ll touch on it here & there when necessary. Firstly, I wanted to discuss why the shows aren’t just canon due to multiverse shenanigans, but the actual main MCU timeline that we’ve followed since 2008. This is where these characters share their stories, as were the shows’ original intents in conception many years ago. Agents of SHIELD in particular made this very clear multiple times, alongside the behind the scenes clearly establishing this, & the marketing. The time-traveling in SHIELD Seasons 5 & 7 does NOT put them in an alternate universe outside of the main MCU. They merely travel to the alternate timelines twice, and explicitly come back to the main timeline of the MCU on Earth 199999 both times, and the show makes it clear that it ends in that main timeline in the year 2020, between Infinity War and Endgame’s events. Also, Kevin Feige has confirmed the shows as existing within that same main continuity on multiple occasions, and he's never gone back on this, but has only ever encouraged the characters returning, as recent as this year(2021).

These characters matter and deserve to be in the same spotlight as the rest of our beloved heroes. Don’t retcon this history. Simply improve & expand upon it. I know you have the talent & minds capable of doing so with any property. For example, outside of Agents of SHIELD, I could see Finn Jones returning to play the role of Danny Rand with a better team of writers behind the scenes for Iron Fist. That would be amazing. Finn IS that character, & we’ve all invested so much time in getting to know him on his journey, just like our agents. Teaming Finn up with Mike Colter as Luke Cage for a Heroes for Hire series, thus also redeeming the character of Luke from becoming a crime boss at the end of his show, would be so damn good. There’s also plenty of us that want to see Finn & Simu Liu team up for a Shang Chi/Iron Fist film for sure! Finn’s show ended on such a cliffhanger, especially with Colleen too! Bring it back! I know Clark Gregg would love to get a chance to share the screen with Finn in full costume one day too. Make it happen, Marvel!

      And look, & this is just an idea that popped into my head while writing this, but….maybe one day the Chronicom Coulson LMD himself can reunite somehow with the real Coulson’s soul into one final Coulson who helps save the multiverse with everyone in a film. That’d be so beautiful, to have the other original hero from 2008 outside of Stark (who saved the universe) help save the multiverse. Anywho, as far as everyone trying to act like SHIELD isn’t canon because they didn’t mention the Snap/Blip,…it’s very easy to write in a scenario where the Agents did deal with Thano’s snap briefly between Season 6 and 7 to ease those peoples’ minds. Like so,….

         With that said, I’d like to now explain how I’d envision the return of Agents of SHIELD’s characters in the narrative (mainly with Coulson’s introduction) on Disney+ moving forward, as well as confirming (even though it’s already confirmed by Feige & the show itself) the canon of the show in the MCU with some facts. Envision the ending scene of some special Disney+ show episode, where there would be the surprise reveal of Chronicom LMD Coulson, who is now being briefed/interrogated by our protagonists. I’d like to think it’s part of Secret Invasion, & they think he’s a skrull at first. This would lead into a full hour in length episode split into specific three sections, or acts. In the first few minutes of the episode, Coulson would recap Agents of Shield S1-S5, but in minor detail for the audience. This would encourage fans to go back and watch the show. We’d get a little joke about the Darkhold falling into the wrong hands again, with the likes of Morgan le Fay & Agatha Harkness, cheekily referencing the books ability to change its appearance, to also enlighten the people that say its differing appearance in Wandavision means it’s not canon. Nonsense. Even Clark Gregg questions why people would think this. Speaking of Wandavision, there’s also a huge amount of evidence to suggest that Jimmy Woo’s witness protection person was also a character in Agents of SHIELD. Abilash Tandon (known as Norm under The Hex), who is in Wandavision, is most likely the same character as Jesse Fletcher, from Agents of SHIELD. It all checks out. He was placed into witness protection and changed his name after his involvement with Cybertek. Boom. You looking for this?

      Following this first few minutes, there would then be a 20 minute segment, telling of how the AoS characters were dealing with the events of The Snap, as well as beginning their search for Fitz in space, & dealing with the real Coulson’s death & funeral, leading up to the events that happen in Season 6. This would satisfy those that keep trying to say it’s not canon because they don’t mention The Snap, even though they don’t need to mention it a YEAR LATER in Season 6. After this, Coulson would briefly recap S6-S7 just as he did the first 5 seasons, in which the series ended in 2020 with the fully re-established SHIELD, Coulson Academy, & the newly fixed up Triskelion. Yes, I must bring this up briefly. The Triskelion, contrary to popular belief, was NOT destroyed in The Winter Soldier film. If you pay attention, it still stands at the end, albeit heavily damaged. It was clearly being repaired over the years, as evidenced in Spider-Man Homecoming’s deleted scene, & the final episode of Agents of SHIELD, in which it stands tall and proud again, fully rebuilt. They go out of their way to let you know they’re still in the main MCU timeline multiple times in the show, as I have said.

             The following 20 minutes of this special episode would involve what LMD Coulson and some of the other characters were up to in the three years between AoS’s ending (2020) and Endgame(2023), while referencing why they weren’t in the final battle of that film. Although, I’m sure that really goes without saying, but all things considered, not one person in that Endgame battle would have been concerned with, nor really knew about SHIELD’s fully reestablished status before heading into help the Avengers. It’s likely that some of our characters stayed retired, like Fitz & Simmons. Others were likely on other missions in space, like Daisy, Sousa, & Kora. Not sure if they joined up with SWORD or not, or if they’re with Fury’s space division, or if Fury & SWORD are even separate entities at this point, but I suppose we will find out. I am confident the other few had their own threats to deal with at the time as well, like Director Mack, Piper, Yo-Yo, Davis. LMD Coulson, at this point in the timeline, is probably out seeing the world while May teaches classes with students like Flint, among many other characters from the show doing who knows what until the Blip Return in 2023. This game of catch-up would further prove that the Triskelion wasn’t completely destroyed (which is already obvious, but whatever), alongside the fact that the agents were never just staying in the two alternate timelines from Season’s 5 & 7, with the exception of Deke. I hope the TVA didn’t prune Deke, but I’m sure he & all the other agents are actually safe, because they were supposed to do what they did, as per Kang’s sacred timeline, like The Avengers in Endgame. Hence, why we never saw the TVA deal with them.

             The final 20 minutes of the episode would involve Post-Endgame events with The Blip and whatever transpired to get LMD Coulson to the point of where he is now, talking to said individual in whatever interrogation space they may be in. The end of the episode would involve an action sequence with the characters that leads into the rest of LMD Coulson’s involvement in the season, and the MCU at large. From that point on, any of our favorite agents could show up again in the movies & shows to come. So much fun can be had with all of this. I hope Marvel doesn’t squander that potential with not only Agents of SHIELD, but all of the Marvel TV shows. They exist. They matter to the main timeline. Please Marvel, I & many beg you to keep Marvel TV canon.

SHIELD is important within the MCU’s history. Marvel TV is important. Don’t let it die. Don’t let any of it die. We could see so many cool things happen, like potentially SHIELD clashing with SWORD, Coulson having fun with Iron Fist & Shang Chi, Dr. Strange meeting Ghost Rider, The Punisher teaming up with Spider-Man, The Runaways and Cloak & Dagger collaborating with the Young Avengers, etc….but it must be a continuation of our beloved canon that is a part of Earth 199999. All of the Marvel TV shows exist as important MCU canon to the main timeline, with the exception of MAYBE the Inhumans show, but even you could keep that canon & improve upon it as well. Imagine some scene of any movie/show, maybe even The Eternals, where the Royal Inhumans make a grand appearance again, having been forced to live on Earth now in their series finale, fully integrated into society, but in their own unique ways. Same actors, same canon, just better writing & direction. I’d personally let that one slide if they didn’t keep it canon, but I did invest time into that, having watched it twice, so I’d rather them just improve upon what is already there. I stand by that Agents of SHIELD did the Inhumans justice though, with the likes of Daisy & more. Don’t change this. The only show I haven’t watched yet is Helstrom, so I can’t speak for it, nor am I sure it’s MCU, but everything else, for the most part, should remain intact. I hope Marvel incorporates these characters into the main story again with their continued canons & that their talent they have working on things can watch the shows these characters originated in to catch up alongside Feige’s guidance to give the fans what they want in our main MCU Earth 199999 (NOT 616, that’s the comics universe).

      Maybe I’m asking for too much, but is it really too much? We’ve seen the possibilities. They have the budget & creativity to make it happen, so…why not? The fans want all of this to be kept intact & continue. Please Marvel. Keep Marvel TV canon & bring it all back. Also,…maybe Graviton survived being frozen in space due to his power or something crazy. That’s one selfish wish that I have story-wise besides the overall stuff at large. Haha. I want Talbot’s Graviton to fight The Avengers! Much love to Marvel & all the fans. Hope to see magic made again soon. <3

Extra Note: Here are the characters that I & many would love to see again in some way, shape, or form, with their original continuities intact: Yo-Yo, Piper, LMD Davis, LMD Coulson, Mack, Daisy, Deke, Fitz, Simmons, May, Sousa, Kora, Snowflake, Vijay Nadeer, Zabo, Joey, President Ellis, Robbie Reyes, Gabriel Reyes, Mike Peterson’s Deathlok, The Koenigs, Felix Blake, Marcus Daniels, Agent Tyler, Tucker Shockley, The Superior, Flint, Marcus Benson, Malachi, Donnie Gill, all of the Defenders & their supporting cast members, The Punisher, Runaways, The Inhumans, Cloak, & Dagger. I would have listed more specifics for the shows outside of SHIELD, but I think this story is already long enough. Hehe. Excelsior, True Believers! :)