Clark Gregg Tells MCU Canon Critics of AGENTS OF S.H.I.E.L.D. to "Go F**k Yourself"
It’s been years since Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. wrapped up its seven-season run, but one debate refuses to die… is it canon in the MCU or not?
I’m not sure why fans still continue to argue about where the series fits in the Marvel timeline, but Clark Gregg, the man who brought Agent Phil Coulson to life, just offered the most direct response yet, he didn’t hold back.
During a recent appearance at New York Comic Con (via /Film), Gregg was asked about the never-ending canon conversation and made his feelings crystal clear:
"There [are] some people who talk about canon. You can go f*** yourself. We're proud of what we did. We're proud, really deeply proud, of the connection we have with people like you who come visit and hang with us."
Gregg’s response captures how much the cast and crew still stand by what they accomplished with the show, regardless of how Marvel Studios and some fans classify it.
When Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. first debuted on ABC, it was designed to expand the Marvel Cinematic Universe on television, directly following the events of The Avengers. The show came into its own after Captain America: The Winter Soldier, when Hydra’s infiltration of S.H.I.E.L.D. reshaped everything. But as Marvel Studios evolved, the show slowly drifted away from the so-called “Sacred Timeline.”
Behind the scenes, that divide came from a power struggle between Kevin Feige at Marvel Studios and Ike Perlmutter, the former head of Marvel Entertainment. Feige reportedly never wanted the Marvel Television shows like Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. or Agent Carter to interfere with his big-screen plans.
Once Feige took full creative control, Marvel Studios began producing its own Disney+ series that directly tied into the MCU’s main continuity.
Still, the question of canon hasn’t gone away. Fans continue to debate whether Coulson, Daisy Johnson (aka Quake), and Melinda May could reappear in the main MCU timeline. Some contradictions exist, like WandaVision’s version of the Darkhold, but S.H.I.E.L.D. offered an in-universe explanation that the book could change its form, leaving the door cracked open for continuity to coexist.
Earlier this year, Brad Winderbaum, Marvel Studios’ Head of TV, Streaming, and Animation, hinted that the studio hasn’t ruled out integrating the ABC shows into the MCU entirely.
"Well, I'll tell you this, and put it to you like this. It's exciting for me to think about how to square those ABC shows with the canon. That, to me, if you know me and the way my brain works, that is fun territory to imagine."
That comment gives fans hope that the Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. team could eventually make their way back into the fold. Whether or not that happens, Gregg’s unapologetic stance shows that, for him and the cast, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. doesn’t need Marvel’s official stamp to matter.
So, what do you think? Should Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. officially be considered canon in the MCU, or should it remain its own self-contained corner of the Marvel universe?