How Can the 'Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.' Cast Join the MCU?

The Big Picture

The series finale of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. presents a way to rectify continuity discrepancies with the MCU films and allows for the characters to be used in future Marvel projects.
Chloe Bennet's character, Quake, could potentially join S.W.O.R.D. and appear in cosmic-focused Marvel projects like Thor, Captain Marvel, or Guardians of the Galaxy.
Phil Coulson and other S.H.I.E.L.D. agents could make appearances in supporting roles in future Earth-based projects, such as Captain America: Brave New World , Thunderbolts , or Armor Wars .

Before the blockbuster Disney+ series' or even Netflix’s Defenders saga, the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s first television series was Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. One of the franchise’s few forays into traditional broadcast TV, the series followed a team of agents from the titular organization, which had been featured throughout the MCU’s Phase 1 films, as they investigated and protected the world from super-powered entities and beings. At the beginning of its seven season run, S.H.I.E.L.D.’s narrative was closely connected to the MCU films. Several actors from the films reprised their roles in addition to series lead Phil Coulson (Clark Gregg), who had first appeared in the movies, and episodes that aired close to theatrical releases often featured connections to the films’ plots.

But none of the later films made much effort to reciprocate and reference S.H.I.E.L.D., and as the years went by the series began to focus more on developing its own detailed mythology, leading some viewers to believe that its continuity and that of the films could no longer be considered the same. The series finale featured a plot twist that could potentially be used to rectify these discrepancies and concluded most of the characters’ stories in ways that made it possible for them to be used in later Marvel projects. Between this and the return of several other Marvel TV characters like Charlie Cox’s Daredevil, Vincent D’Onofrio’s Kingpin, and even Anson Mount’s Black Bolt, many fans are hoping to see some of S.H.I.E.L.D.’s heroes again, and there are several upcoming projects in which appearances from one or more of them would make sense.

It's worth noting that the nature of the Multiverse Saga creates almost unlimited potential for stories involving S.H.I.E.L.D. characters. Any of the actors from the series could be brought back to play variants of their characters from different timelines or universes, much as Patrick Stewart and the other actors who made up the Illuminati in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness did. This would allow future projects to feature the S.H.I.E.L.D. cast and characters, which have accrued their own passionate fans, without having to take into account the complicated backstories and histories they have from the series. That said, the finale did offer a way to keep the exact versions of the characters that viewers are familiar with canon to the MCU’s main universe.

'Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.' Ended Back in the MCU

S.H.I.E.L.D.’s final season featured the main characters time traveling to prevent the alien androids known as the Chronicoms from erasing the S.H.I.E.L.D. organization from history as part of their plan to conquer Earth. Although the team managed to interfere with many of the Chronicoms’ plans, the androids and their human allies from Hydra did succeed in making several changes to the past that would irrevocably alter history. In the two-part finale, engineer Leo Fitz (Iain De Caestecker) traveled back in time to 1983 and reunited with the rest of the S.H.I.E.L.D. team. Fitz explained that after the team and the Chronicoms first time traveled they created an alternate timeline, but that they could travel through the Quantum Realm back to the original one, which eventually they did. This self-aware story point was an obvious way for the finale to make it clear that the characters did end the series back in the regular MCU where they started, even if it didn’t address all the possible continuity discrepancies that had arisen over the years.

Chloe Bennet’s Quake Could Forge the Path for Inhumans in the MCU

The agents’ personal storylines mostly ended in ways that left their futures wide open for further adventures if other MCU stories have need of them. Daisy Johnson/Quake (Chloe Bennet), the Inhuman superhero previously known as Skye and one of the main protagonists of the series along with Coulson, was last shown exploring space aboard the S.H.I.E.L.D. vessel Zephyr Three with her boyfriend, former Agent Carter star Daniel Sousa (Enver Gjokaj), and her sister, Kora (Dianne Doan). This would make Daisy a natural addition to S.W.O.R.D., the agency charged with protecting Earth from alien threats that was introduced in WandaVision. In turn, this could lead her to appear in any number of cosmic-focused Marvel projects such as those in the Thor, Captain Marvel, or Guardians of the Galaxy franchises. That said, future creators would have to decide whether to bring Sousa and Kora along. Explaining how the characters were taken from their home time periods would require going into more of S.H.I.E.L.D.’s history than some creators might want, and seeing Sousa in the present day would confuse viewers who watched Agent Carter but not S.H.I.E.L.D. However, not including them might upset some S.H.I.E.L.D. viewers who appreciated the choice to give Daisy a small family unit of her own at the end of the series.

There are also several options for including Daisy in more Earth-based stories. She, Kora, and other Inhumans from S.H.I.E.L.D. like Elena “Yo-Yo” Rodriguez (Natalia Cordova-Buckley) would make good co-stars for characters like Ms. Marvel (Iman Vellani) or the X-Men (whenever the MCU introduces them), given their own experiences being discriminated against because of their superpowers. Lastly, there is a small detail about Daisy’s past that may connect her to another fan-favorite Marvel TV hero. In the earlier seasons she referenced spending part of her childhood in an orphanage called Saint Agnes. In the Daredevil series Foggy Nelson (Elden Henson) mentions that he and Matt Murdock (Cox) are helping one of their clients get their kid into Saint Agnes daycare. This led to speculation that the local orphanage where Matt grew up was also run by the Saint Agnes parish, making it the same one where Daisy spent time — although this is never confirmed and the church associated with Matt’s orphanage is only referred to as Clinton Church. Still, having Daisy and Matt encounter one another in a future project would be a nice nod to this fan theory, especially if the characters were confirmed to know one another from childhood.

Phil Coulson Deserves His Reunion With the Avengers

Coulson, Melinda May (Ming-Na Wen), and Alphonso “Mack” Mackenzie (Henry Simmons) retained ties to S.H.I.E.L.D. at the end of the series, with Mack continuing to serve as the agency’s new director. While the wider MCU has yet to acknowledge the return of S.H.I.E.L.D. as an official organization after Captain America: The Winter Soldier, there’s nothing preventing it from doing so. And if it does, these three and other agents, especially those without superpowers, could easily appear in supporting roles in any number of projects — just as Coulson and Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) did in the franchise’s early days. While they could conceivably appear in almost any Earth-based story, they would make the most sense as cast members in more grounded projects focusing on characters with ties to espionage and the military, such as Captain America: Brave New World, Thunderbolts, or Armor Wars.

Many fans would also love to see Coulson reunite with some of his old friends like Fury or Thor (Chris Hemsworth), and he’s long overdue for a second confrontation with Loki (Tom Hiddleston). That said, any project that includes him would have to sum up the complicated story of how he’s alive after being stabbed by Loki in The Avengers. To do so, it would probably be best if his first resurrection — when he was revived using the blood of a Kree — is not mentioned in favor of focusing exclusively on how he came back from death a second time in S.H.I.E.L.D.’s final seasons as an android. His new robotic nature would also make Coulson a logical inclusion in Vision Quest, the upcoming Disney+ series focusing on android Avenger the Vision (Paul Bettany).

’Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.’s Supporting Characters Have Ties to the MCU

In addition to the main cast, there are plenty of supporting characters from S.H.I.E.L.D. that fans would be happy to see again. The season finale of Hawkeye confirmed that Laura Barton (Linda Cardellini) is a former S.H.I.E.L.D. agent who was code-named Agent 19. In the comics, this title belonged to Barbara “Bobbi” Morse/Mockingbird, who Adrianne Palicki portrays in the second and third seasons of S.H.I.E.L.D. A possible future season of Hawkeye could unite Bobbi with Laura and or Clint Barton/Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner), who she was married to for a time in the comics, and explore what kind of connections they have in the MCU. S.H.I.E.L.D.’s fourth season featured the Robbie Reyes version of Ghost Rider, played by Gabriel Luna, whose performances earned critical praise. Luna was set to reprise the role in a spin-off series for Hulu before the project was canceled due to Marvel Studios taking over Marvel Television. Since then, fans have hoped the character would return in one of the franchise’s next magic or horror-focused projects. The Blade reboot, a future Doctor Strange sequel, or another Halloween special like last year’s Werewolf by Night would all be logical places for the Spirit of Vengeance to make his return.

There is also a possible connection between Robbie’s story and the upcoming WandaVision spin-off focused on Agatha Harkness (Kathryn Hahn). In his final appearance on S.H.I.E.L.D., Robbie took custody of the dark magic book known as the Darkhold, a version of which was in Agatha’s possession during WandaVision. If this was indeed the same Darkhold, and not one of the many copies said to exist throughout the multiverse, Agatha may very well have taken it directly from Robbie. Wanda Maximoff/the Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen) destroyed all the Darkholds in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, but the Agatha spin-off still adopted the title Agatha: Darkhold Diaries, suggesting that Agatha’s history with the book will be explored in the series. Including an appearance by Ghost Rider in this storyline would be a delight for fans.

There are a few S.H.I.E.L.D. characters who future stories may be better off avoiding, however. In the series finale Deke Shaw (Jeff Ward), the time-displaced grandson of Fitz and Jemma Simmons (Elizabeth Henstridge), stayed in the 1980s of the alternate timeline to ensure the rest of the team’s return, fulfilling a prediction made by the benevolent Chronicom Enoch (Joel Stoffer) that the final season would be the last time the whole S.H.I.E.L.D. family was together. In order to maintain this, Deke should be left where he is. Fitz and Simmons themselves should also only be used sparingly, if at all, going forward. The love story between the two science officers was the heart of S.H.I.E.L.D. and both characters became fan-favorites. But they got a lovely happy ending in which they retired to raise their daughter, even though Simmons quietly continued to provide scientific advice to some of her old colleagues. This peace was well-deserved after all the danger and challenges the pair faced throughout the series and most S.H.I.E.L.D. viewers would be distraught if anything tarnished their happiness. Given that, while seeing one or both of them again as scientific advisors would be welcome, any future appearances would best be limited to light-hearted cameos.

Those exceptions aside, it really seems like the right time to bring at least parts of S.H.I.E.L.D. into the larger MCU. The series is one of the most unique and underrated entries in the franchise, and its loyal fans deserve the same rewards that those of other projects like Daredevil and the pre-MCU Marvel movies are getting in the Multiverse Saga.