What an 'MCU show' means

So I've made a lot of Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D. posts on this subreddit, and there's always people who go 'Not MCU', and they say the same thing about Agent Carter, Runaways, and Cloak & Dagger. That is factually incorrect. All of those shows were created for the Marvel Cinematic Universe (franchise), and are therefore a part of the franchise. Canon means something happens in the 616/199999, and if some higher up at Marvel decides that the aforementioned shows aren't canon (which is stupid), those shows will still be a part of the MCU (franchise). Saying that those shows aren't a part of the MCU because **you as an individual** don't believe that it's canon, is like saying that Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man or Marvel Zombies, neither of which are canon, are not a part of the MCU.

tl;dr: There's a difference between being a part of a franchise, and being canon, and they aren't the same thing.

Commentaires

Caelesti_Deus2025-11-01 06:07

![gif](giphy|JRUoLd5Bs922MfXKLq)

FullMarionberry80652025-11-01 06:10

The thing is, I think it might not even be possible to consider them part of the same franchise. In theory, they should be, but in practice, they weren't. Those who produced these shows based them on the MCU, but didn't actually work with those who worked on the MCU. I'd say these productions are as much MCU as the X-Men and Fantastic Four movies from Fox and the Spider-Man (and their villains) from Sony, which weren't made with any intention of being part of the same franchise, but are still currently all canonical in the multiverse (just like the series you mentioned). They still had a direct connection to the MCU, something these series didn't have. But of course, things can change, just like Daredevil was in the same group as the mentioned series and is now canonical. The content of that Netflix series is canonical in the MCU, but the original series itself is as much MCU as the X-Men from Fox.

Character-Owl94082025-11-01 06:21

The thing is though that AoS actually connects to movies in the MCU throughout the first 4 seasons. Theres no crossover of characters besides the couple appearances by Nick Fury, Maria Hill, and Lady Siff (my bad if I’m forgetting someone else), but the events have direct correlations. Saying it’s not MCU is wild

X-WingAtAliciousnes12025-11-01 06:39

Is it a relationship if it's one sided and never reciprocated by the other side

Character-Owl94082025-11-01 12:40

But it wasn’t one sided, AoS also sets up Thanos coming to Earth. Obviously he was coming regardless of the show was made, but it was absolutely written in AoS to give us more events that led up to Thanos. The movies would not have been different without AoS, but there’s stuff in AoS that shows the aftermath of events in the movies, and stuff in AoS that lead up to the events of the movies.

marvelcomics222025-11-01 06:47

That's factually incorrect. They were made as a part of the MCU, and always have been. Daredevil didn't 'become a part of the MCU', it always was.

FullMarionberry80652025-11-01 08:51

In theory, yes; in practice, no. What happened there was always completely irrelevant to the whole. If they wanted to override the series, they could have, but it didn't happen, and today it has become relevant, unlike Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., which, at the first opportunity to do something that doesn't fit with what was presented in the series, they did without remorse. Obviously, much of that fits into the MCU narratively, as it was done with that objective, but it was a one-sided relationship, having the same weight for the MCU as any theory or headcanon of ours. There may be MCU elements there, but at least so far, none of that is in the MCU; it's one-sided. No matter how much they wanted it to be part of it, in practice it wasn't.

And honestly, none of that matters. Whether it's MCU or not is irrelevant; it's just a term. What matters is that you watch it and, if you like it, enjoy it, regardless of which universe it's set in, who made it, or what its purpose is. If it's good, we enjoy it; if it's bad, let it go. This is an irrelevant discussion.

Ejax1312102025-11-01 06:14

I agree with everything except saying 616. The earth in the MCU IS 199999. I get so triggered when they referenced this in Multiverse of Madness. In Far From Home it makes sense because Mysterio is a liar so everything should be taken with a grain of salt. Multiverse of Madness on the other hand just says "Yes that is 616, this is it, you're from that earth."

Bro get it right

CommunityHot92192025-11-01 06:18

So... just to clarify, you get "triggered" when people are factually correct? Because it is "616" regardless of how you actually feel about it. Not liking the rain doesn't change the weather.

Ejax1312102025-11-01 06:30

Quora article with a picture of a Marvel handbook classifying Iron Man 2008 is Earth 199999. [link](https://www.quora.com/Where-did-the-MCU-get-its-universe-number-indication-of-Earth-199999)

CommunityHot92192025-11-01 06:46

Yes, and?

Ejax1312102025-11-01 06:50

If you ain't gonna read, you shouldn't be typing shit. Take the L and keep going.

CommunityHot92192025-11-01 06:55

What L? As far as I'm concerned you've said nothing.

Ejax1312102025-11-01 06:56

And I said if you ain't gonna read, then stop typing shit

CommunityHot92192025-11-01 07:06

What exactly do you want me to read? Some Quora post? It's Earth 616 according to both the actual movies and Feige himself. It's weird that you're getting so upset.

Ejax1312102025-11-01 07:23

Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A to Z 2008 vol. 5

FullMarionberry80652025-11-01 09:08

This is from 17 years ago, when the MCU didn't even really exist yet and was just another universe in the comic book multiverse. Retcons happen and information changes; as a comic book fan, you should be used to that. It's more than clear that the current Marvel movie multiverse isn't the same as the comic book one. Or do you think they're going to reboot the comics too when Secret Wars comes out? And even if it were the same multiverse, it's huge. It's totally plausible that within the multiverse and its infinite possibilities, there are different institutions that count the multiverse differently, and that the same universe has different numbers for different observers. Have you considered the possibility that whoever counted the universes in 838 simply didn't know that many universes existed? There are so many explanations, and honestly, it doesn't matter at all; it's just a number, man.

ItsAProdigalReturn2025-11-01 06:22

That's what the marvel fandom wiki and spider verse claims. The movies call it 616/MCU.

Ejax1312102025-11-01 06:29

It was only referenced as 616 once as its earth number. Only in Multiverse of Madness. Far From Home doesn't count because Mysterio referenced later in the film that there was a script about being from another earth.

It's not even just the fandom wiki and spider verse movies. Hell there's a handbook saying that Iron Man 2008 is Earth 199999. [Here](https://www.quora.com/Where-did-the-MCU-get-its-universe-number-indication-of-Earth-199999)

ItsAProdigalReturn2025-11-01 06:55

That's not official licensed handbook. It's a crowd sourced handbook not made by Marvel Studios. The actual Marvel Studios materials all calls it 616.

Ejax1312102025-11-01 07:26

Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A to Z 2008 vol. 5

EXOknight5672025-11-01 07:16

I like to think of it like this. There are 2 MCUs: Earth-616 is for Marvel Studios canon and Earth-199999 for the comics to use. Earth-616 is the restricted canon that Marvel Studios will only care about and speak about. Earth-199999 is for when the comics crossover with MCU versions of their characters. This also is free to include the Prelude graphic novels, any legacy Marvel Television series like AoS, Agent Carter, C&D, and Runaways, and any non-Marvel Studios Marvel films like Across the Spider-Verse to reference.

TheMikey22072025-11-01 06:17

The thing is, everything is canon with the introduction of everything we got in Loki.

I personally believe that they deviated off the sacred timeline at some point and the TVA stepped in.

The show was made for the main sacred timeline but they went a bit whacky with it and made choices which Marvel Studios has since reconned like Agent 19/Mockingbird being Laura Barton and the Darkhold’s appearance. AOS is canon and a part of the MCU branch but it’s not the branch we are following.

The events still might’ve happened exactly how they happened on the show but some things might not of and some characters might not of been there at that time. It’s sorta like Peacemaker and how they changed some of the events that happened in S1 to fit into their new universe. We know Laura is Mockingbird and we know the Darkhold in AOS isn’t the same one as seen in WandaVision.

…the fact is none of it is going to matter anyway with the post Secret Wars soft reboot thing they are going to do.

marvelcomics222025-11-01 06:49

Neither of those things make AoS non-canon. Unless S.H.I.E.L.D. only had 18 Agents before Laura Barton joined, it's a mantle, and Bobbi was never reffered to as Mockingbird or Agent 19 in the show. The Darkhold is also a copy from what's written on Mount Wundagore, so it's a copy of the Darkhold.

CommunityHot92192025-11-01 06:20

I feel like you and others like you exist in an alternate universe where people aren't allowed to enjoy things if they aren't canon to a franchise.

Seriously. It's the diehard fans of AoS that get the most wound up and obsessive over canonicity. You're allowed to think it's good whether it's canon or not. It doesn't matter.

marvelcomics222025-11-01 06:50

It's not about canon. It's about not being able to talk about the show without someone bringing up canon, and they use that against the show, and myself and many others care a lot about the show, so we get defensive.

ItsAProdigalReturn2025-11-01 06:26

I'm simplifying things but this is the gist of it:

• They were created to be MCU by Perlmutter and his team

• Feige did not consider them part of 616, and there was no creative consistency between Marvel TV and Marvel Studios at the time

• When Perlmutter got the boot and Feige took over, Feige cancelled all of the Marvel TV projects

• Feige categorised the Perlmutter projects as part of the multiverse, but still canon

• Feige brought the Netflix shows back into the MCU/616 continuity

Adrian_18272025-11-01 06:32

If Feige says it is Canon and in the MCU it counts. Agents of Shield is not Canon.

marvelcomics222025-11-01 06:46

If you have a spare three minutes, you can watch [this ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zYPJtp8uX0I)video.

Adrian_18272025-11-01 06:47

If agents of shield was Canon they'd be in the mcu rn

BIGBMH2025-11-01 06:49

I get what you’re saying, but given the name, I don’t think it makes sense to say “part of the MCU” to refer to projects affiliated with the franchise but not set within the universe. In comic terms, when you refer to a universe, you are referring to a specific reality in which every character and story are part of a shared canon. It is the vast setting and context in which the stories occur.

While MCU is sometimes used to refer to projects associated with the franchise but existing outside the actual universe the label refers to…that doesn’t make sense and warrants a rebrand. The name was intended to refer to both a franchise and a specific canon/continuity. Since the scale has expanded beyond the focal universe, if they wanted to call the franchise the Marvel Cinematic Multiverse, it’d make a lot more sense to me.

IMO, DC’s home release animated films handled their branding more sensibly. The entire line is branded “DC Universe Animated Original Movies.” However, within that line some of the films are a part of a shared universe called the “DC Animated Movie Universe.” The broader franchise is DC Universe Animated Original Movies, but the label of DCAMU speaks to a specific setting and canon, just as the MCU was intended to.

marvelcomics222025-11-01 06:57

I think the name is fine, people just need the common sense to differenciate when people are talking about the MCU (franchise) and the MCU (universe)