Ming-Na Wen, who played Agent Melinda May on Agents of SHIELD, opens up about not getting asked by Marvel Studios to return to the larger MCU.

Agent May in a suit in Agents of SHIELD

Melinda May actress Ming-Na Wen gives her thoughts on not getting asked to return to the Marvel Cinematic Universe after her time on Agents of SHIELD. While Marvel Studios is enjoying the success with their MCU TV shows on Disney+, the original Marvel TV era paved the way for getting more shows established in the franchise. Despite starting as a loose spinoff of 2012’s The Avengers, the ties between the MCU and Agents of SHIELD have been largely disconnected across the franchise.

Wen recently appeared on Katee Sackhoff’s podcast, The Sackhoff Show, where she was asked by her fellow Star Wars co-star about her time in the MCU. Despite having been on Agents of SHIELD, the longest-running Marvel TV show, Wen has not been asked by Marvel Studios to return to the franchise, sharing the following thoughts:

Katee Sackhoff : I wanted to talk about Agents of SHIELD, because you have already worked for Marvel, basically, but have you had meetings about Marvel? Because you’ve been in this Disney family now, have they ever called?

Ming-Na Wen : No, they have not…it’s weird, Agents of SHIELD sort of became a separate entity for whatever reason because it was on the network as opposed to streaming. I think there’s some — and this is where my obliviousness also helps because I don’t understand it, so you’re asking the wrong person, I just know that there’s some sort of division.

Katee Sackhoff : Was it that Agents of SHIELD was one of those sort of last shows that I feel like Marvel did that was a standard network television show?

Ming-Na Wen : Yeah, but we were the first, so you think we should get some accolade for helping launch Marvel in what the TV [department] that it is now.

What Is Going On With Agents Of SHIELD In The MCU Timeline?

Unlike The Marvel Netflix Shows, Its MCU Canon Status Remains Unknown

Phil Coulson looking proud in Agents of SHIELD

Even though it has been a few years since Agents of SHIELD came to an end, there have been a lot of questions as to its place in the MCU timeline. Over the last year, Marvel Studios has officially made the Marvel Netflix shows canon, with Charlie Cox’s Matt Murdock set to officially headline his own TV show in Daredevil: Born Again. However, the Agents of SHIELD timeline is the bigger mystery as Marvel Studios has continued to keep it on the sidelines.

Given that SHIELD as an organization has not been an active part of the MCU for several years in the movies, that may be a big reason Marvel Studios hasn’t formally canonized the ABC drama to this point. However, with major characters like Daisy Johnson a.k.a. Quake, Ghost Rider, and many more established through Agents of SHIELD, there are plenty of ways the MCU can properly make the show canon. Whether this will be resolved before the end of The Multiverse Saga remains to be seen.

Given the massive popularity of Agents of SHIELD, it would be a wasted opportunity for Marvel Studios to never revisit those characters again. Phil Coulson was a crucial character throughout Phase 1 and one of the main reasons the Avengers came together in the first place after his initial death in 2012, which makes the current disconnect even stranger. Hopefully, whether it be sooner or later, Agents of SHIELD will get its place in the overall MCU timeline in some capacity.