Ever since it was revealed in 2014’s “Captain America: The Winter Soldier” that S.H.I.E.L.D. had been infiltrated by HYDRA agents, the organization hasn’t been a prominent force in the MCU. While it continues operating after “The Winter Soldier” as a much smaller organization in “Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.,” fans have reasons to believe that ABC series isn’t canon within the MCU anymore. Either way, S.H.I.E.L.D. hasn’t yet reemerged as the same formidable force it was when the MCU began.
In its place, the franchise has added several similar organizations to its fictional universe, including the Sentient Weapon Observation and Response Division, aka S.W.O.R.D., which was founded by Maria Rambeau (Lashana Lynch). In 2021, “Loki” Season 1 also introduced viewers to the Time Variance Authority, aka the TVA, a powerful organization that oversees and maintains the stability of the entire multiverse.
In recent years, agencies like S.W.O.R.D., the TVA, and even the Department of Damage Control have all taken on more prominent roles than S.H.I.E.L.D. in the MCU. That doesn’t make S.H.I.E.L.D.’s role in the creation of the franchise any less important, but its continued obsolescence to the current state of the MCU just makes it easier and easier for viewers to forget what its name actually stands for.
