How many Marvel TV shows are there and which ones are canon?

Marvel TV has a long, long history that has only been recently complicated by the addition of the MCU. (You would think the MCU would make this easier, but we’ll explain that later.) There are classic series like Captain America and The Incredible Hulk. And in recent years, with the boom of Marvel movies following The Avengers, many more Marvel series have followed.

On ABC, we had the long-running Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., which was the first Marvel series to be spun off from the MCU. After that, Agent Carter was another spinoff that was unfortunately short-lived. As time went on, Marvel struck a deal with Netflix and created the popular shows Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, Iron Fist, The Punisher and The Defenders.

Elsewhere on TV, there was Legion, Inhumans, The Gifted, Runaways, Cloak and Dagger and Helstrom. Hulu also aired the animated series MODOK and Hit-Monkey in 2021. Altogether, those are 16 Marvel TV series before we get to the “proper” MCU.

But you may have noticed we left out the newer series from Disney+. Well, in actuality, it should be those last 16 TV series that are left out, because it’s been debated that those series are no longer canon.

What Marvel shows are canon?

Literally up until the arrival of the Disney+ Marvel series, all of the above were considered canon. Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. even took place after the events of The Avengers. Hayley Atwell reprised her role as Peggy Carter for her series. And most of the other shows (sans the X-Men universe ones) had direct references back to the MCU. But the MCU movies never so much as tipped a hat to the events going on in these series.

Eventually, the head of Marvel Television, Jeph Loeb, was let go. And the TV division was ultimately absorbed into Marvel Studios, meaning they were under Kevin Feige’s direction. As such, the old series began dying off one by one, and there was no plan for them to return. Guardians of the Galaxy director James Gunn even said in July 2021 that any show before WandaVision was not canon. As such, that would erase characters like Daredevil and Jessica Jones from the canon unless they were brought back via a Disney+ series or a movie.

How many Marvel shows are there really?

So if you’re going with James Gunn’s argument, there are technically only four real Marvel shows as of this publishing. Those would be the Disney+ shows WandaVision, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, Loki, and What If…?. The Hawkeye series comes out on November 24, which means there will be five official Marvel shows by the end of 2021.

If you want to consider Marvel Studios plus Marvel Television’s work, then that makes 21 total Marvel TV shows by the end of 2021 (not including the Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. web series). And that’s also not counting the soon-to-come Marvel series in the works.

If you want to include all the other countless animated series that have appeared on Disney XD and the other shows outside of Marvel Television, well, now we’re looking at far too many to count!

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