Agents of SHIELD was reportedly stopped from using the SWORD acronym, likely due to its importance in WandaVision. The ABC show was the first to be developed by Marvel Television as a tie-in to the Marvel Cinematic Universe when it premiered back in 2013, with the events of the first two seasons often being connected to what was going on in the movies at that time. Over time, however, as the relationship between Marvel Studios and Marvel Television grew more distant, Agents of SHIELD practically severed its connection to the wider MCU in order to build its own mythology. This led to many fans concluding that the later events of the series take place in a different branch of the multiverse.
The shift into a different, separate timeline can easily be explained by the SHIELD squad’s foray into time travel in season 5, but it still creates some confusion over continuity. The show’s last two seasons completely ignored Thanos’s snap and the wider events of Avengers: Infinity War and Endgame in general – but the series finale at least acknowledged the show’s MCU roots with the appearance of the Quantum Realm. It seems the showrunners were interested in restoring Agents of SHIELD to the official MCU continuity in its final episodes, with Jed Whedon revealing that a reference to the snap was cut for time.
Now, an Agents of SHIELD crew member has confirmed there was meant to be another line in the finale that tied into the wider MCU – this time, a reference to SWORD. Director and Visual Effects Supervisor Mark Kolpack tweeted that in the finale’s epilogue, Sousa (Enver Gjokaj) was meant to reference SWORD, but it was cut. He also stated that SHIELD “became SWORD long before S7 but could never say the acronym” – likely because it clashed with Marvel’s plans to officially introduce SWORD into the MCU through WandaVision. Read his tweets below:
It’s fair to say SHIELD was closer to SWORD in the show’s final seasons, with Daisy (Chole Bennet) and Jemma (Elizabeth Henstridge) traveling through space in the hopes of finding Fitz (Iain De Caestecker) in season 6. Agents of SHIELD’s epilogue also shows Daisy, her sister Kora (Dianne Doan), and Sousa aboard Zephyr Three, which is currently exploring deep space. Sousa refers to them as “Astro Ambassadors”, which is likely the closest the show could get to referencing SWORD – executive producer Jeffery Bell even stated that they wanted to use SWORD in earlier seasons, but were “shut down”.
Now it’s official that Marvel was saving SWORD for WandaVision, it makes sense why they didn’t want Agents of SHIELD getting there first – although it would have been interesting to see the long-running series explicitly set up a brand new era of Marvel/Disney+ TV shows. Fans are still finding Agents of SHIELD tie-ins, however, with some noticing similarities between the homely suburbs of Westview in WandaVision and Tahiti, which SHIELD fans know is a pretty magical place. Those kinds of fan theories and connections prove that Agents of SHIELD is still a beloved and important piece of the MCU, whether it's officially part of the timeline or not.
Source: Kolpack/Twitter