They were "underground" with a large, well stocked base and dozens of employees. Who they heck was funding all that? It never made sense to me. And they weren't exactly covert in their actions before Talbot (I believe) brought them fully back into the spotlight.
Between the events of TWS and when Talbot brought them back in the spotlight, the Agents operated in covert. That was made clear throughout that run. Where the funding came from was explained when President Ellis and Coulson had the conversation in Season 3 I believe. ATCU and SHIELD were always being funded but SHIELD was being funded in secret because they were considered a terrorist organization by most of the world. That was the reason Bobby and Hunter has to quit. Whenever the Agents went out in mission, the were always undercover. They've been CIA, FBI, Interpol, etc... but never Agents of SHIELD. Or the operated covertly in the shadows. The first episode of season 2 was all about that.
The show certainly made it seem like it was a big deal, with Melty Guy, YoYo and dozens of others known Inhumans. It was a big deal on the show and a nothing burger in the movies, though both were dealing with the proliferation of powered types. Incompatible.
The Sokovia Accords were a part of Agents of SHIELD. Melty guy signed them off screen and Yoyo signed them on screen with Jeffery Mace. The proliferation of powered types was definitely a theme of the show and the movies. I don't see the inconsistency here.
I understand that the goal of Marvel Entertainment was to have film and TV be all connected, and I was absolutely down with that. But the pipeline dried up with the Marvel Studio split. Ellis and Coulson were the only characters continuing from the movies, as neither Blake nor Malick were MCU film characters.
Malick was on the World Security Council in Avengers. In AOS they said he served on the World Security Council. You don't hire an actor like Ruth Powers and have him play two separate roles in the same franchise.
Blake was in one of the short films. Are you suggesting that those aren't canon either?
There was also Daniel Whitehall who I forgot to mention. He was one of the doctors in TWS during Bucky's memory flashback.
This was the big one for me. Why the hell was there no Koenig on the Helicarrier? Would it have killed Whedon to put ONE character from his TV show into his movie? At that point I came to terms with the fact that the films and movies were not in the same continuity.
This is what did it for you...the fact that a Keonig wasn't on the helicarrier? There was a Keonig at the base where the helicarrier was being built. Where do you think the helicarrier from AOU came from? If SHIELD had truly fallen in TWS, where did this group come from?
Not true. News reports showed the events of Infinity War took place at the end of Season 5. If the show was in the MCU the Snap would have taken place then.
I went back and watched the ending of season 5 and the beginning of season 6. Don't know why I thought season 6 took place pre-snap. In the end of season 5 they say that Thanos's forces are attacking New York. 2-3 episodes later the season ends. The snap could still take place after the season is over. Season 6 starts with "One year later" and Mack saying we still have people missing and these anomalies have been going on for the last 3 days. The people missing is likely the crew in space but can be interpreted as the half that was dusted. Considering the anomalies started before the season started and the rest of the season takes place in a few days, the opportunity to investigate what happened may not have been a priority as things moved quickly.
I don't recall either reason, but I felt the large payroll was incompatible with a film series that continued to ignore SHIELD.
Coulson was traveling the world looking for Agents that were still loyal to SHIELD after the events of TWS.
I suppose it's a matter of perception. Some might find AOS can be easily woven into the overall MCU story. Others might think it's a stretch. No show has borrowed so many characters from the films than AOS. It was clever how they handled Coulson in Captain Marvel. The writer clearly had the show in mind. They could've broke AOS right there but they didn't. They chose not to. Nothing has been officially announced but there are rumors that Clark Gregg and Chloe Bennett maybe reprising their roles in Secret Invasion.
Exclusive: Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D’s Chloe Bennet Lined Up For A New Marvel Series
If this happens would you consider AOS canon then?
Here's a good video showing how time travel in AOS coincides with the MCU.