While both entities' productions technically fall under the Marvel Cinematic Universe banner, it's no secret that the divide between Marvel Studios and Marvel Television (which is now effectively defunct) only grew as time went on. This is especially evident in Marvel Television's first ABC series, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. -- which actively tied into mainline MCU in early seasons, before more or less divorcing itself from the movies and their events in later ones. However, longtime Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. star Clark Gregg -- who plays Agent Phil Coulson -- believes this split actually benefited the show creatively in the long run.

In an interview with Variety, Gregg alluded to Marvel Studios and Marvel Television's divergence. The actor was then asked if he misses the connection between the two at all, or if he enjoyed no longer having to worry about keeping the show's events congruous with those of the films. "I guess I did and I didn't," Gregg replied. "When you look back at Season 1, and you look at the way it crossed over with Hydra and took the handcuffs off our poor writers when everyone was like 'What is this show?' -- and Sam [Jackson] and Cobie Smulders came to play -- I thought that was really thrilling."

RELATED: Agents of SHIELD Debuts Striking Final Season Character Posters

He continued, "I missed that part of it, but I also felt like Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. really continued to evolve. And once they got to Season 4, and there were three separate pods [of episodes] -- Ghost Rider, LMDs, and the Framework -- I thought this is what happens when these gutsy writers aren't tied too closely to all that. They get to really just tear it apart and start it over with a new corner of the Marvel Universe every season, sometimes two or three times in a season."

Gregg has been a part of the MCU since the very beginning, making his debut as Phil Coulson in the 2008 film Iron Man, subsequently appearing in 2010's Iron Man 2, 2011's Thor and 2012's The Avengers -- in which the character was seemingly killed off. He then joined Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. in 2013, serving as one of the ABC series' leads for its first five seasons, and a recurring figure in Season 6. He also made his return to the big screen as Coulson in 2019's Captain Marvel (which is set several years before the events of Iron Man). Gregg is set to return to his main cast member status for Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s seventh and final season, which arrives in just under a week.

RELATED: Agents of SHIELD’s Quake Returning On Disney+ Marvel Show Rumor Debunked

Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. will begin airing its final season May 27 on ABC. The series stars Ming-Na Wen, Chloe Bennet, Henry Simmons, Iain De Caestecker, Natalia Cordova-Buckley, Elizabeth Henstridge and Clark Gregg.