Coronation Street is officially canon in the MCU after Ben Kingsley Marvel reference
The world's longest-running soap has a surprising nod in the MCU
Well, we certainly didn’t have that on our 2026 bingo card!
In an incredibly unexpected move, Marvel director Destin Daniel Cretton and writer Andrew Guest have effectively solidified Coronation Street - the iconic British soap set in Greater Manchester - as official canon in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Yes you read that right: the long-running British soap - which recently celebrated its 65th birthday - has been referenced in the MCU, courtesy of the latest Marvel Spotlight series, Wonder Man.
The flagship ITV series recently shared a landmark episode with fellow soap juggernaut Emmerdale called Corriedale, revolving around the fallout of a high-stakes multi-vehicle pile-up.
The explosive event proved incredibly successful, with a record of nearly 5 million viewers tuning in live. The hour-long special marked the biggest TV peak audience for a soap since 2022, with many fans likening the crossover to their own juggernaut Avengers-esque event.
The amusing reference appears in episode 2 of Wonder Man, titled Self-Tape, as Yahya Abdul-Mateen II’s struggling actor Simon Williams seeks the help of Trevor Slattery (played by Oscar winner Sir Ben Kingsley) to film a self-tape for a casting agent.
As Trevor welcomes Simon into his home, the up-and-coming actor admires the various scripts, props and tapes adorning the veteran actor’s room - before stopping at one tape in particular.
Labelled Coronation Street, episodes 616 – 619 and 646 – 649, Simon points to this VHS tape and asks, "You played Ron Jenkins, right?".
"Well done!" Trevor replies, before acting out an exchange in the iconic Rovers Return, ordering "a pint of bitter, please, and one for my friend".
"Every Brit did their stint. The producers were thrilled to get me after my run as [King] Lear," he adds.
The surprise exchange in Wonder Man proved an amusing, 'I understood that reference' moment for many British viewers, with several fans taking to social media to share their delight at the first official confirmation of the soap in the MCU.
"As if there’s a Coronation Street reference in the new Marvel Series" one fan wrote, "my two worlds are actually colliding."
"Ken Barlow vs Thanos when" another jokingly questioned.
And the best part of the meta reference? Sir Ben Kingsley really did play Ron Jenkins in Coronation Street between November 1966 and March 1967. The Oscar winner also appeared in spin-offs Pardon the Expression and Turn out the Lights.
Funnily enough, this isn’t the first time that the soap has been referenced by a blockbuster superhero franchise. The promotional campaign for James Gunn’s Superman recently nodded to the iconic "London?!" meme.
A social media video teasing the cast’s London leg of the film’s promotional tour saw stars Rachel Brosnahan, David Corenswet and Nicholas Hoult re-enacting the classic Corrie "London?!" exchange between Janice and Leanne Battersby.
So, which of your favourite characters from Corrie’s cobbles would you like to see make a cameo in the MCU?
Could we perhaps see the iconic Roy Cropper or Deirdre Barlow pop up in one of Marvel’s next instalments?
Wonder Man is now streaming on Disney+.
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Authors
Nicola Austin is a freelance journalist who loves sci-fi, fantasy and animation. Nicola has written about TV and film for a wide range of publications including Empire, Digital Spy, Radio Times, SciFiNow, Girls on Tops and more. She will always stand by The Mummy as a 90s movie masterpiece.
