Should "future stories" be considered canon?

I've been thinking about this for a while and the Thor story arc " Last days of midgard" made me want to post this question. With a lot of comics in marvel and DC we usually see writers do future timeline mini-series, sub-plots or one-shots. So my question is that since it's usually only a possible future that can be changed and the fact that marvel, DC and many other publishers change their continuity around all the time, should they be seen and used in debate threads as canon?

I guess it all depends on the story at hand.

@transformers1024: I guess the most recent story that made me think about this was the Thor arc " last days of midgard". Where skyfather Thor fought Galactus.

I don't think so since, like you said, it's usually only a possible future. I don't recall reading a future comic where the events are ever set in stone.

No.

Beata

Nah.

It's a future storyline, which means it hasn't actually happened in the main continuity.

It's essentially the same as a "What If?"

This is of course excluding storylines where Time Travel takes place in the main continuity. Those would count, but they usually get super confusing as far as canon goes.

I don't think they should.

I don't think so. Having a definite future continuity seems like it restricts what can be done with present continuity because it forces it to move in the direction of the definite future.

That's the thing with the future: you don't know what will happen... So while future stories may show the "future" all they are really doing is just showing you one possible path out of a possible millions the person may take... The future can always change, and like they say "the future isn't set in stone"

So no, I don't consider future stories canon...

With what Marvel is doing with their whole seven months in the future thing they have going on, it's kind of making your question even more relevant. It kind of ties in with retconning as well, the great evil of comic writing (unless it corrects a horrid wrong, haha).

I do agree with the others about it having as much weight as a "What If?" I wouldn't want it to be canon, at least not as the comic publishers have presented it up until now. Considering it an "alternative" universe is the best way to go about it, for sure.

Thank you for all of the answers. Apologies for being absent on this page as it didn't show up in my notifications.

No, they are potential futures.

If it's official that they're set in the main reality, then yes.

Only in rare circumstances. Future stories are enjoyable, but if you tie the present continuity to a distant future, the options for what can be done in said present become more limited.

For debates no, they shouldn't be used. In general they can be canon though, like the legion of superheroes despite getting changed frequently. Then most Morrison future JL and batman stuff was canon to per 52(future Damian might still be too due to his revival).