616 being referenced is highly irrelevant as thats not what counts. What counts is 616 or an official source referencing the title as canon for the Marvel company.
For example, the JLA/Avengers crossover was referenced by DC first after its climax and it spawned a spin off, making that crossover DC canon. The fact that Marvel characters were involved didnt make that crossover canon for Marvel UNTIL Marvel referenced it as being so. Marvel later referenced it as canon in their official bios. At THAT point it became canon.
Acknowledge, understand, accept. 🙂