The Marvel Cinematic Universe has undoubtedly redefined pop culture and the growth of the universe has been extraordinary since its inception in 2008. Marvel’s mega-franchise has become one of Hollywood’s biggest money-makers over the past decade, with many of its films setting box office records. One of the major focuses for the MCU has always been chronology and releasing films in the right order. But, moving forward, things may get a little tricky.
The MCU was first launched in 2008 with Robert Downey Jr.’s Iron Man and since then, 23 movies and several television series have been released. Over the past decade, the MCU has turned into a sprawling universe, with several characters and storylines, almost making it difficult for people to keep track of the timeline. With multiple films and streaming series now in the works for Phase 4, it could cause even more trouble for Marvel moving forward.
Iron Man released in 2008 amid much fanfare and first introduced the world to the arrogant billionaire and tech genius Tony Stark. It went on to earn $585 million worldwide and essentially carved a path for future MCU films. The movie had a huge impact on Downey Jr.’s career path as well, helping him soon become one of the highest-paid actors in Hollywood. Since its release, fans have been treated to several MCU films, sometimes even two to three movies in one year. Marvel Boss Kevin Feige became the gatekeeper and helped bring the Infinity Saga from the Marvel comics to life.
Phase 1, which spanned from 2008 to 2012, included Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk, Iron Man 2, Thor, Captain America: The First Avenger, and The Avengers. All these films played a role in introducing mainstream audiences to the world of comics and revolutionized the film industry. There were a few issues with the timeline of events occurring in the films, but Marvel fans chose to ignore them as they focused on the bigger picture.
Phase 2 lasted from 2013 to 2015 and introduced more characters to the MCU including Falcon, Quicksilver, Scarlet Witch, Vision, Ant-Man, and the Guardians of the Galaxy. Phase 3, which went on from 2016 to 2019, brought forth Doctor Strange, Black Panther, Mantis, Spider-Man, Valkyrie, and Captain Marvel. In the first three phases of the MCU, most of the movies that were released had interconnected plots and there was continuity in the timeline, mostly.
All the films and characters were moving in one direction. The most prominent throughline of the films was that of the Infinity Stones and Thanos’ quest to collect them all to exterminate half of the universe's population. To defeat the main antagonist, the MCU characters had to come together to form the Avengers. So while many of the characters got their standalone films, it all came down to Avengers: Endgame wherein all the powerful beings gathered to save the universe they lived in and eventually defeat Thanos.
It took 11 years for the Infinity Saga to play out but it was still easy for fans to keep track of the timeline. Though the chronology shifted at certain points, leading to some inconsistencies in the timeline, Marvel was mostly able to connect the stories from each film series, with the entire franchise culminating in Avengers: Endgame. In several films, however, there are many references to dates or events, many of which do not even line up. The MCU timeline so far works at a larger level, but if someone were to explore it at a more micro level, it would fall apart. While the continuity errors did not make the MCU films any less entertaining, with the storylines becoming more complex in Phase 4, future projects might have a far bigger, and more difficult, web to untangle.
Marvel has some grand plans for Phase 4 of the MCU, which will be introducing several new characters and multiple streaming series. So far, the films planned as part of the MCU’s Phase 4 include Black Widow, The Eternals, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, Spider-Man: No Way Home, Thor: Love and Thunder, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, The Marvels, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. Apart from those, the Disney Plus series Ms. Marvel, She-Hulk, What If...? and Hawkeye are also in production.
Fans have already seen the Marvel series WandaVision and The Falcon and the Winter Soldier earlier this year on Disney Plus, both of which were set after the events of Avengers: Endgame. One thing that both series had in common, apart from being huge successes, was providing a larger platform for the heroes moving forward. Wanda, who has previously appeared in the Avengers films, is now a far more important character in the MCU. Her mind-bending abilities will next be seen in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, the film that many believe will be a stepping stone for multiple timelines in the MCU. The Falcon on the other hand completed his journey of being Captain America in the second Marvel series and there are already talks of his appearance in future sequels.
However, before that even happens, Loki is all set to premiere on Disney Plus this week and it seems like it will see the God of Mischief jumping between various timelines. Fans need to remember that Loki was seen dying in Avengers: Infinity War at the hands of Thanos, but an alternate version of the character steals the Tesseract in 2012 and escapes captivity in Avengers: Endgame. So, he has already altered the MCU’s sacred timeline, potentially causing continuity issues in the future. All these projects make one wonder if Marvel is perhaps being too ambitious.
The cracks in the MCU timeline may have been ignored by fans thus far, but moving forward, there might be further disruptions in the timeline’s continuity, especially now that there are both movies and television series thrown into the mix. Of course there have been spin-off series in the past, but they mostly followed the MCU’s line of events. For instance, two Marvel films released during the time when Season 1 of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. was on air, and the series ended up incorporating the plots from both films.
The year 2020 marked the first time in 11 years that an MCU film did not release in theaters. Many film and television projects have been affected by the ongoing pandemic, causing delays in production and pushing back release dates. Black Widow was initially scheduled for a 2020 release, but with cinemas shutting down in many parts of the world, the decision to delay its release was taken.
However, at the time, nobody thought the film’s premiere would be delayed by a whole year, which resulted in some of the streaming series premiering before the film’s big release. Additionally, the movie will follow the events of 2016’s Captain America: Civil War, which can potentially confuse fans. Perhaps this is the best time for them to catch up or refresh their memories by re-watching all 23 MCU films in chronological order. And even if they do, future projects might have a tough time keeping things in order.