The MCU has what youngsters at present would name “a sophisticated relationship with continuity.” With 7,000-plus minutes of content material spanning 32 motion pictures and what seems like a punishingly infinite variety of streaming reveals, there have been oodles of alternatives for the franchise to journey over its personal ft.
Right here’s a have a look at a couple of of the instances that the studio snapped its personal inconsistencies out of existence.
The Nova Corps’ unhealthy intel
The Nova Corps wore a variety of hats again in 2014’s Guardians of the Galaxy. Story-wise, they received to be the adults within the room, preserving civilization all civilized. From a extra utilitarian perspective, they moved the story alongside due to their baked-in ardour for exposition. The mug shot sequence the place we meet most of our heroes is a strong 101 class within the economics of storytelling.
The unhealthy information is that, simply shy of a decade later, it’s additionally filled with what screenwriters name “whoopsie-doodles.” Gamora is listed because the “Final Survivor of the Zehoberi Folks,” a declare that falls aside fairly arduous in Infinity Warfare once we discover out that her folks weren’t all exterminated – solely half of them had been, don’t be so dramatic.
Now, the one that basically stings is a element in Rocket’s bio. Listed as considered one of his “recognized accomplices” is Lylla, who GOTG3 followers will keep in mind as his otter companion within the Excessive Evolutionary’s kennel. For those who noticed the third entry within the franchise, you’ll know why it’s bizarre that she’d be listed on any registry, contemplating how she, you recognize, by no means left the lab and solely look served to make a bunch of grown adults cry over a semiaquatic cartoon mammal with an erector set for arms.
Loki’s not such a nasty man
Within the leadup to the debut of the primary season of Loki, Marvel slipped a sneaky element into the backstory of their latest main man: He wasn’t like, unhealthy unhealthy. He’d simply fallen underneath the affect of a nasty stick, the best way numerous youngsters do once they’re a thousand years outdated and impressionable.
Sure, quietly, making an attempt to not alert the obsessive followers of the most important movie franchise on the planet, the MCU’s bio web page for the Asgardian god of mischief modified ever so barely. It knowledgeable viewers that Loki’s cavalcade of atrocities in 2012’s Avengers had been all of the fault of the Thoughts Stone, the sometimes corruptive Infinity dealie hidden in your boy’s employees.
The actual Loki had the makings of a hero, even when he did give his dad a coronary heart assault, usurped the throne, banish his brother to Earth by means of deception, and made him consider that his mother hated him in 2011’s Thor. Then, after he’d been separated from the employees for some time, he did pretend his loss of life, imprison and impersonate his father, and steal the throne once more. Additionally, he received his mother killed by Physician Who. However once more, not “evil.” Undoubtedly only a very cool man with Infinity Stone poisoning.
How Wanda truly received her powers, no for actual this time
Out in the actual world, the MCU couldn’t name Wanda and Pietro “mutants” on account of Fox nonetheless proudly owning the rights to these types of parents. The answer: Make them … one thing. Not mutants. People with unimaginable powers granted by area… stuff. Infinity Stones, that’s the ticket. The Infinity Stones did a variety of heavy lifting in Part Two.
Then, in a type of small, nearly imperceptible miracles of nature, Disney purchased Fox for billions of {dollars}, and immediately there have been different choices on the desk. In consequence, WandaVision viewers received to take an actual curler coaster trip down flashback lane, revealing that Wanda had truly possessed her powers all alongside and the Infinity Stone simply unlocked them. It wasn’t sci-fi magic in any respect, don’t you see? It was a completely different form of sci-fi magic.
Within the present’s protection, Wanda’s all the time had a wibbly wobbly origin story, and no person’s ever going to do it higher than Maria Hill in Age of Ultron saying “She’s bizarre.”
No, I’m the Mandarin
Iron Man 3 certain managed to beat that wave of “subverting viewers expectations is identical factor as writing an excellent story” power that washed over Hollywood by a couple of years. For probably the most half, it labored – it was a solo-character film that centered on its solo character. What is going to they consider subsequent?
However there was one facet that followers didn’t precisely journey over themselves loving: The Mandarin. First, the film advised us that he was a world terrorist with a zany speech sample, in the identical vein as Bane from The Darkish Knight Rises. Then got here the twist, and it turned out that the actual Mandarin was Man Pearce’s Aldrich Killian, a revelation that lasted all of three seconds earlier than he received beat up and exploded.
“Not my Mandarin,” the web screamed, insisting that what they actually wished was the early-Twentieth century Sax Rohmer racism of the comics. Shopping for time, Marvel launched All Hail the King, a one-shot that cleared the entire thing up: Killian was by no means the Mandarin in any case. The Mandarin was, you recognize, elsewhere, and an actual piece of labor from the appears to be like of issues. It might take one other seven years to get round to exhibiting precisely what sort of piece of labor in 2021’s Shang-Chi, however they received there ultimately.
Peter Parker certain spent a variety of his childhood round individuals who received shot
This one’s cute till you consider it. Through the third act of Iron Man 2, a wee little boy attending the Stark Expo tries to face down considered one of about 50 heavily-armed tank drones. He does this wearing official Iron Man merchandise, together with a full helmet and a fake repulsor glove. A fan principle popped up that the little boy was a younger Peter Parker, and the filmmakers ultimately stated “certain, why not?”
Enjoyable’s enjoyable, however between the huge quantities of gun violence that occurred whereas lil’ Pete was on the expo and what occurred to his Uncle Ben a couple of years later, you do begin to discover a sample. Maintain your head down round that child, that’s all I’m saying.
Nick Fury and his Meowing Commandos
First, we had Captain America: The Winter Soldier, during which we noticed photos of Nick Fury with two eyes and never a single hair on his head, hanging out along with his outdated pal, the Sundance Child. Then he advised us that the final time he trusted somebody, he misplaced a watch.
It turned out that the somebody he trusted was, um, an area cat, and that the incident in query occurred years earlier than the image of him from Winter Soldier was taken. Complicated? Provided that you take note of Nick Fury, which Secret Invasion form of taught us was a street to heartbreak anyway.
The pretend Infinity Gauntlet
No one may have recognized how massive the MCU was going to get again in 2011, so together with the Infinity Gauntlet in Odin’s vault throughout the occasions of Thor was extra of a cute easter egg than a continuity-trashing mistake. It didn’t turn out to be an issue till the studio doubled down on Thanos as their massive unhealthy, at which level it fell on Taika Waititi to do some injury management in Thor: Ragnarok. The answer turned out to be so simple as having Cate Blanchett shove some stuff on the bottom and name it pretend. Bizarre that Odin had such a nasty eye for forgeries. The man actually misplaced a step in his later years.
The Marketing consultant
The MCU had some rising pains. It took them some time to determine what their post-credits scenes had been truly for. Nailing it out of the gate with the promise of a superteam on the finish of Iron Man, they hit a sophomore stoop when The Unbelievable Hulk did the very same factor, however in a extra boring method.
What made it worse was that the scene didn’t make sense. Tony Stark tracks a drunken and ashamed Basic Ross to a smoky bar, then alludes to massive stuff on the horizon. Sure, in line with this sequence, followers had been nicely on their option to lastly getting that… Iron Man/Thunderbolt Ross staff up? The one they’d all the time wished?
As soon as once more, a One-Shot swooped in and saved the day. Three years after the discharge of The Unbelievable Hulk, viewers received the within skinny on what was actually taking place in that bar: The shady safety council wished The Abomination to affix the Avengers. Agent Coulsen, figuring out a nasty concept when he heard one, sabotaged the mission by sending Tony Stark to safe Abomination’s launch, figuring out that Stark would annoy Ross and that the deal would collapse.
Rhodey will get one other new face
In line with Secret Invasion and its director, Rhodey has been a Skrull imposter since his accident in Captain America: Civil Warfare. Whereas, in line with critiques of Secret Invasion, no person cares, this element is now MCU canon and solely introduces yet one more plothole to the cinematic universe.
That point when Coulson forgot what S.H.I.E.L.D. was known as
It was fairly cute again in 2008 when Phil Coulson stored calling his company the Strategic Homeland Intervention Enforcement and Logistics Division, ultimately admitting that the identify wanted work. There was even that good nod on the finish when he name-dropped S.H.I.E.L.D. correctly for the primary time.
The bummer, in fact, is that the MCU began rising like kudzu, and it wasn’t lengthy earlier than we had been seeing S.H.I.E.L.D. operations stretching again to World Warfare II. Return and watch Iron Man now and it looks like Phil forgot the identify of the corporate he works for. It was lovable, however now it seems like an excellent cause for Pepper to manage a stroke take a look at.