One of the biggest concerns on the minds of fans of the Marvel Cinematic Universe is that of continuity and trying to “keep things straight” in their heads. As the MCU approaches 20 films worth of inter-connectedness and superhero greatness, characters and events can start to get a bit confusing as they all start to cross over – and throw in the fact that some films are set “out of order” in different eras, and it can become a bit of a challenge to keep track of.
With all but one of the MCU films being set in the “current day” of the mid-2000s to now (as they’ve been released), things have moved in a relatively straightforward timeline. While this trend is expected to continue through the next few “Phase Three” films – that would be ‘Thor: Ragnarok,’ ‘Black Panther,’ ‘Avengers: Infinity War,’ and ‘Ant-Man and the Wasp,’ for those of you keeping track at home – there is one film, ‘Captain Marvel,’ that will buck the trend of being set in current-day continuity.
The film focusing on Carol Danvers (portrayed by Brie Larson) has been confirmed as being set in the 1990s, a stark departure from the current MCU world-building taking place here in the mid-to-late 2010s. Samuel L. Jackson will be appearing in the film, in what is assumed to be a younger portrayal of Nick Fury. The question becomes, of course: if Captain Marvel was around in the 1990s, where has she been during all this fantastic super-hero action that we’ve seen on-screen so far?
In a recent interview while talking about Captain Marvel, Kevin Feige coyly shed some light on that subject:
Interviewer: “Having a character that powerful out there might be confusing…”
Feige: [lifting his arms to the sky] “The key is…‘out there.’”
The insinuation here, of course, is that Danvers is in outer-space somewhere and has been for decades, presumably unable to join the Earth-bound heroes in their on-screen plights as of yet. Will this change when the Avengers are joining forces with the Guardians of the Galaxy in 2018’s ‘Avengers: Infinity War?’ Could this be our first look at Captain Marvel ahead of her solo film?
‘Captain Marvel’ is currently scheduled to be released in US theaters on March 8, 2019.
