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Which Marvel Cinematic Universe Movie Could Be Set In The Past?

By Nick Tylwalk

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So far, every Marvel Cinematic Universe film except one has favored moving the overall story forward rather than revisiting the past. Captain America: The First Avenger was the exception, because Cap’s origin during World War II is such a vital part of his character. Flashbacks like the ones in Thor have taken fans back to prior events for a few minutes at a time, but generally speaking, there’s a lot of MCU history that hasn’t been explored because the movies are set in an ever advancing present day.

That doesn’t mean Marvel has completely closed the door on the past. Studio president Kevin Feige recently spoke to io9 and suggested that if the right story came along, he wouldn’t rule out one of the movies from Phase Three or beyond examining what’s come before.

"Certainly we could [set another one in the past]. There are no rules. I think the majority of them will be chronological, but not all of them necessarily."

The writer of that piece, Germain Lussier, points out two Phase Three films that could have decent-sized chunks set in the past. Doctor Strange is one, and even though we’ve been told repeatedly that it won’t be a classic origin story, you’d expect that some of the dynamic between the Ancient One, Mordo and Strange would be explored. There could be whole scenes with the Ancient One battling the villain, whoever it might be, in previous decades as well.

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Black Panther also could have extensive sequences that take place in the past simply because the identity is a legacy that passes down through the generations — at least in the comics. Wakanda and vibranium are also both concepts that might warrant further explanation to the non-comic-reading public, so it’s not hard to imagine some of that film telling a story of the men who came before T’Challa.

The most intriguing possibility would be an entire film, albeit one in a still hypothetical Phase Four, set in the past, though the lukewarm box office reception (compared to other MCU movies, anyway) of The First Avenger could also very well be a reason for Marvel to head down that road again. The existence of super powers in the MCU as a whole seems to be a relatively recent phenomenon, though skillful storytelling can always get around things like public perception.

In any case, it’s fun to know that Marvel isn’t setting any specific constraints on its writers and directors, and that if there was a reason to go back instead of charging ahead, nothing would stop them from doing it.

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