TheMCUcertainly isn’t above retcons, andCaptain America: Brave New Worldjust doubled down on one of its biggest inIron Man 2.The MCU timelinecan be somewhat confusing, and it isn’t as ifthe MCU’s moviesand shows go out of their way to establish the precise date they take place. Instead, this is often left up to eagle-eyed viewers to pinpoint markers that help to cross-reference narrative developments with others. It isn’t as easy as it used to be, either, with many current installments occurring in the future rather than the present.
Recent jaunts through time and the multiverse itself do, of course, help to make pinpointing certain events even more confusing. Nevertheless, givenCaptain America: Brave New Worlddeals with neither (the post-credits reference to the multiversenotwithstanding), it is easier to establish exactly when the movie takes place in the MCU’s in-universe timeline. In doing so, it’s plain to see that Marvel is doubling down on a timeline retcon.
Captain America: Brave New World’s MCU Timeline Explained
Captain America: Brave New World Takes Place Two Years After The Falcon And The Winter Soldier
Captain America: Brave New Worlddoesn’t explicitly mention dates, despite featuring date-defining events like Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross' election - which, incidentally, does not mirror the same election years in the real world. Instead, it is mentioned thatCaptain America: Brave New Worldtakes place 2 years afterthe events ofThe Falcon and the Winter Soldier, which is when Isaiah Bradley was memorialized in the Smithsonian. Lead writer Malcolm Spellman also confirmed to theIn The Name of Comicspodcast thatSam Wilson has been Captain America for two years whenCaptain America: Brave New Worldgets underway.
Captain America: Brave New World Review - I Wanted To Love Anthony Mackie’s Bleak MCU Movie But I Was Just Bored & Disappointed
Captain America: Brave New World lacks the entertainment of an MCU movie, despite compelling performances from Anthony Mackie and Harrison Ford.
The Falcon and the Winter Soldiertakes place around six months after the events ofAvengers: Endgame, in the Spring of 2024. This means thatCaptain America: Brave New Worldtakes place in 2026 at the start of the movie. What remains unclear, however, is if the time jump between President Ross' election and the majority of the movie’s events means that the bulk of the movie takes place in 2027. This would make sense if President Ross' election took place in November, though there is no official confirmation of this at the time of writing.
Brave New World Doubles Down On Marvel’s Iron Man 2 Timeline Retcon
Iron Man 2 Takes Place At The Same Time As The Incredible Hulk
What is made clear, however, is that Samuel Sterns,Captain America: Brave New World’s string-pulling villain, has been imprisoned for 16 years. Given he was captured immediately after aiding in the creation of Abomination inThe Incredible Hulk, this confirms thatThe Incredible Hulktakes place in 2010, despite an email in the movie being dated 2008 (the year it was released). The MCU-canon comic tie-in, “Fury’s Big Week,” additionally confirms thatthe events ofIron Man 2andThe Incredible Hulkoccur concurrently, meaningIron Man 2also definitively takes place in 2010.
Given “Fury’s Big Week” first retconned this date to create a far larger gulf between the events of Tony Stark’s first two movies, Captain America: Brave New World has doubled down on the retcon by re-establishing the date that Samuel Sterns was imprisoned.
This flies in the face of anunfortunate line inIron Man 2, where Tony Stark’s rival, Justin Hammer, asserts “In the last six months, Anthony Stark has created a sword with untold possibilities, and yet he insists it’s a shield.” Here, Hammer is referring to the events ofIron Man, which takes place in 2008. Given"Fury’s Big Week" first retconned this date to create a far larger gulf between the events of Tony Stark’s first two movies,Captain America: Brave New Worldhas doubled down on the retcon by re-establishing the date that Samuel Sterns was imprisoned.
Why The MCU Timeline Is So Strange
The Five-Year Time Jump Doesn’t Help Matters
It’s safe to say that the five-year time jump inAvengers: Endgame, which took the characters of the MCU from 2018 to 2023, helped to make keeping abreast of timelines in the Multiverse Saga more difficult, as it was typically a good rule of thumb to match the in-universe date to the real world. Severalcontinuity errors additionally litter the MCU, however, with Marvel Studios even owning up to a few of them asthrowaway lines in MCU installments put timelines into question. Such continuity errors include:
Marvel Studios released a tie-in book “The Marvel Cinematic Universe: An Official Timeline” in 2023, which is now considered the foremost authority on past events and when they took place.
Adding to this confusion is the fact thatthe MCU has become a miasma of different timelines in the Multiverse Saga. The TVA and the Void, for instance, exist outside of time, making Logan’s cataclysmic death inDeadpool & Wolverinea confusing plot point. Movies likeCaptain MarvelandBlack Widow, meanwhile, take place in the past. Given movies followingCaptain America: Brave New Worldwill likely delve more into the multiverse and different timelines, it’s safe to assume that things are only going to get even more confusing.
Captain America: Brave New World
Cast
Captain America: Brave New World (formerly titledNew World Order)marks Sam Wilson’s first MCU big-screen appearance as Steve Rogers' successor after receiving the suit and shield in Phase 4’s The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. Anthony Mackie returns as the titular Avenger alongside Danny Ramirez as Joaquin Torres, Carl Lumby as Isaiah Bradley, and Tim Blake Nelson as The Incredible Hulk’s former ally Samuel Sterns. Harrison Ford makes his MCU debut replacing the late William Hurt as Thaddeus Ross.After meeting President Thaddeus Ross, Sam is caught in a global crisis. He must expose the mastermind behind a sinister plot before the world descends into turmoil. Captain America: Brave New World marks the big-screen debut of Sam Wilson as Captain America, and Harrison Ford makes his MCU debut, replacing the late William Hurt as Thaddeus Ross.
Iron Man 2
The third film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Iron Man 2, is an action-superhero film that occurs six months after the original film’s events. After outing himself as the heavy metal superhero known as Iron Man, Tony Stark goes to great lengths to avoid demands from the government for his tech. But, unfortunately, the technology Tony used to save his life is beginning to impact his health inversely - just in time for a man named Ivan Vanko to arrive, who creates his version of the Iron Man tech to settle a decades-long score with Howard Stark’s son.
