How Marvel Still Ignores Its Own Canon MCU (And Why)

The canon and continuity of the MCU isn’t as stable as everyone thinks, with Black Widow even contradicting an official prelude comic.

The Marvel Cinematic Universe it continues to ignore its own canon, but with good reason. Few themes have the potential to excite and divide fans than the question of what should be considered “canon” in their favorite franchise. That’s because “canon” is basically a shorthand for “feeling like something matters.” In a shared universe like the MCU, when something is ignored or rewritten, it can easily feel like a slight.

The MCU has always done a pretty decent job when it comes to ensuring that everything feels interconnected, but from time to time there are continuity issues, especially with linked outlets like Marvel’s official Prelude comics. Speaking in Twitter, James Gunn declared a draw for Guardians of the Galaxy non-canon when he wrote the sequel, because it contained a Gamora origin story that conflicted with the one he wanted to write. Y Black widow contradicted the Avengers: Infinity War Prelude when he took up the Steve Rogers jailbreak Captain America: Civil War. Why are there problems like this?

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Marvel’s shared universe model creates tremendous opportunities for storytelling, but unfortunately it can also be restrictive for writers and directors. That is especially the case with linked media; some attempt to develop characters by presenting origin stories (for example, preludes to Strange doctor did a great job with Kaecilius), while others exploit the gaps in the narrative to tell their stories. Realistically, no writer or director can be expected to be familiar with the full range of linked content, ranging from comics to manuals, and it would be wrong if their storytelling opportunities were limited due to links to only a small minority. . of viewers are aware.

However, this doesn’t necessarily mean that linked comics and books don’t matter, because Marvel Studios will certainly work closely with its writers and artists during production. Therefore, the Avengers: Infinity War Prelude reflected the accumulation of Avengers: infinity war, and all disclosures will have been taken into account in the marketing campaign. The best approach would be to consider these comics as a kind of second tier of canon, part of the general lore unless and until they are contradicted by the Marvel movies and Disney + TV shows. This is similar to Lucasfilm’s treatment of the old Star Wars Expanded universe, where books, comics and games were considered canon until the moment George Lucas contradicted them, when they were discarded.

Of course, even the Marvel Cinematic Universe does not have a perfect continuity of its own. Guardians of the Galaxy revealed that Gamora was the last of her race, the Zehoberi people, but Avengers: infinity war He acknowledged Gamora’s backstory to reveal that half of her race had survived. In these cases, the imperatives of the narrative had changed; Marvel had settled on his portrayal of Thanos, with the idea that he was dedicated to the idea of ​​balance rather than the consort of death, and as a result, his previous stories had to be reconfigured. Marvel enjoys a reputation for long-term planning, but in reality, they are much more flexible than most think, and this means that retcons are inevitable. But that’s actually a fortress of the MCU rather than a limitation, because it offers writers and directors much more freedom. Maybe sometimes those details don’t really matter after all.

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