How Does ‘The Marvels’ Fit Within the MCU’s Timeline?
Marvel Studios recently revealed a new trailer for The Marvels at San Diego Comic-Con 2023, and it proves there’s a lot to look forward to. Iman Vellani’s Kamala Khan, Brie Larson’s Carol Danvers, and Teyonah Parris’ Monica Rambeau are set to team up and save the universe from Zawe Ashton’s new supervillain, but the trio will have to get used to working as teammates as well as constantly being forced to switch places. Their powers have become inextricably linked, and it’s certain to test their patience and their superhero dynamic.
And for those of you wondering—yes, everyone’s favorite murderous alien cat Goose is back too, along with a plethora of other suspiciously adorable kittens. You can watch the trailer here.
Related: The 61 Celebrities Who Have Played Themselves In The MCU on We Got This Covered
With the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s streaming expansion on Disney+, the franchise’s timeline has gotten more complicated. Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson)’s appearance in The Marvels trailer—in which he looks rather well-adjusted and even, some might say, joyful—may leave fans wondering if The Marvels takes place before or after Secret Invasion, a show in which Fury looks considerably more stressed.
The Marvels is a sequel to 2019’s Captain Marvel, the movie which introduced the all-important and elusive Skrulls. Instead of taking place in the 1990s, like its predecessor, The Marvels takes place in present-day MCU, sometime after the fallout from the Blip in Avengers: Endgame. The events of The Marvels have to take place after WandaVision, as that is the show in which Monica Rambeau’s light-based powers manifested. More accurately, though, The Marvels will take place directly after the Ms. Marvel series on Disney+, which introduced Kamala Khan. That show’s final post-credits scene depicted Kamala and Carol trading places, a sequence which is shown in the official trailer for The Marvels too.
So where do Secret Invasion and Nick Fury fit into all of this? The Nick Fury-led show deals with a subsect of Skrulls trying to take over Earth as their new home, after Fury and Carol failed to find them someplace suitable. The events of Secret Invasion certainly take their toll on Fury, and he’s different from every other appearance in the MCU—still sharp and secretive, but also tired and anxious. How can that be the same charismatic Fury we see in The Marvels trailer?
And yet, it is. In Empire Magazine‘s exclusive Secret Invasion cover story, Jackson said about the show: “This series has to happen so that The Marvels can happen. All these things are connected in an interesting sort of way.”
Perhaps that shouldn’t be a surprise. Carol Danvers was deeply involved with the Kree vs. Skrull war, having unwittingly aided the Kree’s Imperial conquest after losing her memories. The Kree are once again coming to the forefront in The Marvels, as proven by the trailer, so the Skrulls’ fate will undoubtedly come up as well. How they feel about Carol Danvers and her efforts to find them a new home now, 30 years later, is a different matter entirely.
(featured image: Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures)
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