MCU Phase 4: 8 Reasons Why It Must Look To The Past

What happens in Budapest, shouldn't stay in Budapest...

by Ewan Paterson
Marvel Studios

It's hard to believe that the Marvel Cinematic Universe is nearing its tenth anniversary, and yet that'll be the case come next May.

With Phase 3 gearing up for a spectacular finale in Avengers: Infinity War, and with big changes being promised, it's clear that Phase 4 will offer a 'distinctly different' kind of MCU than what fans have previously been used to. Big characters are due to depart, team reshuffles are inbound and, most exciting of all, new heroes are set to enter the fray. But what kind of approach will Marvel be taking?

We know for a fact that Captain Marvel will be set in the nineties and feature the Skrulls (a genius move on their behalf), and that Ant-Man and the Wasp will feature a bunch more Cold War flashback sequences, but it's equally true that Marvel are yet to really tap into the historical potential of their universe. Captain America was introduced to us all in a breakneck WWII thriller, but we've seen little of Marvel's past since.

We all want stories that carve out a new path in the MCU, but it's equally true that, whether implicitly or otherwise, Marvel have managed to build a really intriguing past, one filled with espionage, war, and plenty of Motown Classics. Now, more than ever, it's a theme they should exploit.

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Content Producer/Presenter

WhatCulture's very own resident movie guy, Ewan has been working in the content creation biz for over 10 years now, having started as a freelance contributor to WhatCulture Gaming all the way back in 2015. After graduating with a First-Class Honours in History from Northumbria University in 2017 (where he won a prize for a totally killer dissertation on the Watergate years), Ewan took on the role of Comics Editor at WhatCulture and quickly developed WhatCulture Comics into one of the biggest superhero-focused channels on YouTube. He followed this with a brief hiatus at Screen Rant in 2021, where he worked across the Gaming and Film sections as a writer and editor, before returning to WhatCulture as a Senior Content Producer / Presenter in 2023. He started his own podcast, We Love Dad Movies, in 2022, and has contributed several written pieces to the Eisner-nominated comics website Shelfdust as well. In his current role, Ewan incorporates his love of cinema, comic books, and history into written pieces and video essays for WhatCulture's Film & TV channel, as well as WhatCulture Gaming and WhatCulture Horror, with a particular focus on nineties-era Dad Movies, old school Westerns, and Golden Age Hollywood Noir. John Carpenter is his fave, and he thinks Batman Beyond should never have been cancelled. If that's your vibe, you'll probably like his stuff.