Captain Marvel: 9 MCU Characters Who Could Appear

Which familiar faces could turn up in the 90s?

By Geoff Cox /

Next March, fans of the Marvel Cinematic Universe will finally get to meet Brie Larson's Captain Marvel in her own movie, the last stop before the fourth Avengers film closes the book on this first era of this massive franchise.

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So far, Marvel is keeping its cards close to its chest when it comes to the finer details of the film's plot, which will primarily be set in the 1990s, with a young Carol Danvers finding her world upended as she gets pulled into a war between the Kree and the Skrulls. And thanks to the film's placement in a decade the franchise hasn't really explored yet, she'll be meeting a whole slew of familiar faces along the way, including a two-eyed Nick Fury, a fresh-faced Phil Coulson, and the Kree combo of Korath and Ronan.

By turning the clock back, Captain Marvel has the chance to give us even more surprise appearances from heroes and villains alike that we've already met, tying together the mythology of the universe all the more by having their younger versions show up in ways that fit the timeline as we know it.

9. Obadiah Stane

After the Winter Soldier assassinated Howard and Maria Stark on December 16, 1991, Obadiah Stane took over as the temporary CEO of Stark Industries, serving for several months before Tony Stark stepped into the role and Stane moved back down to second-in-command. As we all know, Stane inevitably grew to resent and hate Tony, eventually ordering the fateful attack on his life in Afghanistan that gave rise to Iron Man.

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Stane became Iron Monger, ultimately lost his life after battling Tony, and that was pretty much it for Stane's involvement in the MCU, but Captain Marvel has the opportunity to have the transition of power within Stark Industries following Howard's death color the background of the film. Obviously, we don't know exactly when in the '90s it's set, but should it be set in 1992, shortly after Howard's death, Stane would be the face of the company for a while.

He doesn't need to play a role in the actual events of the film - nor should he - but a brief appearance of the character somewhere, if even just on the news, would be a great way to call back to the MCU's first major villain in a way that fits in-universe and effortlessly connects the films together without being a distraction to the story at hand.

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