12 Biggest Retcons In The Marvel Cinematic Universe

Howard Stark is the character who's probably developed the most across the course of the MCU, although it's really hard to say it's happened organically. When he's briefly set up in Iron Man, it's simply as Tony's weapon-producing businessman father, then in Iron Man 2 we get the touching reveal he kinda did care. And then things go crazy; in Captain America: The First Avenger he's a military scientist who makes Steve Roger's vibranium shield and by the sequel he's created S.H.I.E.L.D. and was killed by Hydra, then in Ant-Man he's a proper devious secret service leader.

That's a massive expansion of a tertiary character, and one that feels incredibly odd looking back at how he was presented in the earlier movies. The thing is, the retcon's been so gradual only those foolhardy enough to actually venture on an increasingly heavy rewatch would ever figure it out. And maybe that's why Marvel keeps getting away with these retcons in general.

Thankfully, some elements of the character did remain consistent throughout; in Iron Man, Tony laments how he never said goodbye to his father, an emotional beat that was paid off with the character's introduction in Captain America: Civil War.