12 Biggest Retcons In The Marvel Cinematic Universe

The bigger problem with that Iron Man post-credits scene, however, is how it establishes Tony Stark's role in the Initiative. The implication in the scene itself is that Tony's being asked to join, something that was echoed in The Incredible Hulk's sting where he approached General Ross about forming a team, implying he was after Bruce Banner. However, by the time Iron Man 2 came around it was decided that Stark was the group's maverick, something that would automatically make him be rejected (although, at that point in the MCU, it's unclear who else could step in).

OK, so they had a change of thought. Except, the timeline of these early movies was a little squiffy and placed Hulk during the events of the Shellhead sequel, meaning Tony had been kicked out before he met with Ross. That's a pretty major plot hole (for those paying attention at least) that makes the crossover element of the early films incredibly shaky.

To fix it, Marvel created the One-Shot series, releasing a short film with the Thor Blu-Rau that showed Agents Coulson and Sitwell discussing how they wanted to keep Abomination in captivity, despite higher-ups insistence to use him for The Avengers, so elected to send the most disagreeable man in the world along; enter Tony Stark and suddenly Iron Man's just a S.H.I.E.L.D. patsy.

What's the biggest retcon you've spotted in the MCU? Share any we missed down in the comments.