5 year jump – Marvel’s Misstep

YOU MURDERED TRILLIONS!!

Bruce Banner

We all know since Avengers: Infinity War that Avengers 4 will be about bringing half the population back to life which was killed by Thanos. HOW & WHEN were the questions. Time Travel was something that we were all sure of, but that didn’t really answer the HOW. And, when Gwyneth Paltrow said in an interview that Pepper & Tony have a kid in the next Avengers film, and takes place a decade later, it was only getting more confusing.

Avengers: Endgame though did bring everyone back who died from Thanos’ snap in 2018, they brought them back 5 years later – in 2023. Between 2018 & 2023, there were 5 long years where there were literally only half of the living beings in the universe. While this half population lived 5 long grim years, for the other half, it was like time never passed.

Do you remember when we were in space? And I got all dusty? I must’ve passed out, ’cause I woke up, and you were gone.

Peter Parker

The reason they brought everyone back at the moment Hulk did the snap lies in how Time Travel works in MCU. Had they brought them back when Thanos had snapped, then it would’ve created an alternate timeline, and this one would’ve stayed with trillions of people missing.

Changing the past doesn’t change the future.

Bruce Banner

By the logic of it, they didn’t really have any other choice than the time jump. It was important to show how different people are dealing with the tragedy over time, for the narrative and purpose of good story telling. Without the time jump, Scott Lang’s return wouldn’t’ve been as impactful either. One of my favorite scenes from the movie is when he meets the grown up Cassie! Thinking of it, it feels a little wrong, because we just saw her much younger in Ant-Man & the Wasp. That’s what creates the impact on the audience.

But, we have to accept that the Time Jump has created some problems – something which will have an impact on everything else in MCU, majorly.

There were half of the people still trying to move on, taking those baby steps. But, their life didn’t come to a stop, did it? It was still happening. There was still education, job, and other important stuff.

To try and become whole again. To try and find purpose.

Steve Rogers

Moreover, even though Smart Hulk bought back everyone safely, ie, those who were on a plane while getting dusted, resurrected on the land safely, as Kevin Feige explained in a Reddit AMAA, what about the people who died because their pilots turned into dust, or those who took their lives due to loss of loved ones?

By HeroforPain on Deviantart

Naturally, not all 3.5 Billion people would’ve been able to work on moving on. These were losses bigger than a breakup, failure or anything like that. Those lives never returned, and the proof lies simply in how Hulk tried to bring Natasha back, but couldn’t. They’re really gone, not kind of gone.

You know, I tried. When I had the gauntlet, the stones, I really tried to bring her back.

Bruce Banner

Hence, there’s no way things can be the same. 5 year juniors to you would now be in the same grade – and that’s something Far From Home isn’t addressing, I’m afraid. Did Peter, Ned, MJ, all these turned to dust? Unlikely, right? Well, I’m quite looking forward to how the movie deals with the snap, and since Kevin Feige is helming the project, it isn’t that worrisome. We’ll get the answers to that next week.

Troubles come when we talk about the TV Shows in MCU. Till now, even if quite one sided, we’ve believed that they’re all connected, but just when the movies finally started acknowledging the shows by having brought the same actor for Jarvis in Endgame, and keeping Kree myths intact in Captain Marvel, then this happened:

This is a card that appeared few minutes into Agents of SHIELD S06E01. The reason it creates major issues is that there are more than enough reasons to establish that the 5th season’s last episode took place simultaneously to Infinity War, but ended a little before Thanos snapped his fingers, and thus far, Agents of SHIELD, which should be taking place in a post-Decimation world, refuses to mention or acknowledge the snap, making it frustrating to watch.

While fans believed that the reason the season is premiering post Endgame is so that it doesn’t spoil it, the first episode came as a bummer. With there being direct references to Black Order & Thanos being on Earth in Season 5 finale, totally ignoring it in Season 6 makes us, the fans, feel cheated on. None of the Marvel properties releasing between Infinity War & Endgame were taking place post the Snap, making the argument of Agents referring it in June premier more taken for granted.

If Season 6 takes place only one year after the snap, that means it needs to take place in a dark, grim world that we saw in Endgame, which it doesn’t. This leaves us with one single option – Doctor Strange didn’t see all the futures, and there was a way through which the snap could’ve been averted in Wakanda itself. In that,Thor went for the head in Wakanda itself. Apparently, 14000605 futures weren’t enough, since he totally missed the best one. Or, he was lying about there being only one possibility.

Star Lord: How many did you see?
Dr. Strange: 14 Million, 6 Hundred and five.
Tony Stark: How many did we win?
Dr. Strange: One.

It sucks knowing there is a universe which wasn’t half killed. But, even if Doc lied, it makes sense. What was the possibility that Thor goes for the head? Extremely unlikely. He had to do what he must to ensure there are chances of other ways to take place too – thus, saving Tony Stark’s life by giving up the Time Stone. But, again, that gets dependent on a mouse rescuing Scott Lang from the Quantum Tunnel. So, basically, we can conclude that Dr. Strange didn’t have as big a game plan as we thought after Infinity War.

Marvel TV’s head, Jeph Loeb, answered why Agents of SHIELD had to be this way, and he’s right on his part. But, this also feels laziness on a large part. We deserved to see our agents moving in the universe where half are killed, maybe a better way to separate Fitz & Simmons. Or, there could’ve been a simple 5 year jump in Agents instead. We can’t conclude that it’s a wrong card like in Homecoming, simply because one year is said several time over the course of the show.

The best bet, which I also think is the worst way to deal with it, is that we’ve to forget about the Infinity War references at the end of Season 5, which, as I said, sucks. But, there seems to be no other way to not let the movie’s plot be ruined by this.

Enough of Agents of SHIELD, let’s come to other Marvel TV Shows. I’ll be working under the assumption that Agents of SHIELD Season 6 takes place before the snap. Also, for a moment, let’s assume that the Netflix shows will be renewed on some other platform.

The Netflix shows are a part of the MCU, just because they very occasionally refer some Avenger or more recently, the prison in Civil War.

Tony Stark. The big blond dude with the hammer. The old dude with the shield. The green monster, and I don’t mean Fenway!

By their timeline, we know they’re still around 2016, when Civil War took place. So, there’s still time for them to catch up till the time the snap happens. It’s hard to say when exactly Runaways & Cloak & Dagger take place in the larger MCU, but we can assume they’re pre-snap. Cloak & Dagger is somewhere around Luke Cage Season 2, which again makes it about 2016. With Season 5’s ending of Agents of SHIELD now not being during Infinity War, we can’t be sure where to place it, but it can’t be too long back from 2018 either.

The thing is, eventually, they will reach 2018 in future seasons. And then each of these shows will have no choice but to deal with the snap. As much as that sounds interesting, by that time, the movies will be somewhere else, and the Decimation would be an old deal for the audience. (Would’ve been better had Agents of SHIELD took place in half-a-world now only, right?) Yes, we’ll get to explore the grim universe from a more grounded point of view, and it’ll be hella interesting, but would we really care few years later?

Infact, what’s the guarantee that the screen-writers will even remember to talk about it, and suddenly say half of their cast members goodbye for some seasons? If not seasons, atleast one season? Taking the story into a new direction, than what’s it being set up for? Would that be a risk they’ll want to take?

Only time will tell. Next week, we’re getting the sequel to Homecoming on the big screen, which will certainly going to talk about the post-corrected-snap world. Till then, I’m going to maintain Endgame, though a fabulous movie, wasn’t as intelligent as its predecessor.

See you next week, when I’ll talk about Far From Home and how it dealt with the snap. If you don’t follow me already, so now to not miss that article! Meanwhile, let me know your views about this 5 year jump in the comment section!