'Captain Marvel' Movie to Have Retro Setting

The news from Marvel's San Diego Comic-Con panel that Captain Marvel will take place in the past — the 1990s, to be precise — is a surprising one. So far, the Marvel Cinematic Universe has enjoyed a tight continuity (and contemporary focus) after the 1940s setting of 2011's Captain America: The First Avenger. But is there a method to the nostalgic madness?

In one sense, the backwards time jump for Captain Marvel is oddly reminiscent of Warner Bros' cinematic treatment of Wonder Woman, whose first solo movie took place in the past after her onscreen introduction via a cameo during a contemporary-set movie teaming other, male, flagship characters. (Captain Marvel is rumored to make her debut in next year's Avengers: Infinity War, although Marvel has yet to officially confirm that detail.)

Putting aside obvious snark about powerful women being relegated to a background so deep that they're not even referenced in earlier movies (Wonder Woman, at least, came up with a rationale for her absence during the events of Man of Steel when she withdrew from events after the end of World War I) the notion of retro-fitting a superhero who existed between Captain America and Iron Man into the Marvel Cinematic Universe plugs a plot hole that's existed since before the first Avengers movie — namely, didn't anyone else try to create a second super soldier after Cap disappeared, and if so, who were they? — while opening up another one immediately: what happened to Captain Marvel to take her off the playing field ahead of the Marvel movies that we've seen to date?

Read the rest of this article at The Hollywood Reporter.

Gal Gadot's Wonder Woman was also set in the past.