Legacy: 1990s

The 1990s Legacy era is defined by Captain Marvel (2019), set in 1995. It establishes Carol Danvers' origin — an Air Force pilot who became the most powerful hero in the MCU after being infused with the energy of an experimental light-speed engine — and introduces the Kree-Skrull War, a cosmic conflict whose ripples reach forward into Secret Invasion and beyond. It also shows a younger Nick Fury and provides the origin of the Avengers Initiative's name.

The 1990s setting serves a specific narrative purpose: Captain Marvel's power level is so extreme that placing her in the present day would require constant explanation for why she isn't solving every crisis. The decade-spanning gap between her origin and her Avengers: Endgame appearance is itself part of the story — she was out there in the cosmos, unable to be everywhere at once. Secret Invasion (2022) revisits the Skrull storyline from a darker angle, revealing that Fury's promises to the refugee Skrull population in 1995 went decades without being honoured.