While multiple Marvel Studios involve flashbacks, no project has been primarily set prior to World War II. As a result, the epoch of the MCU’s timeline has remained the same since Captain America: The First Avenger debuted in 2011. And so while the Disney Plus MCU Complete Timeline changes as each new project hits the streaming service, the beginning of it has remained static since its debut. But that’s all about to change.
X-Men ’97 has been overwhelmingly successful for Marvel Studios and with its attention-grabbing action coming on the heels of a much more well-received second season of What If…?, audiences have been reminded of the power of telling stories through animation. With X-Men ’97 now into its back nine, another animated series has continued to generate some buzz as rumors and speculation about it circulate. And though it doesn’t have a release date just yet, Eyes of Wakanda will debut in 2024 and become the new jumping off point on the MCU Complete Timeline.
It Is Set Throughout Wakandan History
First revealed in December 2023 at the premiere event for What If…? Season 2, Eyes of Wakanda is an animated adventure produced by Ryan Coogler. The series will follow “brave warriors” who “throughout Wakandan history have been tasked to travel the world retrieving dangerous vibranium artifacts” including one such warrior who is rumored to meet up with one of Danny Rand’s predecessors as the Immortal Iron Fist, protector of K’un-Lun, sworn enemy of the Hand.
As seen in Black Panther, the history of Wakanda stretches back to 28,000 B.C. though the meteorite that brought Vibranium to Africa and the Atlantic Ocean fell from the sky much earlier in 2,500,000 B.C. While projects such as Eternals, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings and each of the Thor films have included flashbacks that predate Captain America: The First Avenger‘s WWII setting–and even predate the flashbacks in Black Panther–they are primarily set in “the present” and, as such, are placed far further down the timeline than Cap’s first MCU adventure. This will not be the case with Eyes of Wakanda.
According to reports about the series, one of the four 30-minute episodes is set during the time of the Trojan War. While it seems historians are all over the place when trying to pin down exactly when the Trojan War took place–if at all–an episode set during it would likely take place in the 12th or 11th century B.C. If so, will the Disney Plus timeline change?
It Is Set in the Sacred MCU Timeline Continuity
According to Head of Streaming, Television, and Animation at Marvel Studios, Brad Winderbaum, Eyes of Wakanda “more than any other show, fits right into our sacred MCU timeline continuity.” Winderbaum‘s a pretty important cog in the big wheel at Marvel Studios and so taking him at his word means that for the first time since it hit Disney Plus, the MCU Complete Timeline is almost certainly going to be reframed when Marvel Animation’s Eyes of Wakanda debuts later this year.
Of course, some narrative devices could prevent Eyes of Wakanda from being the new #1 on the timeline. The studio could choose to have the series told by someone in the present day–perhaps Shuri is telling her nephew, T’Challa, for example–making each episode a flashback. In that case, the series would end up tacked on later on the timeline after the events of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. That decision has already been made, of course, by Coogler and director Todd Harris and ultimately where the series appears on the timeline plays no role at all in how the stories told within it shaped Wakanda, Talokan, and, as we might be about to find out, some other places in the 616 universe.
