Marvel has been bringing back characters from past movies and TV shows, and while this has been exciting, it can end up affecting the MCU’s future.

The Marvel Cinematic Universe continues its expansion now with its Multiverse Saga, which has brought a variety of opportunities for this connected universe, but it has also shown that Marvel is struggling hard to move on from the past. The MCU kicked off in 2008 with Jon Favreau’s Iron Man, which set the tone for the movies that would form Phase 1, and since then, the MCU has grown to become the biggest connected superhero universe in film and TV. The MCU reached its peak with the crossover events Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame, but that wasn’t the end for this universe, and it moved forward with what’s now known as the Multiverse Saga.

The MCU’s Phases 4, 5, and 6 have focused on the exploration of the multiverse in its movies and now in TV shows as well, and of course, they have also introduced new characters while expanding the stories of already established heroes. The multiverse has opened many doors for the MCU, and among the many opportunities it has brought is the return of characters from previous Marvel TV shows and movies outside the current MCU. The return of these characters has been quite exciting and has allowed the MCU to integrate some of the most beloved Marvel characters, but this is also showing how much Marvel is struggling to move on from the past.

MCU Phases 4, 5 & 6 Are Bringing Back A Lot Of Characters

The MCU’s multiverse is a lot more extensive than it seems at first sight, and Marvel has made sure to tease the extent of it by bringing back characters from other movies that were released many years before the MCU even began. The first big returns and additions to the MCU’s multiverse happened in Spider-Man: No Way Home, with the surprise cameo of Matt Murdock (Charlie Cox), from the Netflix Marvel TV series Daredevil, and the presence of the past live-action Spider-Men, Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield, referred to in the movie as Peter-Two and Peter-Three. This means that Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man trilogy and Marc Webb’s The Amazing Spider-Man movies are part of the MCU’s multiverse, which makes it possible for Maguire and Garfield’s versions of Peter Parker to return at some point, perhaps in the upcoming crossover multiversal events Avengers: The Kang Dynasty and Avengers: Secret Wars.

The MCU continued bringing back past Marvel characters after the success of Murdock, Peter-Two, and Peter Three’s appearances in No Way Home, and its next surprise arrived in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. Strange’s second solo movie took him on a journey through the multiverse as he did his best to protect America Chavez from Scarlet Witch, who wanted America’s power of traveling through the universe so she could reunite with her children, Billy and Tommy. At one point in his multiversal adventure, Strange landed in a universe known as Earh-838, where he met The Illuminati. Through this group of superheroes, the MCU brought back Inhumans‘ Black Bolt, Peggy Carter now known as Captain Carter, and Patrick Stewart’s Professor X.

The MCU hasn’t stopped announcing the return of past characters or keeping them a surprise, as it did with Kingpin in the TV series Hawkeye, and another big return is that of Jon Bernthal’s Frank Castle a.k.a. The Punisher, who after starring in his own TV series over at Netflix and appearing in Daredevil, will reunite with Matt Murdock in the MCU’s TV series Daredevil: Born Again. Another big return, and one of the most anticipated and rumored ones since the introduction of the multiverse, is that of Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine, who will make his MCU debut in Deadpool 3, which is part of Phase 6.

Some Returning Marvel Characters Have Been Missed Opportunities

While all of these returns have been exciting and have a lot of potential given the extent of the multiverse, Marvel hasn’t truly seized these opportunities. Back to Spider-Man: No Way Home, Peter-Two and Peter-Three were given active roles in the story and helped Peter-One develop a cure for the villains that crossed over to the MCU, and Peter-Three even got a very personal moment of redemption when he saved MJ from falling to her death. At the end of No Way Home, Peter-Two and Peter-Three returned to their respective universes along with their villains, and even though their return re-sparked interest in seeing more from Maguire and Garfield’s versions of Spider-Man, Marvel continues to ignore it and hasn’t announced any plans for their return – but as hope dies last, there are theories about their return in the upcoming crossover Avengers movies.

Professor X and Black Bolt returning in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness took the audience by surprise, but unfortunately, their roles in the story were small and they didn’t even last long, as they were brutally killed by Scarlet Witch. Matt Murdock, on the other hand, although his MCU appearances so far have been brief, is getting his own TV show, where he will reunite with The Punisher and Kingpin, and Wolverine is expected to have a big role in Deadpool 3. Marvel seems to have relied more on nostalgia and fan service than on properly bringing some of these characters back, and in the case of the Spider-Men, Marvel is ignoring the great potential of their inclusion in the MCU.

Marvel Needs To Focus On Establishing Its New Avengers

Bringing back characters from previous Marvel movies and TV shows is beneficial to the expansion of the MCU and allows the audience to see some of their favorite characters again and now as part of this connected universe, but Marvel needs to focus on establishing its new Avengers team rather than on seeing who they will bring back for their next big projects. Although the MCU’s Phase 6 seems to still be missing more projects, Marvel is getting closer and closer to its biggest multiversal events in Avengers: The Kang Dynasty and Avengers: Secret Wars, and it still doesn’t have a new Avengers team.

The original Avengers team is no longer active, with two members dead, two retired, and the other two going on adventures by themselves, and though the MCU has a variety of characters who can form a new team, Marvel hasn’t given any hints at the creation of the next Avengers. Characters like Captain Marvel, Captain America, Doctor Strange, Spider-Man, Shang-Chi, and Black Panther could be part of the next Avengers team in the MCU, but so far, they continue to focus on their own missions rather than on joining forces to keep the world (and the universe) safe. It’s unlikely Marvel will stop announcing the return of more characters from past projects, and though these comebacks can be exciting, Marvel’s insistence on relying on the past instead of focusing on the future can end up hurting the MCU.