Top 5 Time Travel Moments in the MCU

This article covers time travel moments in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

All throughout the MCU, time travel has been a key part of the storylines, especially in the Infinity Saga. And if we’ve learned anything from Phase Four of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, it’s that time is more flexible than Loki’s loyalties. We’ve seen reality warped by probability hexes and devices that can reset an entire timeline. But time travel remains a trie-and-true method to really mess with the Multiverse.

Audiences are keeping an especially close watch on what’s in store for the MCU as Avengers: Doomsday looms ahead. In honor of Groundhog Day and skipping forward and back through winter, let’s take a look back at some of the greatest time travel moments in the MCU so far.

Scott’s Description of the Time Heist

Sweet, sweet Scott. As he’s pitching the Time Heist to Tony Stark and explaining the most important rules of time travel, Tony interrupts. “Are you seriously telling me that your plan to save the universe is based on Back to the Future?” To be fair, and in Scott’s defense, it worked for Marty and Doc so why not? Ant-Man is the king of big ideas. Plus, the MCU loves a good throwback, as we also see with …

Wanda’s Retro Style

Westview undergoes many makeovers in WandaVision, each more nostalgic than the last. Wanda’s influence brings wholesome, black-and-white 1950s sitcom style, technicolor Brady Bunch patterns and shag rugs, plus big ’80s hair and early-2000s camera monologues. However, Wanda’s cheekiest use of hex magic would be her Halloween costumes. She puts herself and Vision in outfits that reference their characters’ original comic book appearances in a clever nod to the magic that started it all. Even Quicksilver somehow gets in on the retro shenanigans.

Time Twister Madness in Loki

When Loki gets his hands on a Time Twister in episode 1, the signature remote control devices of the TVA in the Loki series, he of course lets the power go to his head. His God of Mischief pride was damaged when he was caught by Hunter B-15, so he enjoys some payback by putting her in a time loop. If you’d just witnessed your own death projected onto a wall, you’d probably feel pretty ticked off, too. Later, in episode 4, we see Loki caught yet again in a Time Twister-induced time loop — in this instance, a TVA containment cell in which he’s stuck reliving a particularly painful exchange with Lady Sif.

Age of Ultron Flashbacks

Flashbacks count as time travel, right? In this case, the flashbacks are caused by Wanda’s telepathic hexes as she sends some of the Avengers into painfully warped memories they’d normally keep hidden. Thor must confront the death of his people and his failures as an Asgardian leader while Cap endures a wartime ballroom filled with injured soldiers and a fleeting vision of Peggy. Black Widow’s flashback seems especially painful as she relives her training in the Red Room, a backstory more fully explored in Black Widow.

Dormammu’s Time Loop

This is another MCU time loop, although Doctor Strange’s battle with Dormammu is decidedly less silly than Loki’s mishandling of a Time Twister. In the climactic battle with the Dark Dimension’s ruler, Doctor Strange outsmarts the villainous entity by entrapping him in a frustrating loop. Dormammu must repeatedly kill the Sorcerer Supreme until finally he begs to be set free from the Eye of Agamotto’s grasp.

As the Marvel Multiverse continues to expand and intersect throughout the end of the Multiverse Saga, only time will tell what’s in store for our super heroes, antiheroes, and super-villains.

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