The MCU has always been about creating a huge crossover universe full of interesting stories, epic heroes, and mischievous villains. To create such a compelling world, the past, present, and future need to be considered. Marvel has done this perfectly by carefully showing viewers flashbacks to help develop their beloved characters even more.
Whether the scene showed an important event that led characters to where they are today or perhaps showed why their motives are what they are, the MCU has done this remarkably on occasion. These flashback sequences are some of the most memorable scenes in the MCU and were vital in setting up its future.
10 When T'Chaka Killed Erik Killmonger's Father Right Before His Eyes
It's fair to say that Erik Killmonger is one of the most compelling villains of all time, and it's his origin story and motives that made him so great. Killmonger's attempt to overthrow T'Challa to claim the Wakandan throne seemed rash and brutal at first, but the crucial scene revealed all about why he was so ruthless.
Not only was his father N'Jobu arrested and then killed in front of young Killmonger's eyes, but he was left alone and to fend for himself for all those years by the Wakandans with no one out there to look out for him. The revelation was so critical that it gave T'Challa a massive change of heart in the way Wakanda operated in regards to the rest of the world.
9 Bucky & Steve's Friendship Was Shown Perfectly When Bucky Comforts Steve After His Mom's Funeral
Bucky and Steve have one of the best friendships in the entire MCU, it's just a shame that the best years of that friendship all happened back before Steve became Captain America and fought in WWII. They were always by each other's sides, no matter whether one was getting beat up in an alleyway or the other was being mind-controlled by HYDRA.
Their best moment probably came in Captain America: The Winter Soldier, where Bucky comforts Steve after his mother's funeral and takes him home. He offers him a place to stay and told him their iconic friendship line of " I'm with you to the end of the line." We just wish we could have seen more of them before their superhero days.
8 Arguably The Saddest Of Them All Was Watching Peter Quill Say Goodbye To His Mother
Guardians of the Galaxy was an all-around exciting and joyful journey across space with a whole host of brand-new characters that fans immediately fell in love with, but the opening scene actually had a completely different tone. This scene is a flashback to when Quill was just a boy and his mom was sadly passing away from cancer.
He's seen in the '80s refusing to hold her hand on her deathbed and is visibly distraught as he sprints outside, which is where Yondu abducts him. The scene is incredibly sad and showed viewers the true reason behind Quill's love for that mixtape, as it was a gift from his mother just moments before she died.
7 Sylvie's Arrest By The TVA Showed Why She Was So Ruthless In Loki
Loki introduced lots of new concepts, characters, and revealed some huge things about the MCU in its first season. One of those new bright sparks was the Loki variant Sylvie, played by the amazing Sophia Di Martino. Her character was fuelled by her tragic past where she was taken captive by the TVA only as a child and forced to live her life in apocalyptic worlds in order to hide from them.
Her plan to destroy the TVA was the center of the show and led to loads of incredible revelations, so it was awesome to see her as a child moments before the TVA took her. After playing with a Valkyrie toy in Asgard, a young Sylvie was taken away and arrested by the TVA as a variant. The flashback even shows Revonna Renslayer a bit younger, who was also involved in the arrest.
6 Watching Wanda Growing Up & Her Love For Sitcoms Was One Of The Best Parts Of The Show
After the big reveal that it was Agatha all along, Wanda was taken on a trip down memory lane in order to find out the origins of her powers, which was later revealed to be chaos magic, as she is the Scarlet Witch. Agatha took her back to some of her deepest memories, from her childhood in Sokovia to her and Pietro's later years where HYDRA spent ages experimenting on them.
Out of all the memories, the most joyful one, and the one which inspired the weird but wonderful show format, was where Pietro and Wanda are seen spending their time laughing and watching sitcoms to escape their reality. The Dick Van Dyke Show was playing in the background and showed just how influential sitcoms were on her life, or dream life should we say.
5 The Brutal Murder Of Stark's Parents Will Go Down As One Of The Biggest Shocks In The MCU
Captain America: Civil War was a massive turning point in the world of Marvel and put a real spanner in the works with the impending attack on Earth by the Mad Titan Thanos himself. The film started with the two disagreeing about the new Sokovia Accords, with the pair on the complete opposite sides of the argument, but the fight escalated to the extreme, almost killing each other when this bombshell was revealed.
It is revealed that Bucky Barnes, when he was the Winter Soldier and brainwashed by HYDRA, was responsible for the murder of Stark's parents back in the '90s while Tony was in his late teens. The flashback propelled Tony straight into meltdown and caused a fight with Cap and Bucky that almost led to Tony's death.
4 Finally Getting Some Glimpses Into Black Widow's Past Was Epic
One of the most memorable moments from Avengers: Age of Ultron was when Wanda mind-controlled the original six Avengers and sent them into their biggest nightmares. One that particularly stood out was the flashback to Black Widow's past in the Red Room, especially since her past was way more secretive than the rest of the Avengers'.
Her darkest memory put her back in the room where she was taught how to kill for the rest of her life and was stripped away from any freedom. In fact, after waiting for years, Marvel finally showed fans more of a glimpse at her upbringing in her very own Black Widow solo movie.
3 Watching The Original Ant-Man & The Wasp In Action Has To Make The List
In the Marvel comics, Ant-Man and the Wasp are actually founding members of the Avengers, that is the Hank Pym and Janet Van Dyne versions of the respective characters. The movies obviously retconned this, but in Ant-Man and The Wasp, it was revealed that the two of them worked side by side during the Cold War as America's primary superheroes.
The flashback saw them attempting to stop a Soviet missile strike. Unfortunately, this is exactly how Janet got lost in the Quantum Realm for years after shrinking between atoms and never coming back. The scene was heroic and heartbreaking all at the same time and helped fans sympathize with both Hope and Hank.
2 Tony Stark's Constant Nightmares Of The Battle Of New York Had Some Major Consequences On The MCU
It's fair to say that Tony Stark was one of, if not the, most important characters in the entire MCU, meaning his decisions had some pretty big consequences. In Iron Man 3, Stark was constantly getting flashbacks of the Battle of New York where he was floating in a wormhole looking at what he thought would be his end.
These constant nightmares drove him to try and protect his family and the world as best he could, but he went about it in perhaps the wrong way. From creating Ultron causing havoc on Sokovia and agreeing to the Sokovia Accords out of guilt, Tony was a factor in ripping up the Avengers and eventually watching his nightmare come true in Avengers: Infinity War.
1 Thanos & Gamora's Relationship Started All The Way Back When He Decimated Her People's Planet
Avengers: Infinity War was a massive hit and although it was called an Avengers movie, it was really a Thanos movie as he completed his quest for all six Infinity Stones. Of course, to make a great villain, he has to have something he cares about other than the mission, and for Thanos, that is his adopted daughter Gamora.
This flashback showed viewers how their relationship started, with Thanos acting as a father figure for Gamora while his men slaughtered half of that planet's population. In fact, he even gives her the double-bladed switchblade, which she carried until the events of that movie. This relationship was Thanos' weakness, and the flashback perfectly showed this.