As the Marvel Cinematic Universe continues to expand, Marvel Studios has recently revealed how the massive shared universe of films and television shows had its "most crucial component" inspired by a battle from Star Wars.
According to the recently published retrospective The Story of Marvel Studios: The Making of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the climactic battle from Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope helped the production house choose its "point zero" for the MCU. "The most crucial component of the MCU timeline was inspired by the most significant event in the Star Wars universe," the passage reads. "The Battle of Yavin (the conflict that culminates in the destruction of the first Death Star in Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope) is point zero for the franchise's timeline. Because everything has to exist in virtual time, Marvel Studios chose their point zero to be the moment when Tony Stark says, 'I am Iron Man.' Everything is laid out on the MCU timeline in relation to that point."
Released in 2008, Iron Man is credited as the first film in Phase One of the MCU. Almost all of the films and TV shows (though their canon-status is pending) released since then have chronologically taken place after Tony Stark's speech at the end of Iron Man, with the sole film exceptions being the World War II setting of Captain America: The First Avenger and Captain Marvel, which is set in 1995. Meanwhile, the Star Wars franchise has explored more events prior to and around its point zero through the prequel trilogy films and other movies like Rogue One and Solo: A Star Wars Story.
Featuring over 500 pages across two volumes, The Story of Marvel Studios: The Making of the Marvel Cinematic Universe includes interviews with the actors, directors and producers responsible for bringing both iconic and lesser-known Marvel superheroes to life. Among everything else, the retrospective also seemed to finally confirm the canonicity of ABC's Agent Carter series before one of the book's authors clarified that they didn't make any definitive statements.
The MCU canon has received plenty of new installments this past year. 2021 has currently seen the releases of two films, Black Widow and Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, alongside Disney+ series like WandaVision, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier and Loki. Expanding the MCU even further is the first look at the multiverse in the animated anthology series, Marvel's What If...?, the concept set to be explored further in live-action when Spider-Man: No Way Home releases in theaters this December. The upcoming Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is expected to delve into the multiverse as well (the title a clear giveaway), though it was recently delayed by several months. The next MCU film, The Eternals, however, will still hit theaters on Nov. 5.
Source: The Story of Marvel Studios: The Making of the Marvel Cinematic Universe