Phase 4 of the MCU is still overlooking its most interesting period, which encompasses the time between the Snap from Avengers: Infinity War and the Blip from Avengers: Endgame. Barring certain changes in continuity and some jumps in time, most of the events of the Marvel Cinematic Universe have been synchronous with real life. That is, until Avengers: Endgame pushed the timeline five years into the future. Ever since then, all Phase 4 movies and Disney+ series continue to take place during and after 2023. This allows Phase 4 to have a relatively stable continuity, but it ignores the exciting possibilities that come with the universal unrest brought on by Thanos' Snap.

Up until Spider-Man: No Way Home and Hawkeye, Phase 4 has touched upon the effects that Thanos' Snap had on certain characters and their respective arcs. For instance, WandaVision revealed that Monica Rambeau wasn't present for her mother during her last moments and that Vision was disassembled by SWORD. The Falcon and the Winter Soldier featured the Flag-Smashers' plan to revert society to its Snap-era status quo, and the Emergence in Eternals was shown to be delayed by the Snap, and then put back into motion by the Blip. However, the countless major events that must have happened between Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame remain untold.

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While it's true that the MCU would become far too bleak if the effects of Thanos' Snap were portrayed realistically, it's still difficult to believe that society has been pretty much the same by the time Phase 4 begins. The loss of half of all life in the universe impacts every single aspect of life imaginable. From economic collapse to mass panic and additional disasters caused by such a catastrophe, this time period is rife with narrative possibilities for a superhero movie or series. It could easily provide the perfect origin story for myriad heroes, villains, and superteams. Entire movie trilogies could fit between the Snap and the Blip not only on Earth but across the whole universe as well.

The lack of stories set in this time period is underwhelming, if not hard to believe. For comparison, the events of The Incredible Hulk, Iron Man 2, Thor, and the end of Captain America: The First Avenger happened within the same week. Avengers: Endgame showed how every Avenger coped with their defeat, with only Hulk implied to remain active as a full-fledged superhero, but an Avenger-centered story is not what is missing. The absence of most of the Avengers must have led other characters to take center stage in heroic matters. After all, the instability caused by the Snap is the breeding ground for both villainy and vigilantism.

Yet, none of the MCU Phase 4 projects released so far have even suggested that the time period between Thanos' Snap and the Blip spawned a world-changing event or a new major character. Upcoming projects like Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, Secret Invasion, and Armor Wars may tie into the Snap and the Blip, but none of the upcoming MCU installments seem to take place in this period, meaning this gap in time may remain without further details for the foreseeable future.

More: The Post-Endgame World Needs The Avengers More Than Captain America

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