Countdown to Infinity: MCU Timeline Pt. 4 1980-1999 (The Defenders are Born)

Leading up to the release of Marvel’s Avengers: Infinity War, we’re taking a look back at every element of the MCU thus far in our series, Countdown to Infinity! This film is the culmination of everything that began with the first Iron Man film in 2008, and so we want to prepare you for what may be the biggest film of all time. We’ll dive into all 18 films released thus far, each of the TV series that are considered part of the MCU, and a selection of other shorts and comics considered canon within the MCU. As part of our Countdown To Infinity Series We’ll also be looking at the full MCU timeline. We continue today with a look at the history of the MCU leading into the events of Phase 1, from 1980-1999!

At this point in the MCU, we’ve seen the birth of Wakanda, Steve Rogers turn into Captain America and sacrifice himself to take down hydra, Peggy Carter help build SHIELD, and Arnim Zola secretly build Hydra within SHIELD. The MCU moves on with the birth of almost every major player in the MCU. (And Cap still frozen in ice.)

1980 – Hope

• Hope van Dyne is born to Hank Pym and Janet van Dyne.
• Ego returns to Earth one final time, impregnating Meredith Quill. Before he leaves he places cancerous tumor within Meredith’s body that will kill her in 8 years.
• Carl Lucas, later known as Luke Cage, is born in April of 1980.
• Peter Quill is born to Meredith Quill in October of 1980.

1981 – Hydra Strikes Again

• Hydra orchestrates the start of the 1980s recession.

1982 – A King is Born

• In March of 1982 Misty Knight is born.
• Maria Hill is born on April 4th 1972.
• Blackagar Boltagon is born to Agon and Rynda, in October of 1982, thus becoming the next heir to the throne of the Inhuman kingdom of Attilan.

1984 – Ant-Man

• Hank Pym begins testing his EMP Communication Device, in order to speak with Ants.
• Natasha Romanoff is born on November 22nd.

1985 – Defenders

• Matt Murdock is born in February of 1985.
• Jessica Jones is born in October of 1985.

1986 – Stark

• The secret organization known as The Hand, causes the destruction of the city of Chernobyl. They cover up their activity as a nuclear disaster.
• Tony Stark makes Dum-E, a robot for his father’s workshop.
• Stark Industries creates the designs for the SHIELD plane, The Bus.

1987 – Family Loss

• Anton Vanko returns to Moscow after his exile in Siberia.
• On April 2nd, Thanos adopts a Zehoberei named Gamora and a Luphomoid named Nebula, after killing their parents.
• On April 5th, Howard Stark asks Hank Pym for the Pym Particles in order to stop a radical group using Hydra tech. Hank refuses to hand over the particles and instead is trained by Peggy Carter and heads to Berlin to fight the radicals on his own.
• On May 8th, under the guidance tutelage of Ronan the Accuser and Thanos, Gamora and Nebula engage in combat. During which, Gamora sends Nebula over a cliff. Nebula is severely injured and is repaired through cybernetic augmentations.
• Tony Stark graduates from MIT at the top of his class.
• In July of 1987 Hank Pym and Janet van Dyne attempt to take out a Soviet missile. In the process Janet makes her Wasp suit small enough to enter the missile, and disarms it. However she is unable to return to normal size, and is presumed dead. After the loss of his wife, Hank decides to retire the Ant Man suit for good, and sends their daughter Hope off to boarding school.
• On November 10th 1987 Meredith Quill dies from the cancer placed inside her by Ego. Yondu Udonta picks up Peter Quill from Earth, as part of a job to bring him to Ego.

1988 – Daisy Johnson

• On July 2nd Daisy Johnson is born to Calvin Johnson and Jiaying.

1989 – Memories

• After being attacked by Hydra, Jiayang is killed and Daisy Johnson is taken into custody by SHIELD. Calvin Johnson brings Jiaying back to life and gives himself a formula to make him stronger. Jiaying and Johnson kill an entire village of people to give Jiayang more power as an Inhuman. Daisy is place in an orphanage under the name Mary Sue Poots. When Calvin and Jiayang can not find their daughter, Jiayang divorces Calvin.
• In June of 1989 Hank Pym leaves SHIELD after learning they were attempting to replicate his technology.
• On September 27th, Yondu teaches Peter Quill how to use a blaster.

1990 – Vibranium Heist

• On February 27th Ulysses Klaue steals a large amount of Vibranium from Wakanda, thanks to information given to him by T’Chaka’s brother N’Jobu. He is the first person to ever escape from Wakanda.
• In Spetember of 1990, Pietro and Wanda Maximoff are born in Sokovia.

1991 – Death of the Starks

• On April 2st, Danny Rand is born.
• On April 28th Peter Quill is given an M-Ship which he names the Milano.
• On December 16th 2991 Hydra orders the Winter Soldier to kill Howard and Maria Stark and obtain samples of the Super Soldier Serum. Their death is made to look like a car accident.
• Obadiah Stane takes over as CEO of Stark Industries.

1992 – Wakandan Turmoil

• T’Chaka travels to Oakland, CA and meets with his brother N’Jobu. He confronts him about working with Klaue. After N’Jobu pulls a gun on his brother, T’Chaka stabs his with the claws on his Black Panther suit, killing him. Leaving his son, Erik Stevens an orphan.

1993 – Ivan Vanko

• Ivan Vanko is imprisoned for 15 years for selling plutonium to Pakistan.

1994 – Matt Murdock

• After saving an elderly man from being hit by a truck, Matt Murdock is blinded when is eyes are exposed to hazardous chemicals. He discovers that he has superhuman hearing which acts almost as sonar for him to see the world around him.

1995 – Jack Murdock’s death

• After refusing to throw a fight, Jack Murdock is shot and killed on January 21st. His body is found by his son Matt. When Matt’s mother neglects to take care of him, he is put in an orphanage.
• On February 16th Stakar Ogord banishes Yondu from the Ravagers for child trafficking, which goes against their code.
• While at Saint Agnes Orphanage Matt Murdock meets a blind man named Stick who offers to train him to master his gift.
• Bruce Banner and Betty Ross meet while studying at Harvard University and begin dating.
• Kaecilius loses his wife Adria to a brain aneurysm. This would lead him to joining the Masters of the Mystics Arts after the Ancient One offers to help him find answers in his loss.
• On July 24th 1995 Natasha Romanoff joins Russia’s covert Espionage facility.
• After training with Stick for the majority of the year, Matt Murdock becomes a powerful fighter. After giving Stick a bracelet made from the wrapper to the ice cream he ate when they first met, Stick abandons Matt and states he can no longer train him.

1996 – Elektra

• Stick’s martial arts order takes in a young child as a pupil, Elektra. Believing her to be the latest incarnation of The Black Sky, a human weapon to be used for destruction, he is ordered to kill her. However Stick escapes with Elektra and gives her to a rich Greek family.

1997 – Inhumans

• Brothers Blackagar and Maximus Boltagon of the Inhuman royal family undergo Terrigenesis in order to gain their Inhuman powers. Blackagar, Black Bolt’s voice is changed to create a sort of sonic shockwave. Maximus is essentially stripped of his Inhuman gene and regarded as a plain human.
• Black Bolt accidentally kills his parents with his power.

1998 – Black Widow

• Clint Barton is sent by Nick Fury to eliminate Black Widow, instead he offers her a chance to join SHIELD.

1999 – New Years Eve

• Tony Stark attends a New Year’s Ever party in Bern, Switzerland. He meets Maya Hansen who shows him her work on creating the Extremis virus, Ho Yinsen, and Aldrich Killian who asks him to invest in his think tank, AIM.
• Tony tells Killian he’ll meet him on the roof of the building, but he doesn’t, by doing so he gives Killian motivation to work even harder and take down Tony Stark.

We’ll stop there for now. The MCU rolls on from here, with the birth of the youngest Avenger and the creation of the Hulk.

Keep Following Poor Man’s Spoiler all this week as we continue our Countdown to Infinity Series covering everything that has led to Avengers: Infinity War! And be sure to see the movie when it hits theaters this Friday!

You can Check Out all of our previous Countdown to Infinity coverage here:
Iron Man
The Incredible Hulk
Iron Man 2
Thor
Captain America: The First Avenger
MCU Timeline Part 1 The Birth of the MCU 
MCU Timeline Pt. 2 1900-WW2
Avengers
MCU Timeline Pt. 3 1946-1979