Every Way The MCU Has Been Changed By WandaVision, Loki, Hawkeye, FAWS, Ms. Marvel And Other TV Shows

Big things have been happening in the MCU — on screens large as well as small, by way of Disney+'s ever-growing slate of live-action Marvel series.

Produced by feature filmmakers Marvel Studios — as opposed to the now-shuttered and once-removed "Marvel TV" arm that gave us Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Daredevil, Runaways and the like — Disney+'s live-action WandaVision, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, Loki, Hawkeye, Moon Knight and Ms. Marvel series have cast MCU vets (such as Elizabeth Olsen, Paul Bettany, Anthony Mackie, Sebastian Stan, Tom Hiddleston and Jeremy Renner) as well as continued canonical storylines, while the animated What If...? anthology explored far-out scenarios that undoubtedly would be fun to see realized.

What's more, the streaming series (as well as the movies) are even "resurrecting" some of the Marvel TV characters/actors that during their Netflix existences were very generously described as, well, "MCU-adjacent."

Now, maybe you aren't a "TV person," or you have not had time to keep current on WandaVision, Ms. Marvel et al while also dipping your toe back into the movie-going experience. So if you need a "primer" on what exactly Disney+'s live-action Marvel series have accomplished thus far, here is a handy guide (complete with an even-handier MCU CHEAT SHEET at the bottom of each entry).

Wanda... did not take Vision's Avengers: Infinity War death well. After visiting S.W.O.R.D. to see that her synthezoid love was very much no more (and in fact had been dissected for nefarious purposes), she retreated to Westview N.J. — where we later learned Vision had bought them a plot of land to live out their years together  — and used every drop of her chaos magic to conjure her husband, and then twin sons, all of whom resided in a sitcom-perfect enclave.

Sorceress Agatha Harkness (who was hiding out in Westview as nosy neighbor Agnes) had gotten wind that Wanda had fully realized her powers and ultimately challenged the Scarlet Witch to a duel, aiming to steal all of her magic in the process. Wanda, though, outwitted her adversary and in doing embraced her Scarlet Witch destiny. Following a perfunctory "My bad!" to the psychologically abducted people of Westview, Wanda was last seen in a far-off cabin, boning up on the Darkhold book of magic.

YOUR MCU CHEAT SHEET: Wanda is now more powerful than ever, as Scarlet Witch. And though her whereabouts appeared known in WandaVision's bonus scene, the first trailer for Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness suggests she is about to be found.

Vision died, twice, in Avengers: Infinity War — and he remained very dead (in pieces, in fact!) for much of WandaVision, despite what his "wife" would have us/herself think. Ultimately, acting S.W.O.R.D. director Tyler Hayward had Vision's parts reassembled in service of a new, weaponized (and white) Vision. But upon coming face to face, the Vision that Wanda had conjured imbued White Vision with his cached memories (amid a wonderfully philosophical debate about The Ship of Theseus), nudging his blanched doppelganger to abort his S.W.O.R.D. mission and fly off to... parts unknown.

YOUR MCU CHEAT SHEET: Vision is still dead, but White Vision — a close facsimile built by S.W.O.R.D. — is floating around out there somewhere. 

Following Captain Marvel character Maria Rambeau's cancer surgery in 2018, Monica was sitting at her mother's bedside when the Snap happened, and she was dusted. A WandaVision flashback revealed that when the Blip ended, Monica reappeared in her chair at the hospital, her mother long deceased. Monica resumed work at S.W.O.R.D, which Maria had founded, but because she had been Snap'd, she was relegated to investigating a missing person case — in Westview, N.J.

Once the Hex that Wanda Maximoff had created was fully realized, Monica worked with S.W.O.R.D.'s acting director Tyler Hayward to find out who was behind it, unaware that Hayward had his own, secret agenda: to procure enough of Wanda's chaos magic to reanimate the very "dead" Vision. In the course of passing in and out of the magically charged Hex, Monica acquired her own super power — to transform herself into any form of energy, which she used to, among other things, stop Hayward from shooting Wanda's two (fake) children.

At the conclusion of WandaVision, an FBI agent led Monica into a Westview moviehouse for some sort of meeting. The agent revealed herself to be a Skrull, and said she was sent by "a friend of your mother's. He heard you'd been grounded, and would like to meet you." Monica asked, "Where?," and the Skrull pointed up, as in outer space. As in where was last saw Nick Fury in Spider-Man: Far From Home....

YOUR MCU CHEAT SHEET: Maria Rambeau's grown daughter, Monica, now has powers (but not even an unofficial hero name yet), and seemingly is on Nick Fury's radar. The character is set to be seen again on the big screen, in the Captain Marvel sequel The Marvels (in theaters February 2023).

Monica's mother, whom we first met in Captain Marvel, was diagnosed with cancer in 2018 and died several years into the Blip, following surgery. Certain visual cues, lines of dialogue and microaggressions made by grown-up Monica during WandaVision have been interpreted to mean that she is not as tight with Carol Danvers as she once was, and for some reason is perhaps even holding a grudge against her mother's best friend.

YOUR MCU CHEAT SHEET (presumably needed for The Marvels fka Captain Marvel 2): Maria battles cancer and dies in 2018 — and daughter Monica seems to have a beef with Carol, her childhood idol.

Teased both by a Spider-Man: Far From Home mid-credits scene and, the best a series from the defunct Marvel TV could, the Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. series finale, the Sentient Weapon Observation Response Division definitely exists in the MCU, founded by Maria Rambeau sometime between 1995 and five years into the Blip. With Maria's passing during the Blip, Tyler Hayward was promoted to director, though in WandaVision he operated the organization with a hidden agenda — to power back up a dissected-and-reassembled (White) Vision.

YOUR MCU CHEAT SHEET: S.W.O.R.D., we learned, actually has existed since at least 2017 or so, though its latest acting director was shady af.

A former S.H.I.E.L.D. agent turned FBI wonk who years ago was tasked with monitoring Scott Lang aka Ant-Man's house arrest, Jimmy showed up in WandaVision as an FBI liaison who worked with S.W.O.R.D.'s Monica Rambeau to investigate the early stages of the Westview anomaly and a missing person's possible involvement. Later, when S.W.O.R.D.'s acting director Tyler Hayward went rogue, Jimmy summoned the FBI to Westview, and after both Hayward and Agatha Harkness were neutralized, he helped oversee the clean-up.  (He also has nailed that one card trick.)

YOUR MCU CHEAT SHEET: Jimmy Woo is a rising star at the FBI, after outing S.W.O.R.D. chief Hayward as a ne'er-do-well.

Previously seen in the Thor movies as a student of political science and assistant to Jane Foster, Darcy resurfaced in WandaVision when she was recruited by S.W.O.R.D. to investigate the "Westview anomaly." In fact, it was Darcy who came to deduce that the New Jersey burg was actually trapped it a classic sitcoms-themed illusion that was being conjured by... someone. Also, she with Jimmy Woo determined which residents were now portraying which "characters," and it was Darcy who pointed out that Pietro was a "reccast" (played by X-Men's own speedster, Evan Peters).

During Wanda's final showdown with Agatha, Darcy — who had since been thrown off the S.W.O.R.D. base for questioning acting director Tyler Hayward — showed up out of nowhere to slam her food truck into Hayward's Humvee and derail his storming of Westview just a bit. She later quietly peaced out before she could be debriefed.

MCU CHEAT SHEET: Previously only wise to Thor's godly powers, Darcy now has witnessed Wanda Maximoff's supreme sorcery firsthand, as well as scientifically deduced that Monica Rambeau's cells were "rewritten" to give her powers, when she passed through the Hex that encased Westview.

A sorceress/onetime Salem resident who was drawn to Westview to steal Wanda aka the Scarlet Witch's growing and considerable powers, Agatha was ultimately sapped of even her own powers and returned to her Hex persona of Agnes — for safe keeping...?

YOUR MCU CHEAT SHEET: Agatha Harkness, a once-powerful sorceress, is unwittingly laying low in a sleepy New Jersey suburb — and now due for her own spinoff series.

In The Falcon and the Winter Soldier's first episode, we see that Sam, as Falcon, has been working ops for the U.S. government. Later, at a ceremony for the opening of a new Steve Rogers museum, Sam relinquishes the shield that Steve gave him at the end of Avengers: Endgame — and at episode's end is shocked to see it in the hands of a new Captain America, John Walker.

After Walker is disgraced as the new Cap, and with the Flag Smashers planning a major strike, Sam dons a new Captain America suit made for him in Wakanda and delivered by Bucky, and assumes the heroic mantle.

YOUR MCU CHEAT SHEET: Sam Wilson at first deemed himself unworthy to succeed Steve Rogers as Captain America, and also struggled with the shield's racially complicated legacy. But a change of heart (egged on by Bucky and others) — and John Walker's flame-out in the role –  found him suiting up as the new Cap, who is now bound for his own standalone movie.

Bucky, we learned in Falcon and Winter Soldier's first episode, has been serving a self-imposed penance for his onetime assassin ways, by doing right by those whose names he had listed in Steve Rogers' old notebook. He also has been seeing a therapist, as part of the pardon that lets him walk freely. In the season finale, after Karli and the Flag Smashes have been dealt with, we see Bucky confess to Yori his role in the years-ago death of his old friend's son. Afterward, Bucky leaves for his shrink his ledger, with the note: "I finished the book. Thanks for all your help."

When last seen, Bucky was partying it up (and flirting with Sam's sister Sarah) at the family home in Louisiana.

YOUR MCU CHEAT SHEET: Bucky has made a certain peace with his past as a brainwashed killer, and Sam Wilson has his full-throated support as the new Captain America.

Having been holed up in the Berlin Correctional Facility ever since the events of Captain America: Civil War, Zemo was sprung with help from Bucky Barnes (whom he once programmed as a killing machine) to use his considerable resources to help shut down the Flag Smashers. After Zemo proved his worth, he was remanded into the custody of Wakanda's Dora Milaje, who were no fans of Bucky and Sam's idea to set free King T'Chaka's killer, and delivered to the Raft floating prison.

YOUR MCU CHEAT SHEET: Zemo is still in prison, albeit a different one: The Raft. Also, he's apparently quite rich, and has decent moves on the dance floor.

S.H.I.E.L.D.'s onetime Agent 13 (played by Emily VanCamp) proved to be an indispensable ally when The Falcon and the Winter Soldier's Sam, Bucky and Baron Zemo arrived in crime-riddled Madripoor. The season finale, though, revealed that Sharon was living a double life as a mover and shaker dubbed The Power Broker, presumably as a way of putting her skills to use after being forced on the lam by her government. In one of Falcon and Winter Soldier's final bonus scenes, Sharon is reinstated as a government agent, though she clearly plans to use her high-level access to further the Power Broker's agenda.

YOUR MCU CHEAT SHEET: Sharon was quite bitter about having to go on the lam after Captain America: Civil War, and apparently funneled that energy into becoming a global crime boss dubbed The Power Broker.

With The Falcon and the Winter Soldier's introduction of Carl Lumbly's Isaiah Bradley, one of the first Black super soldiers, came his grandson Eli (played by Elijah Richardson) — who in Marvel lore has his own superheroic destiny, as the Young Avengers member known as Patriot.

YOUR MCU CHEAT SHEET: If Marvel is ramping up to Young Avengers, Eli Bradley is now handy to become Patriot!

Near the end of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier's run, eight-time Emmy winner Julia Louis-Dreyfus popped up in the top-secret role of... well, you can call her "Val." (But don't.) This enigmatic woman of considerable means befriends a disgraced John Walker fka Captain America and winds up refashioning him as U.S. Agent, to perhaps be a part of a clandestine team she is forming.

YOUR MCU CHEAT SHEET: Val popped up in Black Widow's bonus scene — which originally was intended to be the character's very first appearance in the MCU — to hand assassin Yelena Belova her next assignment: Clint Barton. 

The first, government-sanctioned successor to Steve Rogers as Captain America was this decorated war hero, who was handled the shield after an unworthy-feeling Sam Wilson ceded it. In a fit of super serum-fueled rage, though, Walker killed a Flag Smasher activist in broad daylight, in public, which would up stripping him of his star-spangled uniform. Though the Countess would soon offer him a Plan B....

YOUR MCU CHEAT SHEET: John Walker, and not Sam Wilson, immediately succeeded Steve Rogers as Captain America. John got hopped up on stolen super serum, though, and lost himself the title via a bloodthirsty, public murder. He now goes by U.S. Agent, on the mysterious Countess' behalf....

In Loki's Season 1 finale (read full recap), the title character and SO Sylvie trekked to the very end of time to confront whomever was behind the faux Time-Keepers and is truly in charge. That entity, known as He Who Remains (and played by Lovecraft Country alum/Ant-Man 3 villain Jonathan Majors), was a variant of a 31st Century scientist who eons ago discovered other universes "stacked atop" ours. When a power struggle ensued between him and other variants of same, the scientist created the Sacred Timeline — and warned his new visitors that his death would open the door to another multiversal war.

Even so, after debating Loki and then shoving him into a TemPad portal, Sylvie stabbed He Who Remains. Based on what Loki heard back at the TVA (Mobius doesn't recognize him?) and saw (a Kang statue where the Time-Keepers' had stood?!), the Kang variant was telling the truth, and, at the very least, one of his nastier selves now rules the timeline!

YOUR MCU CHEAT SHEET: Though Kang the Conqueror is not due to hit the big screen until Ant-Man 3 (out February July 2023), don't be surprised if preceding movies (e.g Spider-Man: No Way Home and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness) start showing signs of multiversal wobbliness. 

While not (necessarily) canon, this animated anthology series' nine-episode freshman run explored hypothetical (?) scenarios in which Peggy Carter instead took the supersoldier serum and became Captain Carter; a mistake by the Ravagers that led to T'Challa of Wakanda becoming Star-Lord; a series of events that found the Avengers getting picked off one by one; a world in which Earth's Mightiest Heroes were all zombies; and a timeline featuring an evil Dr. Stephen Strange, among others.

Set about two years after the events of Avengers: Endgame, Disney+'s fourth live-action series finds Clint still nursing emotional wounds, after Natasha/Black Widow beat him to the "Sacrifice Yourself at the Altar of the Soul Stone" punch on Vormir. (Even a Broadway version of his late colleague sends him into a sad daze.) What's more, the seeming and accidental "revival" of his Ronin persona, which sets the series in motion, prompts Clint to reconsider that dark part of his past as well.

All as he comes to train a wannabe hero in Kate Bishop, who is also an exceptional archer!

On both fronts, Clint is able to arrive at a certain peace. Regarding his run as Ronin, he explains to Maya Lopez that someone in her own Tracksuit Mafia organization had years ago sicced the hooded assassin on her father. As for Natasha, no less than her own sister Yelena shows up to seek vengeance, but Clint manages to convince her that no other outcome on Vormir was possible.

YOUR MCU CHEAT SHEET: Clint neutralized the threat that a vengeful Yelena Belova was poised to pose to him at the end of the Black Widow movie. He is now back home with the wife and kids, and hopefully by now has settled on a code name for Kate Bishop.

When a hole blasted into the side of her family's New York penthouse afforded young Kate a front row seat for the Battle of New York, she got to witness what Hawkeye — a regular guy with just "a stick and a string" — could do as a superhero. Kate in the years that followed proceeded to train diligently in archery and other disciplines, though none of that ever got a heroic showcase until her suspicions about her stepdad-to-be landed her in the path of the Tracksuit Mafia, and then Hawkeye himself.

Clint carefully and at times begrudgingly let Kate tag along with him as he dealt with the Tracksuits (and their pursuit of a Rolex found at the Avengers compound). Kate in turn, and over just a few days, proved herself to be one hell of a capable sidekick, even dodging mortal injury in a clash with the hulking Kingpin!

YOUR MCU CHEAT SHEET: Elite archer Kate Bishop, through Clint Barton/Hawkeye's tutelage, proved herself to be a fine prospective Avenger.

Natasha Romanoff's sister was introduced in the movie Black Widow, at the end of which the mysterious Valentina Allegra de Fontaine (played by Julia Louis-Dreyfus) handed the assassin her next assignment: Clint Barton aka the man "responsible for the death of your sister."

Hawkeye indicated that Kate Bishop's mother, Eleanor, had put out that hit on Clint, after the Avenger got too close to her illicit dealings with Wilson Fisk aka Kingpin. Yelena showed up in Episode 4, for a brief, first clash with Clint, and again in Episode 5, for a prolonged "Girls Night In" with Kate. In Episode 6/the season finale, Yelena sought a final face-off with Clint, but he managed to convince her that Natasha's selfless sacrifice, to save the world, was unavoidable and not his doing.

YOUR MCU CHEAT SHEET: Yelena's beef with Clint Barton/Hawkeye, seeded in Black Widow's bonus scene, has been resolved. She also established a pretty adorable frenemy-ship with archer/prospective Avenger Kate Bishop.

Arguably the New York crime boss, Fisk (again played by Marvel's Daredevil's Vincent D'Onofrio) was revealed to be the "big guy" at the top of the Tracksuit Mafia food chain, and he had "enlisted" Eleanor Bishop to do some of his bidding (so as to pay off her late husband's debts).

In the season finale, Kingpin clashed with young, wannabe hero Kate Bishop, who only escaped a dire fate by triggering a cache of explosive arrows in Fisk's face. Later, Fisk met up with his "niece"/Tracksuit captain Maya Lopez, who he realized holds him responsible for her father William's death (via Ronin). When last seen, Fisk was staring down the barrel of a vengeful Maya's pistol, and as the camera panned up toward the skyline, we heard a gunshot...

YOUR MCU CHEAT SHEET: First and foremost, Marvel characters brought to live-action life on Netflix series such as Marvel's Daredevil (as also revealed by Spider-Man: No Way Home) now exist in the MCU proper! Played by the same actors! 

At home at the farmhouse with the kids while Clint dealt with this, that and the other thing in New York, Laura was a great sounding board for heer husband — and even proved herself to be quite an asset, near-instantly digging up intel on a shell company and spouting a bit of fluent German at one point.

In fact, it was Laura who pointed out to Clint that a certain Rolex watch, if taken from the Avengers compound and circulating on the black market, could pose a security problem. And as we eventually learned, the watch that the Tracksuits sought belonged to Laura — or, more specifically, S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent 19.

YOUR MCU CHEAT SHEET: Just know that if you see Laura again, she is clearly capable of a whole lot more than entertaining unexpected Avenger houseguests! 

Steven Grant, a mild-mannered employee at the National Art Gallery in London, England, came to realize that — stemming from years of childhood abuse at the hand of his bereft mother — he had developed a protective alternate personality named "Marc Spector." Marc as an adult became a mercenary who, following a grisly op on the border of Sudan and Egypt, was invited by the Egyptian god Khonshu to become a superpowered human avatar known as Moon Knight.

YOUR MCU CHEAT SHEET: By the end of Moon Knight's finale, Steven had firmly parted ways with Khonshu and the Moon Knight persona — though the Egyptian god seemed to have recruited another of Steven's personalities, "New York taxi driver" Jake Lockley, to now do his bidding...

In the Moon Knight finale, as Steven Grant's Khonshu-powered alter ego epically clashed with Arthur/Ammit, Layla — the ex-wife of Steven's alternate personality, "Marc Spector" — agreed to become the Egyptian god Taweret's avatar and join in the fight. Layla in turn was bestowed with a killer Scarlet Scarab costume complete with — wait for it — wings! ("Are you an Egyptian superhero?" one young girl asked; "I am!" Layla effused.)

YOUR MCU CHEAT SHEET: Adventuress Layla El-Faouly has on at least one occasion transformed into the Egyptian god-powered hero dubbed Scarlet Scarab, though the Moon Knight finale left the future of that "bond" unclear.

Kamala Khan was a teenager/Captain Marvel fangirl from Jersey City who, upon donning an ancient bracelet passed down by an ancestor, came to possess hard light powers, with which she could fashion shields, platforms and elongated fists. Kamala learned that she descended from Djinn and that her superpowered fate involved being thrust back in time to the year 1947, to help her toddler grandmother — lost in a large train station crowd during the frenzy of Partition — reunite with her father. As the season finale drew to a close, Kamala learned from Caltech-bound BFF Bruno that her DNA possesses a "mutation" (a bombshell punctuated by the playing of the X-Men 97 theme song). Then, in a post-credits scene, Kamala and her flashing bangle were mysteriously yanked into some sort of portal, out of which a confused Carol Danvers aka Captain Marvel appeared.

YOUR MCU CHEAT SHEET: Kamala Khan aka Ms. Marvel possesses hard light powers, and the ability to "embiggen," thanks to some combination of an ancient bangle and a genetic "mutation." Her whereabouts/whenabouts are currently unknown. 

In a post-credits scene at the close of the Ms. Marvel finale, Jersey City teenager/Captain Marvel superfan Kamala and her flashing, empowering bangle were mysteriously yanked into some sort of portal. In her place, Carol Danvers aka Captain Marvel appeared, quickly surveying the strange bedroom, uttering, "Oh, no, no, no," and then dashing off....

YOUR MCU CHEAT SHEET: Captain Marvel's current whereabouts (present-day Jersey City, when she appeared at the close of the Ms. Marvel finale) are tied to the mysterious vanishing of teen hero Ms. Marvel aka Kamala Khan.