History Main / RetroactiveLegacy

* Max Bemis's run on ''ComicBook/MoonKnight'' revealed there'd been Moon Knights since the days of ancient Rome, with Cullen Bunn extending it back to Mesopotamia in 4000 B.C., and Jason Aaron introducing a proto-Moon Knight who led moon-worshippers against the proto-Avengers of 1,000,000 B.C. in his ''Avengers'' run.

* ''ComicBook/StrangeTales'' #75 from 1960 featured a story about a scientist who built a HumongousMecha called the Hulk ([[NamesTheSame no relation]] to the [[ComicBook/TheIncredibleHulk big green guy]]). When the story was reprinted in ''Tomb of Darkness'' #22 sixteen years later, the scientist's lab assistant was {{Retcon}}ned into being a young [[ComicBook/AntMan Hank Pym]].

* ''VideoGame/BeatMania IIDX'' has a classical song called "Piano Concerto No. 1 'Anti-Ares'", supposedly written by one Virkato Wakhmaninov (1893-1974). In actuality Virakato Wakhmaniov is a pseudonym of Jun Wakita, one of Creator/{{Konami}}'s in-house composers, and he composed the song in 2004.

** ''[[http://stabyourself.net/trosh/ Trosh: The Movie: The Game]] did the exact same thing.

* Speaking of ''ComicBook/SecretWars1984'', Creator/JonathanHickman's ''[[ComicBook/TheAvengersJonathanHickman New Avengers]]'' run revealed that the Beyonder was actually a child member of an extremely powerful race of godlike extra-dimensional beings called the Beyonders. While the Beyonders had appeared before this, Hickman was the first one to actually connect them to the Beyonder from ''Secret Wars''.

** The ''First X-Men'' mini-series established that before the original X-Men, a pre-Weapon X Wolverine led a sort of proto X-Men that included ComicBook/{{Sabretooth}} and new characters Bomb, Holo, Meteor and Yeti. The group didn't last long, but it was implied that its existence inspired Charles Xavier and ComicBook/{{Magneto}} to form the X-Men and the Brotherhood, respectively.

* Creator/GrantMorrison introduced a new Shining Knight in ''ComicBook/SevenSoldiers'', Sir Ystin, who heralded from the ur-Camelot that would establish the recurring cycle of [[Myth/KingArthur Arthurian]] legend, and became the template for Sir Justin, the Shining Knight of a later era.

** From the 90s onward, it's been canon that during UsefulNotes/WorldWarII, ComicBook/CaptainAmerica had encountered and fought alongside a past Black Panther (who DependingOnTheWriter, was either T'Challa's father or grandfather). During their very first meeting back in UsefulNotes/{{the Silver Age|of Comic Books}}, Cap made no such mention of having ever encountered another Black Panther, and indeed it was very clear that he had never set foot in Wakanda before that point. Creator/{{Christopher Priest|Comics}} [[JustifiedTrope justified it a bit]] by having Cap claim that the mission where he met the previous Black Panther was classified, and thus he was forbidden to speak of it.

* ''Jimmy [=MacDonald=]'s Canada'' is a {{Mockumentary}} about a [[NewsParody Fake Pundit Show]] that took place back in the '60s, and starred a stereotypical [[StrawCharacter ultra-conserative]] who railed against technological innovation and youth culture. The show ended when [=MacDonald=] had a nervous breakdown on TV, made off with all the tapes from the episodes, flew off to parts unknown, but died in a plane crash. Some of the episodes have recently turned up, and the mockumentary features eight episodes of what was supposedly a weekly program that ran for years, intercut with prominent Canadians talking about how hugely influential Jimmy was back in the '60s.

** ''Marvel Team-Up'' #100 revealed that as a young man, T'Challa had been close friends with [[ComicBook/{{Storm}} Ororo Munroe]], and that they both harbored [[UnresolvedSexualTension lingering romantic feelings for one another]]. Decades later, this would be used as the basis for their marriage.

** The ''ComicBook/NewAvengers'' tie-in to ''ComicBook/AvengersVsXMen'' revolved around Fongji Wu, a female, [[SignificantGreenEyedRedHead mixed-race]] Iron Fist that had managed to harness the [[ComicBook/TheDarkPhoenixSaga Phoenix Force]] long before Comicbook/JeanGrey was even born.

*** Similar to the Red Circle examples below, Creator/EdBrubaker's ''Comicbook/SecretAvengers'' run established that the Prince of Orphans had been one of ComicBook/CaptainAmerica's allies during UsefulNotes/WorldWarII.

* Aaron's ''Comicbook/TheMightyThor'' run revealed that many centuries ago, a young Thor was part of a group of proto-[[Comicbook/TheAvengers Avengers]] that included the aforementioned Native American Spirit of Vengeance, a female Comicbook/BlackPanther, the then-current queen of Atlantis (implied to be [[Comicbook/SubMariner Namor]]'s ancestor), and Bodolf the Black, a [[Comicbook/IncredibleHulk Hulk]]-like Viking warrior.
* One of the major reveals of ''Comicbook/MarvelLegacy'' (once again by Jason Aaron) was that in 1,000,000 B.C., there was another proto-Avengers team made up of a young Odin (who wielded Mjolnir), Agamotto (the first [[Comicbook/DoctorStrange Sorcerer Supreme]]), and prehistoric iterations of Comicbook/BlackPanther, Comicbook/IronFist, Phoenix, Starbrand and Comicbook/GhostRider.
* Creator/JackKirby did not originally intend for ''Comicbook/TheEternals'' to be part of the Marvel Universe, and their adventures took place in a world seemingly devoid of other superheroes. This was retconned in Roy Thomas' ''Thor'' run, where it was revealed that Thor had encountered and lived among the Eternals a thousand years ago. It was also established that Odin's Destroyer armor had been created many years ago for the express purpose of combatting the Celestials when they returned to Earth someday. Subsequent writers continued to integrate Kirby's concepts into the Marvel Universe, such as Comicbook/{{Thanos}} and his fellow Titans possessing Eternal lineage or the X-Men villain Comicbook/{{Apocalypse}} being revealed to have gotten his technology from the Celestials in ancient times.
* ''Avengers Spotlight'' #7 established that the nameless Tibetan lama who'd empowered Doctor Druid way back in ''Amazing Adventures'' #1 was actually the Ancient One, Comicbook/DoctorStrange's future mentor. What's more, the Ancient One confessed that he only gave Druid his powers in the first place to make sure the process was safe enough to use on Strange years later, meaning Druid was basically an in-universe test run for Strange.

* Though he wasn't created until the 90s, several stories have established that Comicbook/{{Deadpool}} was around in the Marvel Universe much earlier, including a mini-series that revealed he'd taken part in the original ''Comicbook/SecretWars1984''. He also briefly bonded with the Comicbook/{{Venom}} symbiote before Spider-Man got his hands on it, and it's implied that being exposed to Deadpool's unstable psyche ''may'' have contributed to the symbiote eventually developing such a violent and possessive personality.
* Speaking of ''Comicbook/SecretWars1984'', Creator/JonathanHickman's ''[[Comicbook/TheAvengersJonathanHickman New Avengers]]'' run revealed that the Beyonder was actually a child member of an extremely powerful race of godlike extra-dimensional beings called the Beyonders. While the Beyonders had appeared before this, Hickman was the first one to actually connect them to the Beyonder from ''Secret Wars''.
* ''Comicbook/FantasticFour'' #132 had [[Comicbook/HumanTorch Johnny Storm]] get a new costume based on the one worn by the [[UsefulNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfComicBooks Golden Age]] ComicBook/HumanTorch1939, with Johnny claiming that he was a huge fan of the original Torch as a child. It was even implied that Johnny's subconscious desire to be like his idol may have somehow influenced his transformation into the new Human Torch way back when the Four first got their powers from the cosmic rays. This had never been brought up before in any other comic, and in fact, when the Human Torch met his Golden Age counterpart back in the 60s, he seemed to have absolutely no idea who the hell he was.

* ''Comicbook/MarvelComicsPresents'' #61-62 reveals the ComicBook/ScarletWitch had a 16th century ancestor, Red Lucy.

* Speaking of Hawkeye, a ''Comicbook/WestCoastAvengers'' arc had him travel back in time to ancient Egypt, where he unknowingly crafted the ceremonial weapons that would one day be used by Comicbook/MoonKnight in the present.

* Comicbook/{{Zatanna}}'s very first appearance was in ''Comicbook/{{Hawkman}}'' #4, but a retcon in ''Comicbook/JusticeLeagueOfAmerica'' #51 established that an unnamed witch Comicbook/{{Batman}} and Comicbook/{{Robin}} had fought in ''Comicbook/DetectiveComics'' #336 had actually been Zatanna in disguise.

* Speaking of the Vision and Horton, originally, Vision was said to be a synthezoid created by Comicbook/{{Ultron}}. Later retcons changed things so that Professor Horton built Vision from the remains of the deceased Golden Age Human Torch at Ultron's behest, though this too was eventually retconned. The 2003 ''Vision'' mini-series from Creator/GeoffJohns took things a step further by revealing that the Human Torch's body even contained the same type of solar gem that would later adorn the Vision's forehead.

* Creator/EdBrubaker's ''Comicbook/SecretAvengers'' run tied the obscure Golden Age hero John Steele into the greater Marvel Universe by establishing that after UsefulNotes/WorldWarI, Steele had been imprisoned and studied by German scientists. One of the researchers was Abraham Erskine, who would later use what he'd learned from studying Steele's physiology to create the SuperSerum that transformed Steve Rogers into Captain America. Another of the scientists was the father of Noah Burstein, the man who would later be responsible for Comicbook/LukeCage's unbreakable skin, implying that the process used on Cage was also based on the experiments done on Steele.

** ''Marvel Team-Up'' #100 revealed that as a young man, T'Challa had been close friends with [[Comicbook/{{Storm}} Ororo Munroe]], and that they both harbored [[UnresolvedSexualTension lingering romantic feelings for one another]]. Decades later, this would be used as the basis for their marriage.

* Similarly, the very first issue of ''Marvel Team-Up'' had a scene where ComicBook/SpiderMan saved a young woman from being mugged on Christmas Eve. A much later issue by Creator/ChrisClaremont established that the woman was actually [[ComicBook/DaughtersOfTheDragon Misty Knight]].
* ''Comicbook/PlanetHulk'' introduced a new character named Korg, who was later {{Retcon}}ned into having been one of the Kronan invaders who fought [[Comicbook/TheMightyThor Thor]] during his first appearance in ''Comicbook/JourneyIntoMystery'' #83 back in 1962.
* ''Strange Tales'' #75 from 1960 featured a story about a scientist who built a HumongousMecha called the Hulk ([[NamesTheSame no relation]] to the [[Comicbook/IncredibleHulk big green guy]]). When the story was reprinted in ''Tomb of Darkness'' #22 sixteen years later, the scientist's lab assistant was {{Retcon}}ned into being a young [[Comicbook/AntMan Hank Pym]].

** The Comicbook/IronMan limited series ''Iron Man: Legacy'' revealed that the Pride had actually clashed with Comicbook/TheIlluminati several years prior to the events of ''Runaways''. Realizing the extent of the Pride's influence (meaning they would likely avoid any jail time), Tony essentially offered Geoffrey Wilder a truce, promising to keep their existence a secret in exchange for them withdrawing from a neighborhood that had come under his protection.

* ''Comicbook/{{Avengers}} 1959'' was a 2011 miniseries in which Comicbook/NickFury assembled a team combining surviving Golden Age heroes (Blonde Phantom, Namora) and more modern characters with long backstories (Comicbook/{{Sabretooth}}, Ulysses Bloodstone, Kraven the Hunter, Comicbook/SilverSable and Dominic Fortune).
* Since ComicBookTime means the "modern" Avengers were always founded "about ten years ago", the ''Comicbook/MightyAvengers2013'' chapter of the ''Comicbook/OriginalSin'' crossover finds space for another previous incarnation with an incredibly Seventies team lead by Comicbook/LukeCage's dad and including [[ComicBook/AdamLegendOfTheBlueMarvel Blue Marvel]], obscure Silver Age mystic Kaluu, the Bear (created for a [[Comicbook/IronMan Howard Stark]] flashback the previous year), IntrepidReporter Constance Molina, and Comicbook/{{Blade}} (in his [[Comicbook/TheTombOfDracula original]] yellow open shirt and green wraparound shades look).

** The Venom symbiote was originally just an alien costume that came out of a machine Spider-Man found on Battleworld during ''Comicbook/SecretWars1984''. ''Planet of the Symbiotes'' detailed more of the symbiote's backstory, with later works like Creator/BrianBendis' ''Comicbook/GuardiansOfTheGalaxy'' run introducing the symbiote home world of Klyntar. The Creator/DonnyCates ''[[Comicbook/VenomDonnyCates Venom]]'' run then introduced the symbiote god Knull and provided a definitive origin story for the species, while also establishing that Venom was ''not'' the first symbiote to land on Earth, nor was Peter Parker the first human to bond with one. Additionally, All-Black the Necrosword, the shapeshifting weapon wielded by [[ComicBook/TheMightyThor Gorr the God Butcher]], was revealed to be the very first symbiote. Knull was also established as the one who slew the Celestial whose decapitated head later became Knowhere, as well as the originator of the emblem on Venom's chest (revealed to actually be a dragon rather than a spider).

* ComicBook/{{Wolverine}} was once considered the first Weapon X, until Weapon X was revealed to be one of several entries in Weapon Plus, a much larger SuperSoldier project whose other subjects included Captain America and the Comicbook/{{Daredevil}} villain Nuke. Others have been rectroactively introduced as part of the Weapon X/Project X program.

** The ''First X-Men'' mini-series established that before the original X-Men, a pre-Weapon X Wolverine led a sort of proto X-Men that included Comicbook/{{Sabretooth}} and new characters Bomb, Holo, Meteor and Yeti. The group didn't last long, but it was implied that its existence inspired Charles Xavier and Comicbook/{{Magneto}} to form the X-Men and the Brotherhood, respectively.

* ''Comicbook/AvengersNoSurrender'' introduces Voyager, who was supposedly a founding Avenger and served with the team until she was wiped from existence during their first fight with the Squadron Sinister (the explanation of this even has a NoteFromEd giving the issue it would have happened in). In an even more meta twist, the same happened to the Squadron member she was fighting, Victory the Electromagnetic Man, who in keeping with the Squadron being {{Captain Ersatz}}es to the Silver Age Justice League, is blatantly Triumph (above)! [[spoiler:As it turns out, this is actually an invoked trope; in reality, Voyager's the daughter of the Elder of the Universe known as the Grandmaster, and inserted herself into the Avengers' memories.]]

** The Venom symbiote was originally just an alien costume that came out of a machine Spider-Man found on Battleworld during ''Comicbook/SecretWars1984''. ''Planet of the Symbiotes'' detailed more of the symbiote's backstory, with later works like Creator/BrianBendis' ''Comicbook/GuardiansOfTheGalaxy'' run introducing the symbiote home world of Klyntar. The Creator/DonnyCates ''[[Comicbook/VenomDonnyCates Venom]]'' run then introduced the symbiote god Knull and provided a definitive origin story for the species, while also establishing that Venom was ''not'' the first symbiote to land on Earth, nor was Peter Parker the first human to bond with one. Additionally, All-Black the Necrosword, the shapeshifting weapon wielded by Gorr the God Butcher, was revealed to be the very first symbiote. Knull was also established as the one who slew the Celestial whose decapitated head later became Knowhere, as well as the originator of the emblem on Venom's chest (revealed to actually be a dragon rather than a spider).

* Speaking of ''Comicbook/SecretWars1984'', Creator/JonathanHickman's ''[[Comicbook/JonathanHickmansAvengers New Avengers]]'' run revealed that the Beyonder was actually a child member of an extremely powerful race of godlike extra-dimensional beings called the Beyonders. While the Beyonders had appeared before this, Hickman was the first one to actually connect them to the Beyonder from ''Secret Wars''.

* The ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'' episode "[[Recap/FamilyGuyS10E22FamilyGuyViewerMailTwo Family Guy Viewer Mail #2]]" one of the fan letters ask what ''Family Guy''. Brian and Stewie say it's an American remake of a British SitCom called ''Chap Of The Manor'' and the rest of the segment shows what a typical episode would be like.

* As an AprilFoolsDay joke [[WebVideo/TheDomReviews Dominic Noble]] did a ''Lost In Adaptation'' episode pretending ''Film/TheRoom'' was based on a Polish book from the 1970s.

* When the Creator/{{Milestone|Comics}} heroes were integrated into DC's continuity, it was established that ComicBook/{{Icon}} was now an old friend of Franchise/{{Superman}}. It was also mentioned that ComicBook/{{Hardware}} knew ComicBook/BlueBeetle, and this throwaway line would later form the basis for an issue of ''ComicBook/TheBraveAndTheBold''. ''Milestone Forever'' took this a step further, hinting at past team-ups between ComicBook/{{Static}} and ComicBook/WonderWoman and Blitzen and ComicBook/TheFlash.

* Volton was an obscure hero from UsefulNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfComicBooks. After becoming a PublicDomainCharacter, Marvel included him in the 90s ''[[ComicBook/TheInvadersMarvel Invaders]]'' mini-series, where it was established that Volton was an android who was partially created by Phineas Horton, the same inventor responsible for the Human Torch and ComicBook/TheVision.

* Brian Falsworth aka Union Jack was created in the 1970s, but was retconned into having been active during UsefulNotes/WorldWarII, where he fought alongside ComicBook/CaptainAmerica and ComicBook/TheInvadersMarvel. Taking this a step further, it was established that prior to becoming Union Jack, Brian had been the Destroyer, who was an ''actual'' [[UsefulNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfComicBooks Golden Age]] superhero that had been published during the 40s. "Keen Marlow," the Destoyer's previous real name, was {{Retcon}}ned into being an alias Brian used while infiltrating UsefulNotes/NaziGermany.

* Speaking of the Golden Age Human Torch, his KidSidekick Toro had similar flame powers, which were initially unexplained. Later writers would imply that Toro was actually a mutant, before the ''[[ComicBook/TheInvadersMarvel All-New Invaders]]'' series revealed that he was actually an Inhuman.

** The Venom symbiote was originally just an alien costume that came out of a machine Spider-Man found on Battleworld during ''Comicbook/SecretWars1984''. ''Planet of the Symbiotes'' detailed more of the symbiote's backstory, with later works like Creator/BrianBendis' ''Comicbook/GuardiansOfTheGalaxy'' run introducing the symbiote home world of Klyntar. The Creator/DonnyCates ''[[Comicbook/DonnyCatesVenom Venom]]'' run then introduced the symbiote god Knull and provided a definitive origin story for the species, while also establishing that Venom was ''not'' the first symbiote to land on Earth, nor was Peter Parker the first human to bond with one. Additionally, All-Black the Necrosword, the shapeshifting weapon wielded by Gorr the God Butcher, was revealed to be the very first symbiote. Knull was also established as the one who slew the Celestial whose decapitated head later became Knowhere, as well as the originator of the emblem on Venom's chest (revealed to actually be a dragon rather than a spider).

* Since ComicBookTime means the "modern" Avengers were always founded "about ten years ago", the ''Comicbook/MightyAvengers2013'' chapter of the ''Comicbook/OriginalSin'' crossover finds space for another previous incarnation with an incredibly Seventies team lead by Comicbook/LukeCage's dad and including Comicbook/BlueMarvel, obscure Silver Age mystic Kaluu, the Bear (created for a [[Comicbook/IronMan Howard Stark]] flashback the previous year), IntrepidReporter Constance Molina, and Comicbook/{{Blade}} (in his [[Comicbook/TheTombOfDracula original]] yellow open shirt and green wraparound shades look).

* Similarly, the very first issue of ''Marvel Team-Up'' had a scene where ComicBook/SpiderMan saved a young woman from being mugged on Christmas Eve. A much later issue by Creator/ChrisClaremont established that the woman was actually Comicbook/MistyKnight.

** There was also the original ComicBook/{{Manhunter}}, who thanks to a retcon, first became a superhero after encountering the Manhunter androids (who in real life had been introduced four decades after Kirk initally debuted). Later, it was established those androids took their name from the Manhunters from Mars, as seen in the pages of ComicBook/MartianManhunter.

** The Venom symbiote was originally just an alien costume that came out of a machine Spider-Man found on Battleworld during ''Comicbook/SecretWars1984''. ''Planet of the Symbiotes'' detailed more of the symbiote's backstory, with later works like Creator/BrianBendis' ''Comicbook/GuardiansOfTheGalaxy'' run introducing the symbiote home world of Klyntar. The Creator/DonnyCates ''[[Comicbook/DonnyCatesVenom Venom]]'' run then introduced the symbiote god Knull and provided a definitive origin story for the species, while also establishing that Venom was ''not'' the first symbiote to land on Earth, nor was Peter Parker the first human to bond with one. Additionally, All-Black the Necrosword, the shapeshifting weapon wielded by Gorr the God Butcher, was revealed to be the very first symbiote. The white spider symbol on Venom's chest was also retconned to be a subconscious emulation of Knull's dragon emblem.

** The Venom symbiote was originally just an alien costume that came out of a machine Spider-Man found on Battleworld during ''Comicbook/SecretWars1984''. ''Planet of the Symbiotes'' detailed more of the symbiote's backstory, with later works like Creator/BrianBendis' ''Comicbook/GuardiansOfTheGalaxy'' run introducing the symbiote home world of Klyntar. The Creator/DonnyCates ''[[Comicbook/DonnyCatesVenom Venom]]'' run then introduced the symbiote god Knull and provided a definitive origin story for the species, while also establishing that Venom was ''not'' the first symbiote to land on Earth, nor was Peter Parker the first human to bond with one. Additionally, All-Black the Necrosword, the shapeshifting weapon wielded by Gorr the God Butcher, was revealed to be the very first symbiote.

** ''ComicBook/ImmortalIronFist'' also established that Amazing-Man ([[IHaveManyNames AKA the Prince of Orphans]]), a [[UsefulNotes/GoldenAgeOfComicBooks Golden Age]] superhero who had previously been owned by a rival company, was one of the Immortal Weapons.

* Franchise/{{Wolverine}} was once considered the first Weapon X, until Weapon X was revealed to be one of several entries in Weapon Plus, a much larger SuperSoldier project whose other subjects included Captain America and the Comicbook/{{Daredevil}} villain Nuke. Others have been rectroactively introduced as part of the Weapon X/Project X program.

* Creator/JackKirby did not originally intend for ''Comicbook/TheEternals'' to be part of the Marvel Universe, and their adventures took place in a world seemingly devoid of other superheroes. This was retconned in Roy Thomas' ''Thor'' run, where it was revealed that Thor had encountered and lived among the Eternals a thousand years ago. It was also established that Odin's Destroyer armor had been created many years ago for the express purpose of combatting the Celestials when they returned to Earth someday. Subsequent writers continued to integrate Kirby's concepts into the Marvel Universe, such as the X-Men villain Comicbook/{{Apocalypse}} being revealed to have gotten his technology from the Celestials in ancient times.

* Comicbook/{{Thanos}} and his fellow Titans were eventually revealed to be [[Comicbook/TheEternals Eternals]].