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Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/30938
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

Perfectly doable. Consider the upcoming Marvel Movie "Black Panther." The hero and at least two of the other lead characters were introduced in 2016, two years (and five years) before his movie's debut. And before that, the film's villain was introduced 3 years (and seven movies) before his movie's debut. If you want to really split hairs, the first element of anything related to the Black Panther (The Vibranium metal) was first introduced 7 years (13 movies) before that, with Captain America's shield. For full disclosure, Black Panther was one of the "Original Eight" planned films of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, so they film makers new it was going to come around eventually.

I would always say if you know the guy is going to be important later, introduce him early, especially if his return is a surprise. I find elements like this are vitally important, because they add to a "reread" factor where the new nature of the item or character being introduced can be seen in two different lights (one without the knowledge and one with). For some fans, it helps introducing other fans because you can take a special joy watching them see the reveal. For fun with this, go to youtube and look for footage of parents who film their kids watching "Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back" for the first time. It's really interesting watching the kids react to the total shock of seeing Darth Vader reveal his secret for the first time.

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