Actually..just a thought I had.
What if the retcon is Pauline's "being captured by an ape" comment from Odyssey is referring to Void Co. capturing her as a little girl? It would explain why New Donk City even has DKC references because she actually got to meet those characters during her adventures with DK in Bananza. Plus knowing this game was originally a Switch 1 title after Odyssey came out feels like there's intent for a lot of prequel undertones here.