Work by early pioneers on wheat gluten chemistry and functionality set the stage for our current understanding of gluten composition, structure, and function. Each new discovery has advanced the development of models and hypotheses describing gluten network formation and functionality. Knowledge gaps still exist, however, in terms of our understanding of and ability to predict gluten functionality for product systems other than bread. This is especially true with regard to soft wheat gluten functionality because most research has focused on hard wheats and breads. New techniques and approaches are revealing differences between hard and soft wheat gluten networks that are not easily explained by current models. This review summarizes the basic history of gluten research, the current state of our knowledge about gluten network formation and functionality, and the gaps that still exist.