MCU Multiverse Timeline Explained
Welcome to WatchMojo, today we’re looking at the timeline of the Marvel Cinematic Universe! We’re issuing a spoiler warning right at the top for all Marvel films and TV shows.
Before we start breaking down the timeline, we should establish what exactly we will be talking about. Since this is a multiverse, there is an ever-expanding amount of universes with their own timelines, splitting off, with characters occasionally crossing over into each other’s timelines. For our purposes, we'll be looking at what has been dubbed “The Sacred Timeline” among other designations, including 616 or 199999[a], depending on who you ask. Nevertheless, we will be looking at important events from all major timelines.
Before time and the universe as we know it existed, there was a formless void of complete darkness that would come to be known by the Asgardians as the Ginnungagap[b]. Despite predating existence, two primordial races lived in the void, the Celestials and the Dark Elves. There also existed six “singularities” which would become the Infinity Stones. Then, roughly thirteen billion years ago, the Celestial Arishem, the Judge, created the universe. Arishem would go on to create stars to bring light to the universe and a race known as the Deviants to help birth future Celestials. However, the Deviants became violent and erratic and the synthetic race of Eternals was created to eradicate and replace them. The Dark Elves attempted to bring the universe back to darkness, but were beaten back by the Asgardian king Bor.
Over the millennia a number of civilizations arose and spread across the cosmos, some of the most prominent of which were the Asgardians and the Kree, who each conquered large chunks of the universe through force. Both would eventually make their way to Earth, a planet selected by the Celestials to birth another of their kind, early in human history. They weren't the only ones however, as all walks of alien and interdimensional life, from dragons to beings of pure light, would arrive on Earth. As would a pair of meteors made of pure vibranium, a miraculous and nearly indestructible substance. One landed in Africa and helped the nation of Wakanda advance at an astounding rate, while the other landed in the Atlantic Ocean. Eventually, King Odin, the son of Bor, after years of war, halted his bloody conquest. However his fiercest warrior, his daughter Hela, refused to end the slaughter and was imprisoned.
Over the centuries organizations, some noble, some nefarious, rose up on Earth, including the Masters of the Mystic Arts, the Hand, and the Chaste. The Kree, who were locked in an intergalactic war, genetically altered a number of humans, who would eventually become known as Inhumans, to be used as foot soldiers. The most powerful inhuman, known as Hive, rebelled against his oppressors and freed his people from the Kree, but was ultimately banished to an alien planet by humanity. A cult worshiping Hive began searching for a monolith that would return him to Earth so he could rule over the world. In roughly 1100 AD a warrior named Xu Wenwu [c]used a powerful and mysterious weapon known as the ten rings to gain influence the world over, naming his army after the item. Meanwhile on the planet Titan, Thanos predicted society would fall apart unless half the population was randomly killed. His plan was quickly rejected but his prediction came to pass and he set off on a mission to wipe out half the universe.
On Earth, in the 1500s, Mayans fleeing from Spanish conquistadors founded the undersea kingdom of Talokan by using vibranium, thus cutting themselves off from the outside world. Over the years Hive’s cult had been transformed into a science division of the Nazi Army in World War II, run by Johann Schmidt, AKA the Red Skull. The super soldier Captain America, along with Peggy Carter and Howard Stark, defeated the Red Skull. While the Captain was lost and presumed dead after battling Red Skull, Carter and Stark would help create the agency S.H.I.E.L.D. in order to combat HYDRA as well as other global threats. Nevertheless HYDRA managed to infiltrate S.H.I.E.L.D. and a number of other worldwide organizations.
Also during World War II, but in another timeline Sebastian Shaw killed fellow mutant Erik Lehnsherr’s parents in an attempt to bring out Erik’s magnetic powers. Shaw would form a cult, the Hellfire Club, and Erik would strike up a lifelong bond with Charles Xavier. After working together to defeat the Hellfire Club, and taking on the name of Magneto, Erik would found the Brotherhood of Mutants, and Xavier would form the X-Men. Over the decades they would face off countless times. In other timelines in the 1990’s and 2000’s heroes like Spider-Man, the Fantastic Four, Blade, and countless others were the only superheroes on their respective Earths. Back in 616 the power of an Infinity Stone, the space stone, would turn test pilot Carol Danvers into the superpowered Captain Marvel in 1989, however she would lose her memory for six years.
In 2008 the son of Howard Stark, Tony, would use his own and his father’s research to create the Iron Man suit and usher in the age of super heroes. After a failed attempt to recreate the super soldier program, scientist Bruce Banner would turn into the green monster, the Hulk, while Odin’s son Thor would find a second home on Earth. With the help of Nick Fury, the director of S.H.I.E.L.D. they would come together to stop an alien army led by Thor’s brother Loki, attempting to conquer the world. Unbeknownst to them the alien army was given to Loki by Thanos as part of his plan to obtain all six Infinity Stones. The heroes, dubbed the Avengers, would defeat Loki’s army in a battle at New York City.
As the battle was raging, an Avengers team from the future would travel back in time to attempt to secure the Infinity Stones, thus creating a new timeline, and a variant version of Loki. Not long after Thor would prevent the Dark Elves from destroying the universe, and a group of space faring misfits would come together to create the Guardians of the Galaxy. Hela would escape her imprisonment after Odin’s death but was defeated by Thor and Loki. Around the same time a group of street level heroes were able to defeat the ancient evil organization, the Hand. Despite the best efforts of the Avengers, the Guardians, and others, Thanos obtained all six stones and erased half the universe’s population from existence. Five years later however, thanks to some time traveling antics, the Avengers and their allies were able to restore those who had been snapped out of existence after a climactic battle.
After Thanos’ defeat and the sudden return of half the universe things would never be the same, with one of the side effects being the emergence of the Celestial within Earth. However the very group tasked with overseeing its emergence, the Eternals, prevented it, thus saving the Earth and all who lived there. New heroes, like Moon Knight, She-Hulk, a new Captain America, and Shang-Chi, who defeated his father, Xu Wenwu, emerged. Timelines began to become muddled with the likes of Spider-Man, Doctor Strange, and Deadpool, hopping between dimensions. Even further into the future alternate realities like one where mutants became extinct, or humanity clinging to life in space after the world was destroyed, played out.
Things get even more complicated when looking at the far future and the end of time, when versions of the tyrannical Kang the Conqueror waged interdimensional war in the 31st century. One version, known as He Who Remains claimed victory, and took up a throne at the end of time. He also created the Time Variance Authority outside of time and space to protect his interest. Those “pruned” by the TVA were sent to a void at the end of time filled with; variants of heroes, the powerful sister of Charles Xavier, Cassandra Nova, and the monster Alioth[d]. After the death of He Who Remains, the variant Loki took the throne at the end of time, sacrificing his freedom to ensure the eternal protection of the infinitely expanding timelines.
Did we skip over anything important? Let us know in the comments below!
