Things are about to get very complicated in Avengers 4. Set photos and numerous reports indicate time travel and alternate dimensions, not to mention visits to the Quantum Realm where time is fluid. No wonder fans have been trying to get the existing MCU movies in order when they already have some major in-built timeline problems. A new book, Marvel: The First Ten Years, has the first official timeline, which clarifies one glaring error but still throws up yet more issues.
The problem started when Spider-Man Homecoming opened with a caption saying “Eight years later”, referring to the first Avengers film from 2012. This would have placed it in 2020.
Marvel Studios boss Kevin Feige then made a statement to Cinemablend: “All of that debate has made us go, ‘Okay, at some point, I’m not sure exactly when, we’re going to publish a timeline and see what it all is.
“Other than very particular instances where there’s a newspaper, or verbal reference to years, we never date the films. And I think there’s a presumption, ‘Well if the movie came out in November 2017, it must take place in November 2017’ — which is not the case.”
According to ScreenRant, the upcoming Marvel: The First Ten Years sourcebook contains the following chronological list confirming the year each of the Marvel Cinematic Universe films takes place. This finally clarifies that the first Spider-Man movie took place only four years after the Avengers.
1943-1945: Captain America: The First Avengers
2010: Iron Man
2011: Iron Man 2, The Incredible Hulk, Thor
2012: The Avengers: Iron Man 3
2013: Thor: The Dark World
2014: Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Guardians of the Galaxy, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2
2015: Avengers: Age of Ultron, Ant-Man
2016: Captain America: Civil War, Spider-Man: Homecoming
2016-2017: Doctor Strange
2017: Black Panther, Thor Ragnarok, Avengers: Infinity War
Fans will immediately spot the absence of Ant-Man in the Wasp which ends with The Snap, so part of it at least must take place in 2017.
The Iron Man films have been moved slightly together and Doctor Strange moved a year later, which fine-tune links to other films.
However, ScreenRant also points out that lines from Infinity War say it is set two years after Civil War not one. Black panther, meanwhile, was believed to have started almost immediately after Civil war but has now been moved to a year later.
We can only imagine what further chaos may follow if Avengers 4, as expected, starts to rewrite timelines and realities altogether…