The Marvel Cinematic Universe celebrates its 15th anniversary this year. Since 2008, more than 40 projects have been released under the Marvel Studios brand. This includes films, Disney+ series, One-Shots, and Special Presentations. Although there have only been 15 years of material released from Marvel Studios, the MCU timeline encompasses a story that covers an extended period of time.
Although the main story focuses on a specific 15-20 year period, the overall MCU timeline covers events that happened billions of years before that, and even beyond the end of time. With so many events and story points across billions of years, it’s hard to recall all of it, even for the creatives at Marvel Studios.
Now, there have been certain inconsistencies when it comes to when some of these stories take place, such as the infamous “8 Years Later” tag from Spider-Man: Homecoming. But, with The Marvel Cinematic Universe An Official Timeline book coming out in September this year, we wanted to shoot our shot at preparing our own in-depth look at the MCU timeline as we cover the events that have occurred in the MCU so far. So, with that being said, let’s dive in. [Update: read our review of The Marvel Cinematic Universe: An Official Timeline here!]
The MCU Timeline
Eons BTSA (Before the Sacred Timeline)
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- Discovery of Alioth
- He Who Remains’ Victory
- End of the Multiversal War
Isolation of the Sacred Timeline
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- He Who Remains isolates the Main Universe / Sacred Timeline is Created
- Creation of the TVA
Ginnungagap (Before the Birth of the Universe)
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- Arishem and the Celestials arise as the first beings in the Universe
- Dark Elves thrive in the “Darkness of the Universe”
13.8 billion years ago
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- Dawn of Creation
- Arishem creates the first Sun
- Big Bang occurs
- Cosmic Entities create the Infinity Stones
13.8 – 4.6 billion years BC
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- Arishem expands the Universe
- Creation of Planets and Galaxies
- Birth of the Celestials through Emergences
- Creation of the Deviants
4.6 billion – 2.5 million years BC
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- Earth is formed by the Celestials
- Chthon creates Wundagore Mountain
- Arishem implants Tiamut on Earth
- Deviants rebel
- Arishem creates the Eternals
- The Eternals aid in the Emergence of Celestials
2.5 million – 10,000 years BC
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- The Vibranium meteorite strikes Earth (Wakanda / Talokan)
- Wakanda tribes are at war until Bashenga finds the Heart-Shaped Herb.
10,000 BC – 5,000 BC
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- Agamotto forms the Masters of the Mystic Arts
5,000 BC – 500 BC
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- The Eternals arrive and help humans thrive
- The first Convergence occurs (Malekith vs. Bor)
- Dweller-In-Darkness attacks Ta-Lo for the first time (2500 BC)
- The Great Protector Emerges (2500 BC)
- Babylon is created (2300 BC)
- Eternals are in Babylon until late 500 BC
500 BC – 965 AD
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- Eternals move from place to place on Earth, fending off the Deviants
- The Darkhold is transcribed by an unknown author
965
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- Battle of Tønsberg
- Frost Giants attack Earth
- Loki is retrieved and adopted by Odin
- The Eternals take part in the Battle of Tønsberg.
1000 – 1520
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- Wenwu discovers the Ten Rings and forms his empire.
- Wenwu fights multiple empires across time until the Modern Age.
1521
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- The Fall of Tenochtitlan
- Druig leaves the Eternals and establishes a village in the Amazon
- The Deviants are seemingly eradicated
- The Eternals disband
1571
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- A tribe in Yucatan consumes a blue plant laced with traces of Vibranium
- Namor is born
1600s
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- Salem Witch Trials (1692)
- Agatha Harkness practices Dark Magic and is judged for her crimes. (1693)
- Agatha kills her coven in retaliation. (1693)
1940s
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- Aisha and the Clandestines find the Bangle in a Ten Rings Temple (1942)
- Captain America: The First Avenger (1943-1945)
- Najima betrays Aisha during Partition of India (1945)
- Marvel One-Shot: Agent Carter (1946)
1950s
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- Peggy Carter, Howard Stark, and Chester Phillips found S.H.I.E.L.D.
1960s
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- **CLASSIFIED**
1970s
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- Loki does the D.B. Cooper bet (1971)
- Steve Rogers and Tony Stark time travel to Camp Lehigh. *Alternate Timeline
- Armin Zola dies and uploads his consciousness to a supercomputer (1972)
1980s
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- Ego returns to Earth to be with Meredith Quill (1980)
- Janet disappears into the Quantum Realm (1987)
- The Ravagers abduct Peter Quill (1988)
- Hank Pym leaves S.H.I.E.L.D. (1989)
- Carol Danvers absorbs the power of the Tesseract (1989)
1990s
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- Howard and Maria Stark are assassinated. (1991)
- T’Chaka kills N’Jobu. (1992)
- Captain Marvel (1995)
- Natasha and Yelena are taken away to the Red Room (1995)
- Wenwu meets Ying Li and leaves the Ten Rings to start a family (1996)
- Pietro and Wanda survive the bombing in their house (1999)
2000s
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- Ying Li dies, and Wenwu reforms the Ten Rings (2006)
2010
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- Iron Man
2011 (Fury’s Big Week)
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- Iron Man 2
- Marvel One-Shot: A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Thor’s Hammer
- Thor
- Marvel One-Shot: The Consultant
- The Incredible Hulk
2012
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- The Avengers
- Marvel One-Shot: Item 47
- US Department of Damage Control (DODC) is formed by Tony Stark
- Adrian Toomes and his salvage crew are put out of business.
- Avengers plan to take the Space, Time, and Mind Stones. *Alternate Timeline
- Loki escapes with the Tesseract *Alternate Timeline
- Iron Man 3
2013
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- Thor: The Dark World
- Rocket takes the Aether from Jane Foster *Alternate Timeline
- Marvel One-Shot: All Hail the King
2014
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- Captain America: The Winter Soldier
- Guardians of the Galaxy
- Thanos captures the 2023 Nebula and travels into the future *Alternate Timeline
- Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2
- I Am Groot
2015
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- Avengers: Age of Ultron
- Ant-Man
2016
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- Captain America: Civil War
- Black Panther
- Spider-Man: Homecoming
- Marvel One-Shot: Team Thor
- Marvel One-Shot: Team Thor Part 2
- Black Widow
- Doctor Strange (Starts)
2017
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- Doctor Strange (Ends)
- Black Panther (PCS)
- Thor: Ragnarök
- Marvel One-Shot: Team Darryl
2018
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- Ant-Man and the Wasp
- Avengers: Infinity War
2023
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- Avengers: Endgame
- Loki
- The Multiverse is reborn
- What If…? *Alternate Timelines
- WandaVision
- The Falcon and the Winter Soldier
- Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings
- Eternals
2024
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- Spider-Man: Far from Home
- Spider-Man: No Way Home
- Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness
- Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (Starts)
- Hawkeye
2025
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- Moon Knight
- She-Hulk: Attorney at Law
- Ms. Marvel
- Thor: Love and Thunder
- Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (1 Year Later)
- Werewolf by Night
- The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special
Alternate MCU Timelines:
Earth-838 Timeline
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- Strange Supreme grabs a hold of the Darkhold (>2018)
- An Incursion occurred between Earth-838 and another universe (>2018)
- The Illuminati of Earth-838 defeated Thanos (2018)
- The Illuminati are killed by the Scarlet Witch (2024)
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Sinister Strange’s Incursion Timeline
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- Stephen Strange grabs a hold of the Darkhold (>2018)
- An Incursion occurred between Sinister Strange’s Earth and another universe (>2018)
- Sinister Strange dies at the hands of Doctor Strange (2024)
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What If…? Timelines
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- Captain Carter is the First Avenger? (1942-1945)
- T’Challa became a Star-Lord? (1980s – 2014)
- Killmonger Rescued Tony Stark? (2010)
- The World Lost Its Mightiest Heroes? (2011)
- Thor Was an Only Child?(2011)
- Ultron Won? (2015)
- The Watcher Broke His Oath? (2015)
- Doctor Strange Lost His Heart Instead of His Hands? (2016)
- Zombies (2017)
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Raimi’s Spider-Man Timeline
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- Spider-Man (2002)
- Spider-Man 2 (2004)
- Spider-Man 3 (2007)
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Webb’s The Amazing Spider-Man Timeline
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- The Amazing Spider-Man (2012)
- The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (2014)
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X-Men *OFFICIAL* Timeline
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- X-Men: First Class (1944 – 1962)
- X-Men: Days of Future Past (1973)
- X-Men: Apocalypse (1983)
- X-Men: Dark Phoenix (1993)
- Deadpool (2016)
- Deadpool 2 (2020)
- The New Mutants (2020)
- Logan (2029)
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X-Men *VARIANT* Timeline
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- X-Men: First Class (1944 – 1962)
- X-Men: Days of Future Past (1973)
- X-Men Origins: Wolverine (1845 – 1979)
- X-Men (2000)
- X2: X-Men United (2003)
- X-Men: The Last Stand (2006)
- The Wolverine (2013)
- X-Men: Days of Future Past (2023)
- Deadpool (2016)
- Deadpool 2 (2020)
- The New Mutants (2020)
- Logan (2029)
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The MCU timeline: to be continued…
As the MCU continues into The Multiverse Saga with Phase 5, we’ll be sure to add information to this article, so be sure to check in every now and then for updates to the MCU Timeline!
Report: Marvel Studios Prominent Characters of Phase 5
