Homecoming The Chronology of The MCU [Based On Spider-Man Homecoming]

[Ultraman]

As we know, the MCU films often don't actually occur in the years that they are released. We were given some clues about the MCU chronology in Spider-Man.

Let's see if we can piece it together.

Iron Man 1 - 2010 (according to the events of IM2)

Iron Man 2 - 2010

Thor - 2010

Avengers - 2011 (based on the year it was filmed, and it seemed to directly follow the events of Phase One)

Civil War - 2018 (8 years after Stark became Iron Man, according to Vision)

Spider-Man HC - 2018/2019 (2 months after Civil War, about 8 years after Avengers)

Let's see if you guys can figure out the rest..

 

[Best]

Iron Man 3 - Christmas 2011 (iffy on this one - I know it's supposed to take place 6 months after Avengers, but I swear along with that it also stated 2012 as the year)

Thor: The Dark World - 2012 (whenever, really)

Captain America: Winter Soldier - 2012/2013

Guardians 1 & 2 - 2014

Avengers: Age of Ultron - 2014/2015: here's where things might add up better... Ross says in Civil War "In the past 4 years you've operated..." - now at first, or rather I wish he was counting the first Avengers, but since we've had to push everything forward let's assume he isn't. 2014 could either be when the Avengers gathered together again off-screen after TWS, or could be the entirety Age of Ultron. Either or both works.

... But the only problem with that is, let's say Age of Ultron finished in 2015 at latest. I really didnt get the impression that the new team at the end of that film had been operating for 3-4 years towards 2018, which is when you suggest Civil War takes place. That's not what it looks like. But, again, for the sake of the Russos/Watts messing it all up...

 

[Ultraman]

The Avengers officially disbanded after the first film.

They only got back together after SHIELD fell and they had to stop Hydra in Age Of Ultron.

Ross' line about them operating for 4 years could still work in that context.

You'd have to assume Cap, BW, War Machine, Falcon, Vision and Wanda were a team for about 3, maybe even 4 years then.

But that would have given Zemo ample time to put his plan together and the world ample time to recover from all the Ultron chaos.

The film timeline completely de-canonizes the Marvel TV shows though, but I think that was intentional and probably for the best. The TV shows are basically "adjuncts" just like the Sony Spider-verse.

 

[legendkillin]

Iron Man was in 2008, the movies don't take place in the future. All of phase 1 happen quickly and less then a year so that means Iron Man 1 to Avengers is 2008.

If you rewatch Incredible Hulk the opening sequence mentions Banner getting his powers in 2006 and fleeing. His days without incident was 169 so I believe the movie eventually starts in 2008. The credit scene for that involves Stark so Iron Man 1 happened already. We know Iron Man 2 happens quickly in the time too. Coulson leaves in IM2 because of the Thor incident so those two things are happening at the same time or very closely together. Cap was frozen for 65 years the movie takes place in 1942-43. That means phase 1 was went down in 2008, we also have Vision as you mentioned and HC.

Phase 2 is basically still in that year or 2009 because IM3.

I will probably add to this later.

 

[Ultraman]

That could work as well.

 

[AvengerPA]

Civil War happened eight years after Tony Stark became Iron Man, and it happened four years after the Avengers first formed in the Battle of New York. Iron Man was released in 2008, Avengers was released in 2012, and Civil War happened in 2016.
Iron Man 2, Thor, and Incredible Hulk all took place in the space of the same week in 2011, one year prior to Avengers. Thor: Dark World took place two years after Thor and one year after Avengers because Jane said so.
Avengers happened in May 2012. Iron Man 3 happened six months later in December 2012, after which Tony Stark retires. Tony is retired in 2013. Thor returns to Earth in 2013 at the end of Dark World and lives with Jane for two years.
Winter Soldier took place in April 2014. After that, the Avengers re-form to fight Hydra and Tony comes out of retirement. The Avengers fight Hydra for a year. GOTG an GOTG2 both take place in 2014.
Age of Ultron takes place in 2015, when the Battle of Sokovia happens. Afterwards, the UN takes a year writing the Sokovia Accords. Thor and Hulk leave Earth, and a year later can't be found. The New Avengers are formed and live for a year together in the New Avengers compound. Ant-Man happens later in 2015.
Civil War happened in May and June 2016. The Lagos scenes happened in May, and the rest of the movie takes place in June. Spider-Man: Homecoming takes place in September.
Doctor Strange happens over a year from 2016-2017 and ends during Thor: Ragnarok. Thor: Ragnarok will account for where Thor and Hulk were between Age of Ultron and Infinity War.
Infinity War takes place in 2018, four years after GOTG2.

2006- Bruce Banner becomes Hulk and goes on the run
2008- Tony Stark becomes Iron Man
2009
2010
2011- "Nick Fury's Big Week" The events of Iron Man 2, Thor, and the Incredible Hulk take place in the same week.
2012- Avengers happens. The Avengers first form and win the Battle of New York, and then go their separate ways. Iron Man 3 then happens, and Tony Stark retires. The opening scenes of Thor: Dark World happen.
2013- Tony Stark is retired. Most of Thor: Dark World happens. Thor Reunites with Jane one year after Avengers and two years after Thor. Thor comes to Earth to live with Jane and remains on Earth until 2015. Season One of Agents of SHIELD begins.
2014- Captain America: Winter Soldier happens. SHIELD is disbanded. The Avengers re-form to fight Hydra. Tony Stark comes out of retirement as Iron Man. Hydra experiments on 200 Sokovians with the Mind Gem and kills all but two of them. The Guardians of the Galaxy form, and then the events of their sequel also happen. Season One of Agents of SHIELD ends and Season Two begins.
2015- Age of Ultron happens. The Avengers win the Battle of Sokovia against Ultron. The United Nations begins to write the Sokovia Accords. Thor and Hulk leave Earth. The New Avengers are formed and go live in an upstate New York compound. Ant-Man invades the New Avengers compound and fights Falcon. Season Two of Agents of SHIELD ends.
2016- Civil War begins in May and ends in June. The New Avengers have been together for one year. Stephen Strange becomes a magician. Spider-Man: Homecoming happens.
2017- Doctor Strange ends. Thor: Ragnarok happens.
2018- Infinity War happens.

 

[Best]

OK that's it... we just need to write off Homecoming as a continuity error. That's it.

- Iron Man still took place in 2008

- Iron Man 2, Thor & Incredible Hulk still took place in the same week of 2009 (The Stark Expo thing saying 2010 is normal for conventions like that)

- In the preludes it said it took Fury/SHIELD 2 years to find Cap on ice, and the end of TFA Fury says it's been almost 70 years since 1945. So Steve's awoken in 2011/2012 just before The Avengers

- The Avengers still takes place in 2012

- Iron Man 3 takes place in Christmas of 2012, as backed by the flashbacks

- Thor: The Dark World takes place whenever, I don't care

- Captain America: The Winter Soldier takes place in 2013 or 2014

- Guardians 1 & 2 take place in 2014

- Avengers: Age of Ultron takes place in 2015

- Civil War takes place in 2016 and tracks Iron Man 1 back to 2008, as well as Avengers 1 to 2012

- Homecoming takes place in 2016/2017

Again, the writers were simply so fixated on 2008 with Happy's own line, as well as thinking back to Vision from Civil War that they messed up.

(At least that better bloody be the case or else the whole timeline falls apart)

 

[AvengerPA]

In Spider-Man: Homecoming Happy Hogan says that he has been carrying an engagement ring around for Tony since 2008, a reference to the first Iron Man film.

 

[Spidey220987]

In Captain America: The First Avenger, Fury says at the end "you've been asleep Cap' for almost 70 years" which brings us to 2011.

BUT in Spider-Man: Homecoming, Captain America is wearing his Avengers suit (the one many fans say is the worst one lol) and in the detention video, he says something like "take it from a guy who's been frozen for 65 years"

Sooooooooo......lol

 

[TheVileOne]

Nothing about the timeline adds up now when they said Civil War/Homecoming is 8 years after Battle of New York.

 

[writer0327]

I think it goes a little something like this...

2008
Iron Man
Thor
IM2
TIH

2009
Avengers

2010

2011
TDW

2012

2013
CA:TWS

2014
GotG
A:AoU

2015
Ant-Man

2016
Dr. S

2017
CA:CW
SM:H
T:Rag

 

[Silvermoon]

IMO, the time span stated in Spider-Man: Homecoming (at least at this point) has to be written off as a continuity error/not accurate (same as Vision's comment in Civil War where I'm pretty sure the writer's were going off of simply when the first Iron Man movie came out, not taking into account that those early Phase 1 films didn't necessary take place when it came out). Because otherwise, it screws up a bunch of other things... a lot of the previous films (except for the GotG movies) would then have to be retroactively adjusted.

I mean, look at Iron Man 3. Opening scene is New Years Eve of 1999 going into the year 2000. Bulk of the movie is then 13 years later 1999+13=2012 (put it a couple weeks shy of an *exact* 13 years and it fits with the Christmas time frame... if you push it to Christmas 2013 then it would be nearly 14 years, not 13). This fits with it being about 6 months after Avengers (which was stated it was supposed to be) if Avengers takes place in 2012 (and then from that point, you can work out the previous films, Thor takes place the year prior to Avengers which mean IM2 and The Incredible Hulk do as well since they take place during like the same week... first IM is then (roughly) 6 months before that).

But if you push Avengers earlier then 2012... you lose the 6 month gap between it and IM3. That, IMO, would affects some of the characterization for Tony. As it is, he's built like 35 suits in a 6 month time frame - that's less than a week spent on each suit... it shows how paranoid and how much of a mental breakdown he's having. Change it to building those 35 suits over the course of a year or more? It's not quite as effective

So yeah, I'm taking the "8 years since Avengers" in Homecoming as an error. At least for now (unless a PTB can explain the change in a way that still has things make sense logically)

 

[NealKenneth]

Above comment is a perfect example of what I've said on the issue in a couple threads...there IS contradictions in continuity UNLESS you treat IM3 as non-canon. That's what I do, that's what the Marvel execs are doing, and the timeline is fine.

 

[Silvermoon]

Above comment is a perfect example of what I've said on the issue in a couple threads...there IS contradictions in continuity UNLESS you treat IM3 as non-canon. That's what I do, that's what the Marvel execs are doing, and the timeline is fine.

Even if you take out IM3's 1999+13 years later being 2012... there would still be issues and problems/errors..

For example let's look at the time frame stated in Civil War: Even *if* Vision was correct in Civil War saying that it had been 8 years since Tony became Iron Man, Homecoming (taking place just a couple to a few months after Civil War) would still be wrong as the first Iron Man is about a year and half before the events of the first Avengers movie (IM2/Incredible Hulk/Thor are all 1 year before Avengers, IM is 6 months before IM2). Homecoming being 8 years since The Battle of New York would not be right. It'd be more like between 6 1/2 to 7 years prior. Not 8. So either Civil War is right or Homecoming is right... they both can't be right. Or you'd have to adjust the stated time frames between IM2/Incredible Hulk/Thor and Avengers, and therefore the time frame between IM and IM2, etc... So see, IM3 isn't the only one that would have to have information ignored/changed in order to get Homecoming's "8 years since Avengers" to fit.

 

[Ninjablade]

The 8 years later really stuck out and bothered me. Couldve easily been 4 years and then you don't have shift your whole timeline you created. You make new movies fit in to old, not the other way around.

 

[Venom 1988]

Or they just could have left it ambiguous and said "Several Years Later" lol

 

[Ninjablade]

Also true.

 

[Silvermoon]

Or they just could have left it ambiguous and said "Several Years Later" lol

Yeah, I think that would've actually been better. Take out a specific amount of time passing and leave it a *bit* more vague/flexible.

 

[NealKenneth]

Even *if* Vision was correct in Civil War saying that it had been 8 years since Tony became Iron Man, Homecoming (taking place just a couple to a few months after Civil War) would still be wrong as the first Iron Man is about a year and half before the events of the first Avengers movie (IM2/Incredible Hulk/Thor are all 1 year before Avengers, IM is 6 months before IM2)

What is the basis for this in the films? It's obvious that we will need to throw out ancillary materials as part of this retcon....but as far as I can remember there isn't anything in the films that make it impossible for all of Phase 1 to happen in the same year.

Also, both Vision's comment and the "8 Years Later" in HC allow wayyyyy more felxibility than people are thinking, because they are both informal. Either date could actually mean anywhere from, say...7 years and 9 months to 8 years and 10 months in an informal context and still be true. That allows enough flexibility to cover all the way from November of say 2009 all the way to February of 2011, for example. That's the power of speaking informally.

 

[Silvermoon]

What is the basis for this in the films? It's obvious that we will need to throw out ancillary materials as part of this retcon....but as far as I can remember there isn't anything in the films that make it impossible for all of Phase 1 to happen in the same year.

Also, both Vision's comment and the "8 Years Later" in HC allow wayyyyy more felxibility than people are thinking, because they are both informal. Either date could actually mean anywhere from, say...7 years and 9 months to 8 years and 10 months in an informal context and still be true. That allows enough flexibility to cover all the way from November of say 2009 all the way to February of 2011, for example. That's the power of speaking informally.

What basis in the films? I've already commented on the IM3 issue. Looking at other films. In Avengers, it's stated both by Fury and by Black Widow that the events of Thor and Incredible Hulk happened (at least) a year prior (in fact, Black Widow states that it's been more than a year since Banner's had an incident) IM2 takes place at the same time as Thor and the Incredible Hulk so that also takes place a year prior to Avengers. So there's those three movies and their time frame in comparison to Avengers.

Looking at IM2, the beginning of it tells us that it's been 6 months since Iron Man. Ergo... Avengers is a year and a half (at the least) after the events of the first Iron Man film. Iron Man, IM2, The Incredible Hulk, Thor and Avengers cannot all take place within the same year. The dialogue within the films alone tells us that.

And sorry... I could maybe give you the 7 years and 9 months being called 8 years, but if you're going to round that up to 8 years, then "informally" 8 years and 10 months would be more likely to get rounded up to 9 years (rather than being rounded down to 8) - people do, after all, tend to round up after the halfway point if they're going to round at all.

Also, in terms of the Civil War dialogue, I don't see Vision as being the type to speak 'informally' - out of all the characters, I think he's going to be more precise then most.

IMO, if it's a choice between taking Homecoming as fact and retconning almost the entire timeline set before it or else taking Homecoming (and even Vision's dialogue in Civil War) as being a writer's mistake... I'm more inclined to go with the writer's having just made a mistake/continuitiy error with Homecoming and Civil War (just my opinion)

 

[Donald Thomas]

Iron Man was in 2008, the movies don't take place in the future. All of phase 1 happen quickly and less then a year so that means Iron Man 1 to Avengers is 2008.

If you rewatch Incredible Hulk the opening sequence mentions Banner getting his powers in 2006 and fleeing. His days without incident was 169 so I believe the movie eventually starts in 2008. The credit scene for that involves Stark so Iron Man 1 happened already. We know Iron Man 2 happens quickly in the time too. Coulson leaves in IM2 because of the Thor incident so those two things are happening at the same time or very closely together. Cap was frozen for 65 years the movie takes place in 1942-43. That means phase 1 was went down in 2008, we also have Vision as you mentioned and HC.

Phase 2 is basically still in that year or 2009 because IM3.

I will probably add to this later.

Aloha,
Yes, I think there is now a general consensus among Marvel Nerds that Iron Man 1 and 2, Thor and Incredible Hulk all happened in 2008.Loved Homecoming.
Spidey rules

 

[Resistance61513]

Am I remembering this wrong but...after the 8 years later, don't they show a shot/scene of Vulture's empire with all the crew working on weapons? Then they show the Marvel stinger and then it goes to Peter Parker.

That "eight years later" could actually just refer to Vulture's empire growing as opposed to saying "Hey, this film is eight years later." So, it could very well not tie into the timeline of Homecoming.

Just a thought. It's a stretch but...I don't know, could work.

As for blaming Sony for this error, I wouldn't go that far. Marvel and co kept Sony on a tight leash...they just messed up w/their own facts. I also find it humerous that, for the longest time, Feige said "We don't carbon date our movies. We never show dates in them so they can feel releavant." So much for that. Haha

 

[TheVileOne]

Later in the movie, Toomes says they've been operating for eight years without a peep from the Avengers or the feds.

 

[Resistance61513]

Later in the movie, Toomes says they've been operating for eight years without a peep from the Avengers or the feds.

Damn...this is true.

 

[TheVileOne]

Yeah, I think that would've actually been better. Take out a specific amount of time passing and leave it a *bit* more vague/flexible.

I've always said they should've kept it vague. But in Civil War they started putting dates and times on all these events.

Guys facing facts, at some point, no matter what happens in the next phase, they might want to bring back certain characters, the same characters, but with different actors. At some point, that might mean adjusting the timeline. So it's always better just to not specifically date everything.