If you ever tried to place when movies and TV shows in the Marvel Cinematic Universe take place, well, good luck. It’s almost impossible. Thankfully, Marvel has plans to release an official timeline of its movies (and maybe TV shows?) sometime in the future.
In a conversation with ScreenRant for Thor: Ragnarok, Marvel Studios producer Kevin Feige revealed that Marvel will publish an official timeline of its MCU continuity, at some point. Citing all of th online “debate” regarding when the movies take place, Feige said: “We are going to be publishing an official, and I’m not sure when, or in what format, an official timeline.”
Feige added that the timeline will be in physical print, “that you can fold out and look at.” A logical release would probably be in those thick coffee table books sometime after the sequel to Avengers: Infinity War in 2019.
The producer also said that the creatives at Marvel rarely disclose the actual years its movies take place for longevity. “[W]e never want to be tied down to a particular year and I think people assume that whenever the movie is released is when is when the movie is taking place, and that is not the case.”
While the movies have been released in pretty linear fashion, there are inconsistencies. Spider-Man: Homecoming, which was released this past July, supposedly happens only a few months after last year’s Captain America: Civil War, and an actual “eight years” after 2012’s The Avengers when it should be only less than four. (A throwaway line by Vision in Civil War seemed to confirm as much.)
While Marvel is more preoccupied trying to make Avengers: Infinity War, perhaps we at Inverse can lend some assistance, because we’ve mapped out the whole MCU timeline already. You’re welcome.
Avengers: Infinity War will be released on May 4, 2018.