# Major events of the Marvel Cinematic Universe

Marvel Cinematic Universe timeline(as of Black Widow) :
| 1943–1945 | Captain America: The First Avenger |
| 1946 | Agent Carter |
| 1947–1994 |
| 1995 | Captain Marvel |
| 1996–2009 |
| 2010 | Iron Man |
| 2011 | Iron Man 2 |
| 2011 | The Incredible Hulk |
| 2011 | A Funny Thing... |
| 2011 | Thor |
| 2011 | The Consultant |
| 2012 | The Avengers |
| 2012 | Item 47 |
| 2012 | Iron Man 3 |
| 2013 | All Hail the King |
| 2013 | Thor: The Dark World |
| 2014 | Captain America: The Winter Soldier |
| 2014 | Guardians of the Galaxy |
| 2014 | Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 |
| 2015 | Avengers: Age of Ultron |
| 2015 | Ant-Man |
| 2016 | Captain America: Civil War |
| 2016 | Black Widow |
| 2016 | Black Panther |
| 2016 | Spider-Man: Homecoming |
| 2016 | Doctor Strange (into 2017) |
| 2017 | Thor: Ragnarok |
| 2018 | Ant-Man and the Wasp |
| 2018 | Avengers: Infinity War |
| 2019–2022 |
| 2023 | Avengers: Endgame |
| 2023 | WandaVision |
| 2024 | The Falcon and the Winter Soldier |
| 2024 | Spider-Man: Far From Home |
Many major events have been depicted in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) franchise, being noted as defining features of the franchise in analysis, such as the Blip being compared by Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige to the COVID-19 pandemic, and the Battle of Earth film sequence in Avengers: Endgame being well received critically, and by cinematic audiences.
Wanting to simplify the in-universe timeline, the Phase Two films were set roughly in real time relating to The Avengers. The One-Shot All Hail the King is set after the events of Iron Man 3. For Phase Three, directors the Russo brothers wanted to continue using real time, and so Captain America: Civil War begins a year after Age of Ultron, with Avengers: Infinity War set two years after that. However, producer Brad Winderbaum said the Phase Three films would actually "happen on top of each other" while being less "interlocked" as the Phase One films were, Following Avengers: Infinity War, the Russo brothers said future films would not necessarily be set according to real time as there are "a lot of very inventive ways of where the story can go from here", with both Ant-Man and the Wasp and Captain Marvel set earlier in the timeline; Avengers: Endgame begins shortly after Infinity War and ends in 2023 after a five-year time jump.
With Phase Four, Marvel Studios expanded into television series, which have greater interconnectivity with the MCU feature films than the series from Marvel Television.
The official canon tie-in comic Fury's Big Week confirmed that The Incredible Hulk, Iron Man 2, and Thor all took place within a week, a year before the crossover film The Avengers. Writers Christopher Yost and Eric Pearson tried to follow the logic of the films' timeline when plotting the comic. As promotion for The Avengers, Marvel released an official infographic detailing this timeline in May 2012.
The Marvel Studios: The First 10 Years timeline from November 2018 ignores apparent timeline mistakes in Spider-Man: Homecoming, with Thomas Bacon of Screen Rant describing the timeline as "the closest Marvel has yet come to making an official statement on just when the different MCU events are set", bringing "some sense of balance to the MCU continuity".

## Pre–21st century

* The Kree–Skrull War (995 AD–present) (based on the Marvel Comics storyline of the same name) is an ongoing thousand-year-long conflict between the Kree and Skrulls, with the Kree striving to wipe out the entire Skrull race. In the 20th Century, the Kree scientist Mar-Vell rebels and travels to Earth to help Skrull refugees escape from Kree forces. Unlike the comics, the MCU depicts the Skrulls as being oppressed by the Kree, a twist which Kree–Skrull War writer Roy Thomas dislikes.
* World War II (1939–1945) was a global conflict between the Allies and Axis. The United States create the super-soldier Captain America (Steve Rogers) to fight in the conflict, while Nazi Germany create the Red Skull (Johann Schmidt), leader of the Nazi. In an alternate reality explored in the first episode of What If...?, Peggy Carter takes the Super Soldier Serum instead of Rogers and becomes Captain Carter.
* The Cold War (1947–1991) was a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union during which the U.S. experimented with the Super Soldier Serum on Black soldiers, resulting in the creation of the super-soldier Isaiah Bradley. Meanwhile, Hydra (having infiltrated the Soviet Union) establishes the Winter Soldier Program and the Red Room, transforming Bucky Barnes and Natasha Romanoff into elite assassins.
* The assassination of Howard and Maria Stark (1991) was the murder of Howard and Maria Stark by a brainwashed Bucky Barnes on Hydra's orders on December 16, 1991 in Long Island, New York. When the couple are on their way to the Pentagon, Barnes arrives on a motorcycle and slashes the front tire of their car, causing it to crash before beating Howard to death and strangling Maria. The assassination is covered as a car crash, results in Obadiah Stane assuming control of Stark Industries, and is used by Helmut Zemo to instigate tensions between Tony Stark and Steve Rogers during the Avengers Civil War.

## 2010s

* The kidnapping of Tony Stark (2010) was carried out by the Ten Rings terrorist organization under orders of Obadiah Stane, a rival of Tony Stark. While performing a demonstration of his new Jericho Missile for the U.S. Air Force in Kunar, Afghanistan, Stark is kidnapped and forced to build the Jericho missile, but secretly builds a suit of armor with the help of Ho Yinsen instead and using it to escape. In an alternate reality explored in the sixth episode of What If...?, Stark is rescued by Erik "Killmonger" Stevens and never becomes Iron Man.
* Fury's Big Week (2011) was a series of events monitored by S.H.I.E.L.D. which transpired in one week. Over the course of the seven days, S.H.I.E.L.D. director Nick Fury sends Natasha Romanoff to spy on Tony Stark and Bruce Banner, Phil Coulson and Clint Barton investigate atmospheric disturbance above New Mexico and encounter Thor, while Erik Selvig is recruited to Project Pegasus. In an alternate reality explored in the third episode of What If...?, Fury's plans to assemble the Avengers are disrupted when its candidates are assassinated by Hank Pym.
* The Battle of New York (2012) was a large-scale battle between Loki and his Chitauri forces and the Avengers in Manhattan, New York. The World Security Council later orders a nuclear strike against the city in an attempt to end the battle, but Tony Stark intervenes and used the nuclear missile to destroy the Chitauri mother ship. In an alternate reality explored in Avengers: Endgame and the first episode of Loki, Loki escapes using the Tesseract following the battle, but is captured by the Time Variance Authority.
* The Hydra Uprising (2014–2015) was an attempt by Hydra to seize world control and establish a global totalitarian state using Project Insight to eliminate influential individuals who posed a threat to the group. The plan fails after the Helicarriers used are disabled and Alexander Pierce is killed by Nick Fury, resulting in the collapse of S.H.I.E.L.D.. Hydra is defeated shortly after by the Avengers in Sokovia. The idea of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s collpase was suggested by Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige, which writers Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely then implemented into Captain America: The Winter Soldier.
* The Battle of Sokovia (2015) was a battle in Sokovia between the Avengers and Ultron, with Ultron attempting to cause human extinction by dropping the capital city of Sokovia on Earth. The plan is foiled after the city is destroyed by the Avengers, and Ultron is killed by the Vision. In an alternate reality explored in the eighth episode of What If...?, Ultron successfully transfers his consciousness to the Vision's body and gains the power of the Infinity Stones.
* The Avengers Civil War (2016) (based on the Marvel Comics storyline of the same name) was a conflict between the Avengers over the Sokovia Accords instigated by Helmut Zemo. The conflict is further instigated by the accidental bombing of Lagos, Nigeria by Wanda Maximoff, the assassination of King T'Chaka by Helmut Zemo, and the assassination of Howard and Maria Stark by Bucky Barnes, culminating in clashes at the Leipzig/Halle Airport in Germany and the Hydra Siberian Facility in Siberia.
* Ragnarök (2017) (based on the Norse mythological event of the same name) was the prophesied destruction of Asgard by Surtur. Classified by the Time Variance Authority as a Class Seven apocalyptic event, it is initiated by Thor after he realizes that it is the only way to defeat Hela, sending Loki to unite Surtur's crown with the Eternal Flame.
* The Infinity War (2018) (based on the Marvel Comics storylines The Infinity Gauntlet and Infinity) was a conflict between Thanos and the Avengers, Guardians of the Galaxy, and Wakandans over the Infinity Stones, with Thanos seeking to use them to wipe out half of life in the universe due to his fears of universal overpopulation and deprivation. It commences with Thanos obtaining the Power and Space Stones from Xandar and the Statesman, followed by an attack in Greenwich Village by Ebony Maw and Cull Obsidian. Thanos then retrieves the Reality Stone on Knowhere and the Soul Stone on Vormir, sacrificing his daughter Gamora in the process. The conflict culminates in two concurrent battles in Wakanda and on Titan, both of which end in Thanos' victory and allow him to obtain the Time and Mind Stones and complete the Infinity Gauntlet. Thanos then proceeds to snap his fingers, wiping out half of all life in the universe and initiating the Blip. In an alternate reality explored in the fifth episode of What If...?, Thanos' crusade coincides with a zombie apocalypse on Earth.
* The Blip (2018–2023) was the five-year period between the extermination of half of all life in the universe by Thanos and their subsequent resurrection by Bruce Banner. It manifested in the form of the mass disintegration of individual beings into ashes, while the reversal had the same ashes reforming into the previously deceased individuals, who mostly reappeared in the same location with no direct awareness of what occurred. The Global Repatriation Council (GRC) is later set up to aid those displaced by the Blip, although many such as the Flag Smashers oppose their efforts.

## 2020s

* The Time Heist (2023) was the retrieval of the six Infinity Stones by the Avengers from four alternate timelines in order to undo the Blip, in which three teams travel back in time using the Quantum Tunnel to 2012 New York and 1970 Camp Lehigh, 2013 Asgard, as well as 2014 Morag and Vormir. The Avengers then unite the six stones into the Nano Gauntlet before Banner snaps his fingers, restoring the lives of half of the Universe.
* The Battle of Earth (2023) was a large-scale battle that took place in the ruins of the Avengers Compound between the Avengers, Guardians of the Galaxy, Masters of the Mystic Arts, Asgardians, Ravagers, and Wakandans and alternate versions of Thanos and his army from 2014. After defeating Tony Stark, Thor, and Steve Rogers, Thanos summons his army from the Sanctuary II with the goal of acquiring the Nano Gauntlet, but is interrupted by the arrival of the restored Guardians, Asgardians, Ravagers, and Wakandans. The two sides clash, and the battle culminates with Stark sacrificing himself to disintegrate Thanos and his army.

## Far future

* The creation of the Multiverse was the emergence of multiple alternate timelines branching off from the "Sacred Timeline" following the death of He Who Remains at the hands of Sylvie at the end of time, forming the "Multiverse". This event, which occurs during the first season finale of Loki, leads directly to the events of What If...?, Spider-Man: No Way Home, and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. Loki executive producers Stephen Broussard and Kevin Wright met with What If...? executive producer Brad Winderbaum in order to establish a "rule book" regarding the Multiverse.