2010

#### 12th

* 158 days since his last "incident", having now settled in Rocinha, Brazil, Bruce Banner has an accident that causes a drop of his blood to fall into a soda bottle. He sends a sample of his blood to Samuel Sterns, who conducts further experiments with it outside of the analysis that Banner needs.

### May

#### 7th

* The 2010 Stark Expo has its opening ceremony, and is due to then run for a year, followed by a closing ceremony.
* Stark is summoned to a senate hearing the next day.

#### 8th

* Tony Stark appears before the Senate Armed Services Committee's Weaponized Suit Defense Program Hearings. These are chaired by Pennsylvania Senator Stern, who urges him to give the Iron Man suit, built six months ago, to the military, and calls Lt. Col. James Rhodes and Hammer Industries CEO Justin Hammer to testify against him. Stark refuses to surrender the suit, pointing out that although North Korea and Iran are working to replicate the technology, they are years away from being able to do so. He also reveals Hammer Industries has had its share of failures, leading to the cancellation of Hammer Industries' contacts with the Department of Defense.

#### 12th

* With 362 days remaining (inclusively) of the Expo, Stark appoints Pepper Potts as the new chairman and CEO of Stark Industries.
* In Russia, an agent of the Ten Rings supplies Ivan Vanko assistance in infiltrating the Grand Prix de Monaco Historique.

#### 14th

* **Ambush in Rio de Janeiro**: Thaddeus Ross' unit, having traced Bruce Banner to the bottling factory, raids Rocinha under the field command of Emil Blonsky. Bruce transforms into the Hulk, breaking his 190-day streak without "incident", then defeats the task force and escapes.

#### 15th

* Bruce Banner wakes up in Guatemala and decides to travel back to Culver University to see if any data on his original project remains. Over the next sixteen days, he travels through Central America and the U.S., towards Willowdale, Virginia.

#### 21st

* Tony Stark signs paperwork to transfer power to Pepper, and meets his new personal assistant, "Natalie Rushman".

#### 23rd

* **Duel of Monaco**: At the Circuit de Monaco, Stark replaces Team Stark's regular driver DiFilipo in Race G. Ivan Vanko attacks him between turns 16 and 17 by the harbor. Switching into a portable, lightweight Iron Man armor (Mark V) Stark defeats Vanko.
* Later that evening, Stark visits Vanko in prison before flying back to the United States of America with Pepper.

#### 24th

* Senator Stern appears on news channels to support military control of the Iron Man armor.
* Justin Hammer orchestrates Ivan Vanko's escape from prison to have him work on Hammer Industries' own weapon-suit program. Hammer and Vanko arrive at the Hammer Industries Headquarters in New York City. Vanko begins revamping Hammer's own battle suit prototypes into unmanned, remote-controlled drones.
* Media speculation continues about Tony Stark's fitness to continue as Iron Man. James Rhodes tries to convince him to hand over the Iron Man suits to the United States Armed Forces, but he continues to refuse.

#### 29th

* **Duel at Tony Stark's Mansion**: On Tony Stark's birthday, he is inconsolable over his inability to solve his palladium poisoning dilemma and gets drunk, which leads to a confrontation with James Rhodes, who dons the Mark II Iron Man armor. The fight wrecks a portion of Stark's Malibu mansion, and Rhodes leaves with the Mark II suit.
* Bruce Banner passes through U.S. customs, and there are reports of "atmospheric disturbances" in the Southwest region of the United States. Fury leaves S.H.I.E.L.D. Headquarters to meet Stark, carrying lithium to slow the palladium's effects, and orders Agent Jasper Sitwell to track Banner.

#### 30th

* Jane Foster contacts Erik Selvig, who flies out to New Mexico to help her monitor the atmospheric disturbances. Her message is intercepted by S.H.I.E.L.D.

* In Asgard, Thor's coronation is suddenly interrupted when Odin senses Frost Giants breaking in his treasure room.
* James Rhodes flies to the Edwards Air Force Base and delivers the Mark II suit to the military. Nick Fury finds Tony Stark at Randy's Donuts, injects him with lithium and confines him to house arrest.
* Natalie Rushman reveals herself to be Natasha Romanoff, an agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.
* General Meade orders Justin Hammer to upgrade the Mark II armor with new weaponry, but Rhodey secretly removes the suit's Arc Reactor.
* Stark visits Potts at Stark Industries, where she mentions Hammer is hosting a presentation at the Stark Expo the next day. Returning home, Stark makes an intuitive breakthrough on how to fix his palladium problem through the creation of a new element theorized by his father and hidden in the layout of the Stark Expo.

* **Attack on Jotunheim**: Thor, Sif, Loki, and the Warriors Three travel to Jotunheim to seek justice, but Odin arrives riding Sleipnir to break up the fight.

#### 31st

* Returning to Asgard, Odin berates Thor for his reckless actions, stripping him of his godly power and casting him out of Asgard.

* 17 days after the Ambush in Rio de Janeiro, Bruce Banner arrives at Culver University. He sees Betty Ross, but does not approach her.
* **Battle at Stark Expo**:
	+ Justin Hammer's Stark Expo presentation is hijacked by Ivan Vanko, who uses the drones to attack the crowd, including a 9-year-old Peter Parker.
	+ Tony Stark flies to the Expo to stop Vanko, defeating the Hammer Drones with the help of Rhodey (wearing the upgraded "War Machine" armor), the Black Widow and Happy Hogan.
	+ Vanko is killed in an explosion that destroys the Oracle Pavilion, while Hammer is arrested for breaking Vanko out of prison. Stark flies Pepper Potts to safety, they kiss and start a romantic relationship. Rhodey decides to keep the War Machine armor for himself.

* Phil Coulson arrives at a S.H.I.E.L.D. outpost in Roswell, New Mexico to assemble his team of agents.
* Jane Foster, Erik Selvig, and Darcy Lewis detect a possible Einstein-Rosen Bridge in the nearby desert and discover the powerless Thor at its epicenter. They subdue him with a tazer and take him to a local hospital.

### June

#### 1st

* In Puente Antiguo, a local man discovers Thor's hammer, Mjølnir, in a crater about 50 miles west of the town. Unable to lift it, he calls several other people to give it a try. Coulson arrives in New Mexico and discovers the site of Mjølnir. S.H.I.E.L.D. quickly quarantines the area and erects a portable laboratory over the site to study the hammer. Clint Barton arrives later that day.
* Jane Foster helps Thor escape from the hospital where he is being held and takes him back to her workplace.
* Loki discovers Laufey, the King of the Frost Giants, is his real father. After confessing the truth, Odin collapses and enters Odinsleep. Sif and the Warriors Three suspect Loki's treachery.
* Bruce Banner poses as a pizza delivery man to get access to Culver University's computer labs and research database, giving pizza to Roger Harrington in the process. On the way, he is accidentally seen by Betty Ross, and she has him stay the night at her home. Ross' boyfriend Leonard Samson secretly informs the military of Banner's whereabouts.

* **Infiltration into the S.H.I.E.L.D. Crater Investigation Site**: Thor and Foster head towards the site of the S.H.I.E.L.D. installation erected around Mjølnir. Thor sneaks in and tries to lift Mjølnir, but fails and is captured.
* Loki appears before Thor, who is being held at the S.H.I.E.L.D. installation, and claims Odin is dead. Later, Erik Selvig goes to the installation and manages to get Phil Coulson to release Thor into his custody.
* Emil Blonsky receives an unauthorized "low dose" injection of Bio Tech Enhancement Serum from Thaddeus Ross.
* After a night of drinking with Erik Selvig, Thor explains the concept of the Nine Realms to Foster.

#### 2nd

* Sif and the Warriors Three arrive on Earth to find Thor. Loki sends the Destroyer after them.
* **Battle at Culver University**: At Culver University, Betty Ross walks Bruce Banner to the bus station in the early morning. As they are crossing the campus, they are attacked by the Military and Emil Blonsky, who seems to adapt well to the Bio Tech Enhancement upgrade, but is still beaten by the Hulk, getting nearly every bone in his body pulverized. Natasha Romanoff witnesses Banner's transformation and Blonsky's enhanced performance from afar.
* The Hulk escapes the Military with an unconscious Betty, hiding in a cave deep in the Smoky Mountain National Forest. News of the battle quickly spreads across cable news channels and the internet. Jack McGee, a student who witnessed and captured the fight on cell phone video, names the creature "an Incredible Hulk” in an interview with WHiH World News. His remarks are played repeatedly over the next several days.

* **Battle of Puente Antiguo**: The Destroyer attacks S.H.I.E.L.D. agents stationed at Puente Antiguo. Thor and his fellow Asgardians fight it, and during the battle, Thor proves himself worthy of his godly heritage and his powers are restored, allowing him to defeat the Destroyer.
* Tony Stark has a debrief with S.H.I.E.L.D. Director Nick Fury. He is offered an advisory position as a consultant for S.H.I.E.L.D. and the Avengers Initiative, which he accepts on condition that Stern honors him with a medal for his services. Three hours later, Stern begrudgingly gives Stark his medal.
* The Frost Giants invade Asgard. Laufey finds Odin, but Loki turns on him and kills him before Laufey is able to kill Odin.
* **Duel at the Rainbow Bridge**: Thor, Sif, and the Warriors Three return to Asgard, where Thor reveals Loki's plan to seize the throne. Unfortunately, in the ensuing battle between them, Thor is forced to destroy the Rainbow Bridge to prevent Loki from destroying Jotunheim using the Bifrost and committing genocide against the Frost Giants. This action strands him in Asgard, unable to return to Earth. Loki falls into space and ends appearing in the Sanctuary.

#### 3rd

* Bruce Banner and Betty Ross hide out in a small town motel, as news of the previous day's battle continues to spread. Within 36 to 40 hours of sustaining his injuries, Emil Blonsky has fully recovered.

#### 4th

* Banner and Betty Ross arrive in New York City, and head uptown to meet with Mr. Blue, whose real name is Samuel Sterns.
* **Duel of Harlem**: The military captures Banner, but Emil Blonsky forces Sterns to inject him with the blood products he developed from Banner's blood sample. The process mutates Blonsky into the Abomination, while Sterns is infected with Banner's blood through an open wound on his head, gaining his own mutation. Banner convinces Thaddeus Ross to let him try and stop the Abomination. The two creatures fight in Harlem, with Hulk defeating the Abomination and fleeing the scene immediately afterwards.

#### 7th

* Fury approaches Erik Selvig to join S.H.I.E.L.D. in an advisory capacity to study the Tesseract.

### July

#### 4th

* In a dinner, Phil Coulson and Jasper Sitwell discuss how to prevent Emil Blonsky being assigned to the Avengers Initiative. The World Security Council have ordered S.H.I.E.L.D. to make Blonsky part of the team as they consider him a war hero.
* Coulson and Sitwell send Tony Stark to meet with Thaddeus Ross within 24 hours to ruin any chance of this recruitment going through.

#### 5th

* Bruce Banner settles in a cabin deep in the woods of Bella Coola, British Columbia, where he works on gaining control of the Hulk.
* Following Hulk's incident in Harlem, Tony Stark arrives in a bar and approaches Ross about "putting a team together".

* Stark is apparently on a mission to recruit Blonsky, but his behavior enrages Ross so much that he refuses to release Blonsky into S.H.I.E.L.D. custody.
* Coulson and Sitwell reunite and discuss the success in having Stark dissuade Ross from including Blonsky in the Avengers Initiative.