Marvel fans were confused last year when Spider-Man: Homecoming claimed to be set eight years after Avengers, a continuity error revealed to be "very incorrect".
As a result, Marvel Studios boss Kevin Feige promised that we would get an official MCU timeline and it seems he's delivered. The new Marvel Studios: The First 10 Years book contains the timeline – solely for the movies, not the TV shows – and clears up that error (via ScreenRant).
It confirms that Homecoming is actually set only four years after the first Avengers movie, while also moving Iron Man a couple of years later to 2010 (it was released in 2008).
However, the official timeline opens up some issues of its own, as it moves Avengers: Infinity War to 2017, even though it's been assumed it was two years after Civil War, and Black Panther has also been shifted to 2017, meaning that Wakanda had to wait a while for the return of its king.
Of course, this could all be changed again when Avengers 4 comes out, as it's expected to feature a time travel plot that could completely mess up the timeline. But for now, this is the official MCU timeline, according to Marvel:
- 1943-1945: Captain America: The First Avenger
- 2010: Iron Man
- 2011: Iron Man 2, The Incredible Hulk, Thor
- 2012: Avengers, Iron Man 3
- 2013: Thor: The Dark World
- 2014: Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Guardians of the Galaxy, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2
- 2015: Avengers: Age of Ultron, Ant-Man
- 2016: Captain America: Civil War, Spider-Man: Homecoming
- 2016 through to 2017: Doctor Strange
- 2017: Black Panther, Thor: Ragnarok, Avengers: Infinity War
The timeline doesn't include Ant-Man and The Wasp but, given its mid-credits scene takes place at the same time as Infinity War, we can just assume it's set in 2017.
Movies Editor, Digital Spy Ian has more than 10 years of movies journalism experience as a writer and editor. Starting out as an intern at trade bible Screen International, he was promoted to report and analyse UK box-office results, as well as carving his own niche with horror movies, attending genre festivals around the world. After moving to Digital Spy, initially as a TV writer, he was nominated for New Digital Talent of the Year at the PPA Digital Awards. He became Movies Editor in 2019, in which role he has interviewed 100s of stars, including Chris Hemsworth, Florence Pugh, Keanu Reeves, Idris Elba and Olivia Colman, become a human encyclopedia for Marvel and appeared as an expert guest on BBC News and on-stage at MCM Comic-Con. Where he can, he continues to push his horror agenda – whether his editor likes it or not.
