Marvel Cinematic Universe Timeline

Introduction

First, I'm doing this because my fic 'Regenerate' takes place in the MCU and I like an air of accuracy. Second, Spiderman: Homecoming screwed everything up and I need a written way of making sense of it all.

In this book, each "Phase" consists of a brief timeline of its movies. Chapters between Phases will discuss films individually with their year of release in the title. A few special chapters will discuss specific timeline subjects. The final chapter will have the complete* timeline by year. Exclusions from this timeline are all Marvel television series unrelated to the MCU and anything produced by Fox or Sony. I will occasionally use "Agents of SHIELD" as a reference.

In "proving" my version of the timeline to be accurate (there can never be a perfect MCU timeline) I will provide resources, screenshots, character quotes, in-story weather conditions, and other indicators as to time of year.** Quotes and dates can be debated, but I will always point to the weather as a good indicator of time of year in a movie. Some sources also refer to things like music to date the films (i.e. Tony Stark listens to this song, therefore he exists in a time after it was released), but I do not consider those reliable indicators. Our universe is obviously not the MCU, therefore that universe does not follow our timeline.

UPDATE: Since Marvel's been revising the timeline themselves, on some chapters I will add their date as well as mine when the evidence contradicts itself.

I will NOT be debating with anyone in the comments as this book is the result of endless debate already. I WILL base this timeline on the facts to the best of my ability, not your or anyone else's opinions. I've been in this dumb fandom since '08 and have heard all the arguments.

I will NOT rely on what the directors, producers, or other creators say about the timelines. They regularly contradict themselves and only say that stuff for promotional purposes. Many timelines take these statements too seriously without researching the films themselves.

I WILL respond to honest inquiries and questions about the timeline, the movies, or why I'm wasting precious hours pursuing this pointless endeavor, as long as we don't end up in a debate. Additional MCU questions can also be asked of doesnotloveyou.tumblr.com/ask.

I will NOT write your fanfic for you, personally help you plan it, or answer writing questions of any kind.

I do hope this helps other Marvelites make sense of the movies and write fics chronologically. I apologize in advance if there are times when I don't make much sense and/or rant.

P.S. Your fic need not be chronologically or canonically accurate for you to write it. This is just if you want it to be.

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*Or as complete as can be until I stop updating.

**Resources and alternate timelines will be listed in the Bibliography.