Ok, bear with us... Welcome to WatchMojo, today we’re looking at the timeline of the Marvel Cinematic Universe! We’re issuing a spoiler warning right at the top for all Marvel films and TV shows.
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00:00Without the TVA, everything burns."
00:07Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're looking at the timeline of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
00:12We're issuing a spoiler warning right at the top for all Marvel films and TV shows.
00:17Avengers!
00:24Assemble.
00:26Before we start breaking down the timeline,
00:28we should establish what exactly we'll be talking about. Since this is a multiverse,
00:32there is an ever-expanding amount of universes with their own timelines splitting off,
00:36with characters occasionally crossing over into each other's timelines.
00:40"...the Sacred Timeline. I assume I'm going to marvel at how cinematic it feels?"
00:48For our purposes, we'll be looking at what has been dubbed the Sacred Timeline among
00:52other designations, including 616 or 199999, depending on who you ask.
00:58"...Ray. Ray. Ray."
01:01Nevertheless, we will be looking at important events from all major timelines. Before time
01:06and the universe as we know it existed, there was a formless void of complete
01:10darkness that would come to be known by the Asgardians as the Ginnungagap.
01:15"...long before the birth of light, there was darkness."
01:19Despite predating existence, two primordial races lived in the void,
01:24the Celestials and the Dark Elves. There also existed six singularities which would become
01:29the Infinity Stones. Then, roughly 13 billion years ago, the Celestial Arishem, the Judge,
01:35created the universe. Arishem would go on to create stars to bring light to the universe,
01:39and a race known as the Deviants to help birth future Celestials.
01:43"...It is time."
01:45However, the Deviants became violent and erratic, and the synthetic race of Eternals was created to
01:50eradicate and replace them. The Dark Elves attempted to bring the universe back to darkness,
01:55but were beaten back by the Asgardian King Bor.
01:58"...The noble armies of Asgard, led by my father King Bor,
02:02waged a mighty war against these creatures."
02:05Over the millennia, a number of civilizations arose and spread across the cosmos,
02:10some of the most prominent of which were the Asgardians and the Kree,
02:13who each conquered large chunks of the universe through force.
02:17"...A thousand years of war between us will not be forgotten."
02:21"...You can't do this! Our government signed a peace treaty!"
02:26"...My government knows no shame."
02:28Both would eventually make their way to Earth, a planet selected by the Celestials to birth
02:32another of their kind early in human history. They weren't the only ones, however, as all walks
02:37of alien and interdimensional life, from dragons to beings of pure light, would arrive on Earth,
02:43as would a pair of meteors made of pure vibranium, a miraculous and nearly indestructible substance.
02:49"...Millions of years ago, a meteorite made of vibranium,
02:54the strongest substance in the universe, struck the continent of Africa,
03:01affecting the plant life around it."
03:03One landed in Africa and helped the nation of Wakanda advance at an astounding rate,
03:08while the other landed in the Atlantic Ocean. Eventually, King Odin, the son of Bor,
03:12after years of war, halted his bloody conquest. However, his fiercest warrior,
03:17his daughter Hela, refused to end the slaughter and was imprisoned.
03:20"...Simply because my ambition outgrew his, he banished me, caged me, locked me away like an animal."
03:28Over the centuries, organizations, some noble, some nefarious, rose up on Earth,
03:33including the masters of the mystic arts, the Hand and the Chaste.
03:37The Kree, who were locked in an intergalactic war, genetically altered a number of humans,
03:42who would eventually become known as Inhumans, to be used as foot soldiers.
03:46"...It was in that moment my world had changed forever.
03:54Kree Reapers brought me back to their ship and began the experiment."
03:57The most powerful Inhuman, known as Hive, rebelled against his oppressors and freed
04:02his people from the Kree, but was ultimately banished to an alien planet by humanity.
04:06A cult-worshipping Hive began searching for a monolith that would return him to Earth so
04:11he could rule over the world. In roughly 1100 AD, a warrior named Shu Wenwu used a powerful
04:17and mysterious weapon known as the Ten Rings to gain influence the world over,
04:21naming his army after the item.
04:30Meanwhile, on the planet Titan, Thanos predicted society would fall apart unless
04:34half the population was randomly killed. His plan was quickly rejected,
04:38but his prediction came to pass, and he set off on a mission to wipe out half the universe.
04:43"...With all six stones, I could simply snap my fingers.
04:48They would all cease to exist, and I call that mercy."
04:54"...And then what?"
04:57"...I finally rest."
04:59On Earth, in the 1500s, Mayans fleeing from Spanish conquistadors founded the
05:03undersea kingdom of Talocan by using vibranium, thus cutting themselves off from the outside world.
05:09"...The plant took away their ability to breathe air, but enabled them to draw oxygen from the sea.
05:19They settled in the ocean, away from war and diseases."
05:25Over the years, Hive's cult had been transformed into a science division of the Nazi army in World
05:30War II run by Johann Schmidt, a.k.a. the Red Skull. The super soldier Captain America,
05:35along with Peggy Carter and Howard Stark, defeated the Red Skull. While the captain
05:39was lost and presumed dead after battling Red Skull, Carter and Stark would help create the
05:44agency S.H.I.E.L.D. in order to combat HYDRA as well as other global threat. Nevertheless,
05:48HYDRA managed to infiltrate S.H.I.E.L.D. and a number of other worldwide organizations.
05:54"...But I think it's time you know the truth.
06:00S.H.I.E.L.D. is not what we thought it was. It's been taken over by HYDRA."
06:04Also during World War II, but in another timeline, Sebastian Shaw killed fellow mutant Eric
06:09Lensherr's parents in an attempt to bring out Eric's magnetic powers. Shaw would form a cult,
06:14the Hellfire Club, and Eric would strike up a lifelong bond with Charles Xavier.
06:18After working together to defeat the Hellfire Club and taking on the name of Magneto,
06:22Eric would found the Brotherhood of Mutants, and Xavier would form the X-Men.
06:27Over the decades, they would face off countless times.
06:30"...The war is still coming, Charles, and I intend to fight it.
06:36By any means necessary. And I will always be there, old friend."
06:45In other timelines, in the 1990s and 2000s, heroes like Spider-Man, the Fantastic Four,
06:51Blade, and countless others were the only superheroes on their respective Earths.
06:55Back in 616, the power of an Infinity Stone, the Space Stone, would turn test pilot Carol Danvers
07:02into the superpowered Captain Marvel in 1989. However, she would lose her memory for six years.
07:08"...Now you understand."
07:11"...What? What do I understand now?"
07:13In 2008, the son of Howard Stark, Tony, would use his and his father's research to create
07:19the Iron Man suit and usher in the age of superheroes.
07:22"...Test complete. Preparing to power down and begin diagnostics."
07:25"...Uh, yeah, tell you what, do a weather and ATC check, start listening in on ground control."
07:30"...Sir, there are still terabytes of calculations needed before an actual flight is adjourned."
07:34"...Jarvis, sometimes you gotta run before you can walk."
07:37After a failed attempt to recreate the super soldier program,
07:41scientist Bruce Banner would turn into the green monster the Hulk,
07:44while Odin's son Thor would find a second home on Earth. With the help of Nick Fury,
07:48the director of S.H.I.E.L.D., they would come together to stop an alien army led
07:52by Thor's brother Loki, attempting to conquer the world.
07:55"...The idea was to bring together a group of remarkable people,
08:01see if they could become something more.
08:05See if they could work together when we needed them to, to fight the battles that we never could."
08:11Unbeknownst to them, the alien army was given to Loki by Thanos as part of his plan to obtain
08:17all six Infinity Stones. The heroes, dubbed the Avengers,
08:20would defeat Loki's army in a battle at New York City.
08:23"...If it's all the same to you, I'll have that drink now."
08:30As the battle was raging, an Avengers team from the future would travel back in time to attempt
08:35to secure the Infinity Stones, thus creating a new timeline and a variant version of Loki.
08:41"...On behalf of the Time Variance Authority,
08:43I hereby arrest you for crimes against the sacred timeline.
08:47Hands up. You're coming with us."
08:51"...I'm sorry, who's us?"
08:55"...Last chance, variant."
08:56Not long after, Thor would prevent the Dark Elves from destroying the universe,
09:01and a group of space-faring misfits would come together to create the Guardians of the Galaxy.
09:05"...You're immortal. How?"
09:09"...You said it yourself, bitch. We're the Guardians of the Galaxy."
09:13Hela would escape her imprisonment after Odin's death, but was defeated by Loki and Thor.
09:18Around the same time, a group of street-level heroes was able to defeat the ancient evil
09:22organization The Hand. Despite the best efforts of the Avengers, the Guardians, and others,
09:27Thanos obtained all six stones and erased half the universe's population from existence.
09:33Five years later, however, thanks to some time-traveling antics, the Avengers and their
09:37allies were able to restore those who had been snapped out of existence after a climactic battle.
09:42"...Avengers!"
09:49"...Assemble."
09:50After Thanos' defeat and the sudden return of half the universe,
09:54things would never be the same, with one of the side effects being the emergence
09:58of the Celestial within Earth.
10:00"...Our plan is to put Tiamat to sleep, not to kill it. I can't kill a Celestial."
10:05However, the very group tasked with overseeing its emergence, the Eternals,
10:09prevented it, thus saving the Earth and all who lived there. New heroes like Moon Knight,
10:14She-Hulk, a new Captain America, and Shang-Chi, who defeated his father Shu Wenwu, emerged.
10:19"...Do you have the rings?"
10:22"...Uh, yeah, yes."
10:24"...Good. Let's go. We have a lot to talk about."
10:27Timelines began to become muddled with the likes of Spider-Man,
10:30Doctor Strange, and Deadpool hopping between dimensions. Even further into the future,
10:35alternate realities like one where mutants become extinct, or humanity clinging to
10:39life in space after the world was destroyed, played out.
10:42"...We didn't travel through space."
10:45"...You've seen what I'm seeing."
10:46"...I know, Mae. I recognize all of these constellations. I meant that."
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11:10Things get even more complicated when looking at the far future and the end of time,
11:15when versions of the tyrannical Kang the Conqueror waged interdimensional war in the 31st century.
11:20"...Each variant fighting to preserve their universe and annihilate the others.
11:28This is almost the end."
11:30One version, known as He Who Remains, claimed victory and took up a throne at the end of time.
11:35He also created the Time Variance Authority outside of time and space to protect his interest.
11:40"...I keep you safe. And if you think I'm evil, well, just wait till you meet my variants."
11:55Those pruned by the TVA were sent to a void at the end of time filled with variants of heroes,
12:01the powerful sister of Charles Xavier, Cassandra Nova, and the monster Alioth.
12:05After the death of He Who Remains, the variant Loki took the throne at the end of time,
12:10sacrificing his freedom to ensure the eternal protection of the infinitely expanding timelines.
12:16Did we skip over anything important? Let us know in the comments below.
12:20"...I can do this all day."
12:21"...Yeah, I know. I know."
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