In Story is the MCU older than the core Modern Marvel Universe?

[Kusanagi]

Didn't really think about it till after Endgame, don't worry no spoilers here, but with the sliding time scale has say Iron Man in the MCU been around longer than the Fantastic Four in the core canon? Obviously any hero in comics is going to go on more adventures/have more experience, but have they been doing it longer?

I've heard anything from 5 to 15 years have passed since the Fantastic Four appeared, where would you put it at?

[Cville]

Didn't really think about it till after Endgame, don't worry no spoilers here, but with the sliding time scale has say Iron Man in the MCU been around longer than the Fantastic Four in the core canon? Obviously any hero in comics is going to go on more adventures/have more experience, but have they been doing it longer?

From Marvel wiki

"Current Measurement

Based on the Sliding Timescale and until October 2017 the events of Fantastic Four #1 happened 14 years ago. At this present time the start of the Modern Age "started" in the year 2002 until November 2017.

The timescale will slide forward as the events of Fantastic Four #1 will have happened 15 years ago and will continue to be considered fifteen years until November 2021. As the next four years move forward the "start" of the Sliding Timescale will bump forward each year. 2003 in the year 2018, 2004 in 2019, 2005 in 2020 and so on. "

[JKtheMac]

Didn't really think about it till after Endgame, don't worry no spoilers here, but with the sliding time scale has say Iron Man in the MCU been around longer than the Fantastic Four in the core canon? Obviously any hero in comics is going to go on more adventures/have more experience, but have they been doing it longer?

I've heard anything from 5 to 15 years have passed since the Fantastic Four appeared, where would you put it at?

According to the "All-New Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe" definition which of course is not actually official, it is 15 years. However I always try my hardest to ignore the sliding timescale because it is the most vague of rules of thumb.

[Revolutionary_Jack]

Didn't really think about it till after Endgame, don't worry no spoilers here, but with the sliding time scale has say Iron Man in the MCU been around longer than the Fantastic Four in the core canon? Obviously any hero in comics is going to go on more adventures/have more experience, but have they been doing it longer?

I've heard anything from 5 to 15 years have passed since the Fantastic Four appeared, where would you put it at?

The MCU has real-time aging and passage. Since Iron Man 1 came out in 2007 and Endgame in 2019, Iron Man has been operating for some 12 years. At least before Endgame. Within Endgame,

spoilers:

You have the 5 year time slip, so Iron Man has been operating from 2007-2023, that's 16 years, so yeah, MCU Iron Man has been a hero longer than the FF have

end of spoilers

[Inversed]

In continuity, here is the official timeline for the MCU:

spoilers:

1940s: Captain America: The First Avenger 1990s: Captain Marvel 2010: Iron Man 2011: Iron Man 2, Thor, The Incredible Hulk 2012: Captain America: The First Avenger (epilogue), The 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, Black Panther, Spider-Man: Homecoming, Doctor Strange (first half) 2017: Doctor Strange (second half), Thor: Ragnarok 2018: Ant-Man And The Wasp, Avengers: Infinity War, Avengers: Endgame (prologue) 2023: Avengers: Endgame, Spider-Man: Far From Home So starting with the first Iron Man, technically the core of the MCU has been going for 13 years, so still a bit shorter than the "official" timeline for the 616 universe, which is about 15 years.

end of spoilers

[Frontier]

In-universe the clearest indicator of the progression of the sliding timescale is Peter Parker's age, where he started at age 15 and is now almost about to hit 30.

[Digifiend]

The MCU has real-time aging and passage. Since Iron Man 1 came out in 2007 and Endgame in 2019, Iron Man has been operating for some 12 years. At least before Endgame.

Iron Man was released in 2008.

[Revolutionary_Jack]

Iron Man was released in 2008.

Thanks for the correction.

In-universe the clearest indicator of the progression of the sliding timescale is Peter Parker's age, where he started at age 15 and is now almost about to hit 30.

Officially Spider-Man's age is mid-20s in the current comics and that's all he will be as far as Marvel editorial goes. Remember that when Peter became Spider-Man, the FF were already active and world-famous and respected. ASM#1 established that ASM#3 has Johnny Storm show up as an older kid (college kid to Peter's high schooler) to Peter.

In Spider-Man's continuity, 10 years at most have passed. In FF, it's 15. The biggest headache is of course the Original X-Men since they were teen compadres of Peter who are now older than him (Jean, Iceman, Hank, Cyclops, Angel).

[Inversed]

Officially Spider-Man's age is mid-20s in the current comics and that's all he will be as far as Marvel editorial goes. Remember that when Peter became Spider-Man, the FF were already active and world-famous and respected. ASM#1 established that ASM#3 has Johnny Storm show up as an older kid (college kid to Peter's high schooler) to Peter.

In Spider-Man's continuity, 10 years at most have passed. In FF, it's 15. The biggest headache is of course the Original X-Men since they were teen compadres of Peter who are now older than him (Jean, Iceman, Hank, Cyclops, Angel).

I feel like the absolute bear minimum you could say regarding Spider-Man is about 12 years, since Spider-Verse says its been at least 10 years, and there has been 2 years of confirmed in universe passing of time since then.

[charliehustle415]

From Marvel wiki

"Current Measurement

Based on the Sliding Timescale and until October 2017 the events of Fantastic Four #1 happened 14 years ago. At this present time the start of the Modern Age "started" in the year 2002 until November 2017.

The timescale will slide forward as the events of Fantastic Four #1 will have happened 15 years ago and will continue to be considered fifteen years until November 2021. As the next four years move forward the "start" of the Sliding Timescale will bump forward each year. 2003 in the year 2018, 2004 in 2019, 2005 in 2020 and so on. "

Whoa, I never knew this. So when did this current cycle start and when did the last one end?

Was it with Hickman's Secret Wars?

[Revolutionary_Jack]

I feel like the absolute bear minimum you could say regarding Spider-Man is about 12 years, since Spider-Verse says its been at least 10 years, and there has been 2 years of confirmed in universe passing of time since then.

Eventually those numbers are gonna be downplayed, un-referred to, and neglected. In later runs, those stuff will not be referred to and writers and later editors will refit and readjust the timescale to their preference.

Peter started being Spider-Man at age 15...he's now mid-20s i.e. between 24-27. The last time he definitely aged is when he got married, when writers realized that he had to be mid-20s once he got married, and Post-OMD they still had to mention or keep that. All of JMS' run, Slott's run, Spencer's run, and whatever comes follow take place in that ambiguous four year stretch between 24-27.

Whoa, I never knew this. So when did this current cycle start and when did the last one end?

Marvel's policy would be to not answer that outright and wait for a no-prize from a fan to do it for them for free. Basically there's no real marker and so on, and not even a cycle. Nothing definite and set in stone and nothing that won't be adhered to later on.

[Snoop Dogg]

It's been 10 years.

[bat39]

I don't think a comparision is really fair, because the Marvel Universe and the MCU are very different kinds of narratives.

The comic-book MU will always have the 'illusion of change'. Characters will grow and evolve, but periodically cycle back to the 'classic' status quo. Whereas the MCU, so far, has been an ongoing narrative where characters grow and evolve in real-time and stay that way and there's lasting change without a need to return to some 'classic' status quo.

Endgame typifies the difference between them better than anything.

spoilers:

So in Endgame, there's a five-year time jump early on. After half the universe is wiped out, between 2018 and 2023, Tony Stark hangs up his armor, marries Pepper, and they raise a child named Morgan together. In the end, Tony returns as Iron Man one last time as part of the plan to bring everyone back, and dies in the process, bringing his story to an end. So in-universe, Tony has a clear story, that begins with the humvee in Afghanistan and ends with him sacrificing his life while wielding the Infinity Gauntlet. Contrast this with the Marvel Universe where he can't really have an ending. Tony may go through all kinds of changes, cycle through a bunch of different armors and status quos, and then cycle back to a more 'classic' status quo, but ultimately, he has to continue to be more or less in the same place he was in 1963, with some superficial updates of course. Even his beginnings need to be constantly retconned, fudged or ignored thanks to the sliding timescale.

end of spoilers

Not trying to knock the comic-book universe. Just saying it has different compulsions from a live-action cinematic universe.

[JKtheMac]

I don't think a comparision is really fair, because the Marvel Universe and the MCU are very different kinds of narratives.

The comic-book MU will always have the 'illusion of change'. Characters will grow and evolve, but periodically cycle back to the 'classic' status quo. Whereas the MCU, so far, has been an ongoing narrative where characters grow and evolve in real-time and stay that way and there's lasting change without a need to return to some 'classic' status quo.

Actually I am not so sure this is true. The Illusion Of Change mantra is slowly dying. The best writers are not really interested in writing books that effectively go nowhere. We have been witnessing some quite large change to major characters for a few years now. While it is still a game of seeing what takes and what doesn't I don't think the editors can make the Illusion of Change work for them forever.

From my perspective the whole idea was a dead end from the moment it became more than just something Stan Lee said while doing pretty much the opposite, and instead became a guiding principle in the editorial offices. For around 2-3 decades from the late eighties to maybe ten years ago, this philosophy held sway. We are in a period of change in the industry right now, where the whole idea is being tested to see exactly how much change the market actually wants.

[PCN24454]

Actually I am not so sure this is true. The Illusion Of Change mantra is slowly dying. The best writers are not really interested in writing books that effectively go nowhere. We have been witnessing some quite large change to major characters for a few years now. While it is still a game of seeing what takes and what doesn't I don't think the editors can make the Illusion of Change work for them forever.

From my perspective the whole idea was a dead end from the moment it became more than just something Stan Lee said while doing pretty much the opposite, and instead became a guiding principle in the editorial offices. For around 2-3 decades from the late eighties to maybe ten years ago, this philosophy held sway. We are in a period of change in the industry right now, where the whole idea is being tested to see exactly how much change the market actually wants.

As a fan of MC2, I would love change. It justifies why there are so many legacy characters. Plus, it breaks the cycle of characters quitting and returning.