The Marvel Cinematic Universe timeline was hard to keep track of before a universe-changing event occurred in Avengers: Endgame, prompting the main chronology of the series to skip five years ahead mid-movie. Now we’re on the other side of “the Blip,” and the five-year time jump it prompted, but what does that mean for the latest MCU movies and TV shows, including Spider-Man: No Way Home? Let’s break it down, year by year.
MCU: 2018
Endgame begins in 2018, not too long after the events of Infinity War where half the universe was “blipped” out of existence with a snap of Thanos’ fingers.
MCU: 2019-2022
While we have gotten some glimpses into life in the MCU during the Blip, for the most part, none of the MCU stories take place during this time. Many have compared this fictional period to the real-life experience of living during a pandemic, especially during lockdown when it can feel like time is standing still.
MCU: 2023
The bulk of Avengers: Endgame takes place in the fall of 2023, as the remaining Avengers work to reverse Thanos’ snap and bring back all of the people lost in the Blip. This is also the year in which the events of WandaVision take place, a few weeks after the end of Endgame as Wanda struggles to process the death of Vision.
MCU: 2024
Falcon and the Winter Soldier takes place six months after the events of Endgame, which means it is set circa April 2024. While many theorize that Shang-Chi takes place in 2023, my money is actually on 2024; if this were taking place in the final months of 2023, we would be seeing more immediate post-Blip effects.
Spider-Man: Far From Home takes place eight months after the main events of Endgame, which puts it in the summer of 2024. The main events of Marvel’s Eternals are also set during this time period.
Spider-Man: No Way Home picks up directly after the events of Far From Home, which means it also takes place in 2024, though heading into the start-of-school/fall season.
Hawkeye is set at the end of 2024, during the Christmas season. It sees Clint Barton dealing with the consequences of his tenure as Ronin, the vigilante alter-ego he took on during the Blip.
While the MCU’s post-Blip timeline is already a bit of a headache, especially given that the chronology of the TV show or movies’ releases has not always coincided with the chronology of the in-universe world, things might get even more complicated with Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. It’s been hard enough to keep track of the MCU timeline without adding in other universes. It’s been fun, kids.