Timeline Explained

The Infinity Saga In-Universe Timeline: 1943 to 2023, Year by Year

Twenty-three films, eighty years of in-universe history and a five-year hole in the middle. The Infinity Saga arranged the way it actually happened.

MR Meera Raghavan 10 min read 44,700 views
The Infinity Saga In-Universe Timeline: 1943 to 2023, Year by Year

The Infinity Saga covers twenty-three films across Phases 1 to 3, released between 2008 and 2019. Arranged by in-universe year rather than release date, it spans from a Norwegian church in 1942 to a funeral on a lake in 2023 — with detours to 5000 BC, 1988, 1989, 1992, 1995 and 1999 along the way.

This is that chronology, laid out properly, with the flashbacks separated from the main spine so the shape is actually visible.

Before the Modern Era

YearEventWhere it appears
c. 2988 BCOdin and Hela's conquest of the Nine Realms; Odin imprisons herThor: Ragnarok
c. 2988 BCOdin takes the infant Loki from Jotunheim after the warThor
c. 2988 BCBor defeats Malekith and the Dark Elves; the Aether is hiddenThor: The Dark World
1942Johann Schmidt takes the Tesseract from Tønsberg, NorwayCaptain America: The First Avenger
1943–1945Steve Rogers becomes Captain America; the Howling Commandos; the crashCaptain America: The First Avenger
1988Peter Quill's mother dies; he is abducted from EarthGuardians of the Galaxy
1989Hank Pym resigns from S.H.I.E.L.D.; Janet van Dyne is lost in the Quantum RealmAnt-Man
1991Howard and Maria Stark are killed by the Winter SoldierCaptain America: Civil War
1992N'Jobu is killed in Oakland by T'ChakaBlack Panther
1995Carol Danvers regains her memory; Nick Fury loses an eye; the Avengers Initiative is namedCaptain Marvel
1999Tony Stark meets Aldrich Killian and Maya Hansen in BernIron Man 3

2010–2015: The Assembly Years

YearFilmWhat it establishes
2010Iron ManTony Stark builds the first armour and reveals his identity publicly
2011Iron Man 2Palladium poisoning, Vanko, and the Avengers Initiative moving from concept to file
2011The Incredible HulkBanner on the run; the Abomination; General Ross
2011ThorThor's exile to Earth; Loki takes the throne and falls
2012The AvengersThe Battle of New York; the Tesseract; the world learns aliens exist
Dec 2012Iron Man 3The Mandarin deception; Tony's post-New York panic disorder
2013Thor: The Dark WorldThe Aether identified as the Reality Stone; Frigga's death
2014Captain America: The Winter SoldierHYDRA inside S.H.I.E.L.D.; the agency collapses
2014Guardians of the GalaxyThe Power Stone; Ronan; the team forms on Xandar
2014Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2Ego; Yondu's death — months after the first film
2015Avengers: Age of UltronUltron; the Battle of Sokovia; Vision is created
2015Ant-ManScott Lang inherits the suit; the Quantum Realm is entered and survived

2016–2017: The Fracture

The most compressed stretch in the entire saga. Five films occupy roughly eighteen months of in-universe time, and four of them overlap.

  1. Captain America: Civil War — 2016. The Sokovia Accords split the team; Zemo's revenge; T'Challa and Peter Parker debut.
  2. Black Widow — 2016, immediately after Civil War, with Natasha on the run in Europe. Released in Phase 4, set here.
  3. Black Panther — 2016, one week after Civil War. Wakanda's succession crisis and Killmonger.
  4. Spider-Man: Homecoming — 2016, a few months after Civil War, despite the film's erroneous '8 years later' card.
  5. Doctor Strange — 2016 into 2017, running from Strange's accident to his confrontation with Dormammu.
  6. Thor: Ragnarok — 2017, ending with the Statesman intercepted by Thanos' ship, which is where Infinity War begins.

2018: The Snap

Infinity War takes place across a matter of days in 2018 and ends with half of all life erased. Ant-Man and the Wasp runs immediately before it and ends during it — Scott Lang is in the Quantum Realm when the Snap hits, stranding him there. The first act of Endgame picks up days later, with Thanos killed in a farmhouse on the Garden and the stones already destroyed.

The Infinity Saga's boldest structural move is that its final film starts by losing. Twenty-two films of build-up, and the twenty-third opens with the heroes already beaten.

2018–2023: The Gap

Five years pass. The saga's last film covers them in a montage and a title card, and Phase 4 spends four years unpacking them. Our full explainer on the Blip covers who was where and what the world became.

2023: Endgame

  • Scott Lang returns from the Quantum Realm having experienced five hours.
  • The time heist revisits 2012 New York, 2013 Asgard, 2014 Morag and Vormir, and 1970 Camp Lehigh — and creates the branch that produces Loki's series.
  • Natasha Romanoff dies on Vormir. Her death is not reversible.
  • Bruce Banner snaps everyone back: the Blip.
  • The 2014 Thanos arrives through time and is destroyed at the Battle of Earth. Tony Stark dies.
  • Steve Rogers returns the stones, stays in the past, and reappears as an old man to hand the shield to Sam Wilson.

The Saga's Actual Shape

Laid out chronologically, the Infinity Saga is not a steadily escalating line. It is a long, slow assembly from 2010 to 2015, a violent eighteen-month collapse across 2016 and 2017, a single catastrophic year in 2018, and then a five-year void followed by one day in 2023 that resolves everything. Almost half the total in-universe duration of the saga is a gap the films decline to dramatise.

Worth remembering when people call Phase 4 unfocused: Phase 4 is the phase that had to live inside that gap's consequences. Our Phase 4 and 5 placement guide shows how densely the years 2024 to 2027 are packed as a result.

For the full list including the series and the alternate realities, see our complete chronological watch order.

Infinity SagaMCU TimelineChronologyExplainedPhase 3

Frequently asked

How many films are in the Infinity Saga?
Twenty-three, spanning Phases 1 to 3, from Iron Man in 2008 to Spider-Man: Far From Home in 2019. In-universe they cover 1943 to 2024, with flashbacks reaching back to 5000 BC.
What year is Iron Man set in?
2010, according to the MCU's official in-universe placement, despite the film releasing in 2008. It is the earliest film in the modern era of the timeline.
Which Infinity Saga films happen in the same year?
Several. The Incredible Hulk, Iron Man 2 and Thor all take place in 2011 and are effectively concurrent. Civil War, Black Widow, Black Panther and Spider-Man: Homecoming all sit in 2016. Guardians of the Galaxy and its sequel both take place in 2014.
Is Spider-Man: Far From Home part of the Infinity Saga?
Yes. It is the closing film of Phase 3 and the Infinity Saga, set in 2024, roughly eight months after Endgame — which makes it chronologically later than several Phase 4 titles.

Characters in this story

Hulk poster art

Hulk

Robert Bruce Banner

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