The Marvel Cinematic Universe is a shared fictional universe which crosses over superhero films independently produced by Marvel Studios. The timeline below chronicles the major events that led to each disparate Marvel Universe character to the Avengers film produced by Marvel Studios. Avenger team members include Captain America, Thor, Hulk, Iron Man, Hawkeye, and Black Widow.

Contents 1 Timeline 1.1 965 A.D. 1.2 1918 1.3 1924 1.4 1930 1.5 1930 1.6 1933 1.7 1934 1.8 1939 1.9 1942 1.10 1943 1.11 1944 1.12 1945 1.13 1963 1.14 1967 1.15 1969 1.16 1970s 1.17 1980s 1.18 1990s - 2005 1.19 2006 1.20 2009 1.21 2010 2 Movies 3 References to the broader Marvel Cinematic Universe 3.1 Captain America: The First Avenger 3.2 Iron Man 3.3 Iron Man 2 3.4 The Incredible Hulk 3.5 The Consultant 3.6 A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Thor's Hammer 3.7 Thor 3.8 The Avengers

TimelineEdit

965 A.D.Edit

• The monstrous race known as the Frost Giants attacks a Norwegian village with the Casket of Ancient Winters in the first step of their plan to conquer the Nine Realms. The Asgardians, led by their king, Odin, step in and defeat the Jotuns and banish them back to Jotunheim, and confiscate the Casket of Ancient Winters to leave them powerless. (Thor)
• After defeating Laufey, Odin takes his child Loki and raises him alongside Thor as his own son. (Thor)

1918Edit

• Steve Rogers is born. (Captain America: The First Avenger)
• Between September 1917 and November 1918.
  • Joe Rogers die from a Mustard Gas attack with the 107th during WWI. (Captain America: The First Avenger)

1924Edit

• June 1st
  • In Hell's Kitchen, Manhattan, a young Steve Rogers talks to his mother about his father. Soon after, his mother dies from tuberculosis and Rogers is sent to an orphanage. (Captain America: First Vengeance, Digital Comic #1)

1930Edit

• January 1st
  • Dr. Abraham Erskine works in a German university doing research into the Super Soldier Serum. (Captain America: The First Avenger)

1930Edit

• September 1st
  • In Hell's Kitchen, Manhattan, Steve meets James Buchanan "Bucky" Barnes during a back ally scuffle with some bullies. The two become friends. (Captain America: First Vengeance, Digital Comic #1)

1933Edit

• Johann Schmidt begins searching for the Tesseract/Cosmic Cube. (Captain America: The First Avenger)

1934Edit

• June 30th
  • Johann Schmidt assassinates Erst Kaufmann and seizes control of his weapons program. (Captain America: First Vengeance, Digital Comic #3)
• July 5th
  • Schmidt and SS troops attack a SA Weapons Testing Ground at Kummersdorf where he finds and recruits advanced exo-skeleton battle armour researcher Arnim Zola. (Captain America: First Vengeance, Digital Comic #4)
  • Howard Stark founds Stark Industries with Obadiah Stane. (Iron Man)
  • Johann Schmidt takes part in an test involving Erskine and his Super Soldier Serum which turns Schmidt into what he would become known as the Red Skull. (Captain America: The First Avenger)

1939Edit

• September 1st
  • War World II begins.

1942Edit

• November
  • Johann Schmidt recovers the Cosmic Cube. (Captain America: The First Avenger)
  • Steve Rogers is recruited by Abraham Erskine into the trials to determine the first test subject. (Captain America: The First Avenger)
• December
  • Johann Schmidt and Arnim Zola successfully transfer energy from the Cosmic Cube into their HYDRA weapons. (Captain America: The First Avenger)
  • Steve Rogers is injected with the Super Soldier Serum. Heinz Kruger assasinates Erskine on Schmidt's orders. (Captain America: The First Avenger)

1943Edit

• Howard Stark hosts the first Stark World Expo. (Iron Man 2)
• Steve Rogers tours with the USO as Captain America. (Captain America: The First Avenger)
• Captain America arrives in Italy with the USO. (Captain America: The First Avenger)
• Captain America rescues American POWs and first encounters the Red Skull. His success earns him official active duty status. (Captain America: The First Avenger)

1944Edit

• Howard Stark creates a unique Captain America shield and costume. (Captain America: The First Avenger)
• Captain America and US forces raid a HYDRA base. The Red Skull is destroyed when he touches the Cosmic Cube. (Captain America: The First Avenger)
• Captain America crashes into the Arctic. (Captain America: The First Avenger)

1945Edit

• Steve Rogers is presumed dead. (Captain America: The First Avenger)
• Howard Stark discovers the Cosmic Cube. (Captain America: The First Avenger)

1963Edit

• Anton Vanko defects to the US and begins work with Howard Stark in developing Arc Reactor technology. (Iron Man 2)

1967Edit

• Howard Stark deports Anton Vanko as a spy. Vanko returns to the Soviet Union but is exiled to Siberia. (Iron Man 2)

1969Edit

• Bruce Banner is born.

1970sEdit

• Tony Stark is born.
• Howard Stark founds S.H.I.E.L.D.
• Howard Stark hides the secret to perfecting the Arc Reactor in layouts of the Stark Expo for Tony to find. (Iron Man 2)

1980sEdit

• Howard Stark dies when his son Tony is 17. (Iron Man) (Iron Man 2)
• Tony Stark graduates MIT at the top of his class.

1990s - 2005Edit

• Bruce Banner meets Betty Ross while undergrads at Harvard. They begin dating and at one point volunteer for an experiment involving hallucinogenics. (The Incredible Hulk)
• Tony Stark inherits Stark Industries becoming, at age 21, the youngest C.E.O. of a Fortune 500 company. In addition to the company’s numerous military contracts, Stark Industries also does pioneering work in medical technology and in combating world hunger with their Intelli-Crops program. In the process he becomes somewhat of a media celebrity.
• General Ross revives the Super Soldier program to make humans immune to Gamma radiation. (The Incredible Hulk)
• Dr. Bruce Banner and Betty Ross, joins the group at Culver University in Willowdale, VA in southwestern Virginia working on way to strengthen cellular resistance to radiation. (The Incredible Hulk)

2006Edit

• A gamma radiation accident transformed scientist Bruce Banner into the Hulk. During his ensuing rampage, Banner hospitalizes his then lover, Betty Ross, General Ross' daughter. Banner goes on the run from General Thaddeus Ross, who wants to use Banner's power as a weapon. (The Incredible Hulk)

2009Edit

• May
  • Tony Stark demonstrates his Jericho Missile system in Afghanistan, where he is kidnapped by Ten Rings terrorists. (Iron Man)
  • Stark builds the Iron Man Mark I armor with the help of Dr. Yinsen while being held captive. (Iron Man)
• August
  • Stark escapes using his Iron Man armor prototype and learns the terrorist cell was armed with weapons created by Stark Industries Dismayed, Stark returns to the US and announces he will no longer make weapons. (Iron Man)
• September - October
  • Tony Stark continues to refine his Iron Man armor. (Iron Man)
• October
  • Tony Stark develops Mark II and Mark III Iron Man suits. Stark tests his weapon system on a Ten Rings terrorist cell and learns friend and Stark Industries business partner Obadiah Stane supplied weapons to the terrorists. (Iron Man)
  • Stane retrieves the remains of the Mark I armor from a Ten Rings cell. (Iron Man)
  • Virgina "Pepper" Potts, Tony's friend and secretary, learns that Stane had arranged Tony's kidnapping. Pepper contacts S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Phil Coulson for help. (Iron Man)
  • Stane attacks Pepper and S.H.I.E.L.D. agents with his own Iron Man armor. Tony Stark fights and kills Stane. (Iron Man)
  • At a press conference the day following his showdown with Obadiah Stane, Tony Stark rejects S.H.I.E.L.D.’s constructed alibi for the events of the previous evening and admits to the world that he is Iron Man. (Iron Man)
  • Anton Vanko dies in poverty in Moscow. His son, Ivan, vows revenge on Tony Stark. He begins building his own portable Arc Reactor to power his Whiplash rig. (Iron Man 2)
  • Bruce Banner heads into the Rio De Janeiro favela known as Rocinha, to find a way to clandestinely contact Dr. Samuel Sterns , professor in Cellular Biology Department at NYC’s Grayburn College on the Upper East Side, for help in developing a cure. They communicate using codenames of “Mr. Blue” and “Mr. Green.” (The Incredible Hulk)
  • Tony Stark is confronted by Nick Fury about the “Avengers Initiative.” Stark declines, and Fury calls in Black Widow. (Iron Man 2)

2010Edit

• March
  • Bruce Banner accidentally drops his blood into a soft drink bottle, allowing General Ross to track Banner down, forcing him to flee back to the United States. (The Incredible Hulk)
• April
  • Tony Stark as Iron Man manages to bring about a period of relative peace and is credited by some press as having stabilized East-West relations. Stark realizes that the Paladium core of his Arc Reactor is slowly poisoning him. He begins searching for a cure but keeps his condition a secret. (Iron Man 2)
  • The Stark Expo is opened with plans to run for one year. (Iron Man 2)
  • Tony Stark appears before the Senate Armed Services Committee’s Weaponized Suit Defense Program Hearings chaired by Pennsylvania Senator Stern. Stern pushes Stark to turn the Iron Man suit and technology over to the military but Stark refuses. Stern calls Justin Hammer, C.E.O. of Hammer Industries and Lt. James Rhodes to testify against Tony. Tony testifies that although other countries, including North Korea and Iran are working to replicate the technology, they are years away from being able to do so. He also reveals that Hammer Industries have also had their share of lack-of-success, leading to the cancellation of Hammer Industries’ contacts with the Department of Defense. (Iron Man 2)
  • Tony Stark is attacked by Ivan Vanko in Monaco.(Iron Man 2)
  • Ivan Vanko escapes prison and is hired by Justin Hammer to build Drones based on the Iron Man armor. (Iron Man 2)
  • After Tony Stark drunkenly wields the Iron Man suit at his birthday party, friend and Colonel James Rhodes takes the Mark II armor, briefly fights Stark, and delivers the early model to the US military. (Iron Man 2)
  • Nick Fury meets with Stark regarding the incident and assigns Agent Phil Coulson and Natasha Romanoff (aka Black Widow) to watch over and guard Stark. (Iron Man 2)
  • Justin Hammer turns the Mark II into War Machine (Iron Man 2)
• May
  • Bruce Banner arrives at Culver University to see Betty Ross and continue his research in hiding. (The Incredible Hulk)
  • In Asgard, Frost Giants attack Odin's weapon vault during Thor's coronation. Odin uses the Destroyer to fill the attackers. (Thor)
  • As retribution, Thor and his friends travel to Jotunheim, nearly getting themselves killed. In response to his behavior, Odin banishes Thor and his hammer Mjølnir to Earth. (Thor)
  • Jane Foster and Dr. Erik Selvig detect the wormhole created by Thor's descent and locate Thor in New Mexico. (Thor)
  • Tony Stark solves the problem with the Arc Reactor. Agent Coulson travels to New Mexico. (Iron Man 2)
  • Captain Emil Blonsky is given the Super Soldier Serum and tasked to capture Bruce Banner. (The Incredible Hulk)
  • Tony Stark and James Rhodes fight Ivan Vanko and his Drones at the Stark Expo. Black Widow infiltrates Hammer Industries and disables Vanko's control over War Machine, allowing Rhodes and Stark to defeat and kill Vanko. (Iron Man 2)
  • Pepper has Justin Hammer arrested. (Iron Man 2)
  • On the way to New Mexico, Agent Coulson stops a burglary. (A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Thor’s Hammer)
  • A civilian discovers Mjølnir. Agent Coulson finds it shortly after and calls in S.H.I.E.L.D. (Thor)
  • Loki learns of his Frost Giant heritage. When Odin falls into Odinsleep, Loki is given his spear Gungnir and claims control over Asgard. (Thor)
  • A task force including Emil Blonsky attacks Bruce Banner at Culver University. Banner transforms into the Hulk, saving Betty and severely injuring Blonsky, and makes his escape. (The Incredible Hulk)
  • Coulson shuts down Jane Foster's research lab. (Thor)
  • Thor breaks into the S.H.I.E.L.D. station to retrieve Mjølnir. Hawkeye makes his appearance watching over the break-in. Thor is captured and interrogated by Coulson. During his detention, Loki appears to Thor and tells him Odin has died. (Thor)
  • Dr. Selvig helps Thor escape. (Thor)
  • Loki allies himself with Laufey. (Thor)
  • Nick Fury brings Tony Stark into the Avengers Initiative as a consultant. (Iron Man 2)
  • Sif and the Warriors Three, friends to Thor, travel to Earth. (Thor)
  • Loki sends the Destroyer to Earth. Loki turns on Laufey moments before he kills Odin. (Thor)
  • Thor regains his power, defeats the Destroyer, and returns to Asgard. Thor battles Loki and destroys the Bifrost Bridge. Refusing to atone for his sins, Loki allows himself to fall into the void of space. (Thor)
  • Dr. Samuel Stern attempts to cure Bruce Banner. General Ross appears and captures Banner. Emil Blonsky then forces Sterns to inject him with Banner's blood, transforming him into Abomination. During the transformation, Stern also becomes infected with a small amount of Banner's blood. (The Incredible Hulk)
  • Abomination rampages across New York. Banner becomes the Hulk, defeats Abomination, and escapes pursuit (The Incredible Hulk)
  • Loki Laufeyson self-exile brought him into contact with Thanos who gave him knowledge not only of the Tesseract, a cosmic cube left on earth, but also ancient knowledge of more potent magic as well. Thanos gave him a golden spear/scepter with a blue gem that acted both as a weapon and as a mind control device. Thanos introduced Loki to the leader of the Chitauri and the three formed a pact that would allow him to become ruler of the Earth. (The Avengers)
  • Nick Fury recruits Dr. Selvig and shows him the Cosmic Cube. Loki is revealed in the reflection to be controlling Selvig. (Thor)
• June
  • Bruce Banner remains hidden in remote woods as he tries to control the Hulk powers. (The Incredible Hulk)
  • S.H.I.E.L.D. locates Captain America trapped in ice. (Captain America: The First Avenger)
  • The World Security Council requests the release of Emil Blonsky into the Avengers Initiative, blaming his rampage on Banner. Agent Sitwell and Agent Coulson send Tony Stark to meet with General Ross and sabotage the meeting. Annoyed by Stark, Ross refuses to release Blonsky. (The Consultant)
  • Captain America wakes up in a S.H.I.E.L.D. facility and panics, escaping into the streets. Nick Fury explains what happened and recruits Captain America to the Avengers. (Captain America: The First Avenger)

MoviesEdit

In film chronology:

• Captain America: The First Avenger (2011)
• Iron Man (2008)
• Iron Man 2 (2010)
• The Incredible Hulk (2008)
• Marvel One-Shot: A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Thor’s Hammer (2011)
• Thor (2011)
• Marvel One-Shot: The Consultant (2011)
• The Avengers (2012)

References to the broader Marvel Cinematic UniverseEdit

Captain America: The First AvengerEdit

• The Tesseract, or Cosmic Cube - An item said to be the jewel Odin's trophy room.
• Howard Stark - He is Tony Stark's father.

Iron ManEdit

• Nick Fury makes an appearance after the credits, discussing the Avengers Initiative .
• When Tony is taking off his suit, in the background a prototype of Captain America's shield can be seen.
• In the climatic fight scene, you can see the Roxxon Energy Corporation building behind Iron Monger when he shoots Iron Man with his back rocket.

Iron Man 2Edit

• As Nick Fury debriefs Tony near the end of the film, the television screen on the right shows a news report of a destructive aftermath on a university campus. This is the same news report of the Culver University battle caused by the Hulk that was featured midway in the film The Incredible Hulk, indicating that the last moments of Iron Man 2 is concurrent with the events of the later film.
• When Phil Coulson was looking around Tony's workshop he finds a familiar, incompleted shield in a crate. It's heavily hinted to be either Captain America's actual shield or a prototype of it. It was previously featured midway in Iron Man.
• Natasha Romanoff appears as a member of S.H.I.E.L.D.
• In New Mexico, Phil Coulson finds Mjolnir, the magical hammer of Thor, in a crater.
• Nick Fury mentions problems in the southwest region, clearly referencing New Mexico which is where Mjolnir was lying.
• Tony Stark looks at a folder and has "Avengers Initiative" printed on it, again a reference to his upcoming participation with the Avengers.

The Incredible HulkEdit

• Nick Fury's name is seen in the intro.
• Stark Industries logo is also seen in the intro showing they created the Sonic Cannons used later and it is also on the Cyrosync container containing the Super Soldier Serum.
• The S.H.I.E.L.D. logo is seen in the intro, it's again seen when Bruce Banner is being tracked down in New York.
• General Ross talks about a program in World War 2 to create Super Soldiers with the Super Soldier Serum which is obviously refering to the creation of Captain America.
• When General Ross first takes the Super Soldier Serum out of its Cyrosync container, the label on the container says it was developed by Dr. Reinstein, the alias of Abraham Erskine. The label also says the program was called Weapons Plus.
• When General Ross is sitting in a bar, Tony Stark appears and talks to him about The Avengers

The Consultant Edit

• The short uses scenes directly from The Incredible Hulk.

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Thor's HammerEdit

• The Roxxon logo is shown.

ThorEdit

• Erik Selvig references Bruce Banner's gamma incident.
• Clint Barton appears as an agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.
• When The Destroyer arrives on Earth, Jasper Sitwell asks "Is that one of Stark's?"
• Thor makes it clear that S.H.I.E.L.D. can consider him an ally.
• In a post-credits scene, Erik Selvig, under the influence of Loki, is asked by Nick Fury to examine the Tesseract previously used by Johann Schmidt.

The AvengersEdit

• Jane Foster is said to be relocated to a secure SHIELD facility.
• Agent Coulson wields a weapon he claims is reverse engineered from The Destroyer.
• Thanos makes a cameo appearance.

Marvel Cinematic Universe
Released	Iron Man | The Incredible Hulk | Iron Man 2 | Thor | Captain America: The First Avenger | The Avengers
One-Shots	The Consultant | A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Thor’s Hammer
Pre-Production	Iron Man 3 | Thor 2 | Captain America 2 | Ant-Man | Doctor Strange | Other