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The Top 10 Time-Travelers in the Marvel Universe

The past, present, and future have nothing on these characters who have rewritten the rules of time.

You may think of time as a one-way boulevard or a two-way express lane, but the Marvel Universe’s definition is quite different. Our concept of time is like a highway jam-packed with commuters, all shifting back and forth throughout the continuum of spacetime and the Multiverse itself.

While it seems like just about every major character has made a journey to the past (or future), several visitors from various Marvel timelines have traveled to Earth-616 and made a major impact. Here’s our roundup on the Marvel time-travelers who have left a mark on the prime Marvel Universe!

TWO-GUN KID

Since the beginning, the House of Ideas has made space for a variety of genres, including the fan-favorite Western. Series TWO-GUN KID originally saddled up in 1948 and came out sporadically for the next decade-plus showcasing Clay Harder's masked adventures. And, in 1962’s TWO-GUN KID #60 , the title's status quo got upended by introducing Matt Hawk who trained in the ways of the gunfighter and took the name Two-Gun Kid from dime store novels he read (presumably starring Clay Harder). He then went on to have his own adventures, becoming one of the Wild West's most prominent do-gooders.

He and other Western heroes were stunned to find their era visited by Kang the Conqueror , Immortus , Thor , and Moondragon in AVENGERS (1963) #141-144 . After helping the future heroes, Two-Gun asked them to bring him to the future, which they did. Becoming an Avengers reservist, he and Hawkeye: Clint Barton palled around together, but he returned to his home time in AVENGERS #175 after being kidnapped by the Collector .

Back in the Wild West, he assisted an offshoot of his old squad in WEST COAST AVENGERS (1985) #18-23 , dealt with Kang's forces again in AVENGERS FOREVER (1998) , and fought Loki with King T'Challa in BLACK PANTHER (1998) #46-48 . Then, in SHE-HULK (2005) #4 , he returned to the present when She-Hulk requested the Time Variance Authority free him from Limbo. He kicked around for quite a while after that, even getting involved in the first Super Hero Civil War .

THE (ORIGINAL) GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY

Today the Guardians of the Galaxy might be well-known for members like Star-Lord , Gamora , Groot , and Rocket , but when the original squad debuted in MARVEL SUPER-HEROES (1967) #18 , the team looked totally different. That issue introduced the world to Charlie-27 , Martinex , Yondu and “ Major Victory ” Vance Astrovik. The quartet came together in the year 3007 on Earth-691 to combat the Brotherhood of the Badoon invasion of the United Lands of Earth.

While they would eventually go on to star in their own self-titled series that spanned 62 issues , the Guardians made a variety of guest appearances. Having met Captain America , the Thing , and Agent 13: Sharon Carter in MARVEL TWO-IN-ONE (1974) #5 , they appeared in the present in GIANT-SIZE DEFENDERS (1974) #5 . In addition to helping the title team deal with Eelar, a young Vance Astrovik met the team he would eventually join, including his future self!

The Guardians continued to appear in DEFENDERS (1972) #26-29 , though Doctor Strange noted that the coexistence of Vance's younger and older selves was causing problems in the timestream. To fix the issue and help their new companions, the Defenders transported the Guardians to their home time and helped them free the humans to defeat the Badoon on Earth.

Later, the Guardians met with a new group of Earth's Mightiest Heroes to combat Korvac , a villain from their own time period who had attained godlike powers. Throughout the “Korvac Saga” in AVENGERS #167-181 , the Guardians fought valiantly to save the past. Before heading home, they fought alongside Carol Danvers , Spider-Man , and the Thing in MS. MARVEL (1977) #23 , MARVEL TEAM-UP (1972) #86 and MARVEL TWO-IN-ONE (1974) #69 respectively.

Speaking of Korvac: This time-traveler has threatened reality on a variety of occasions! In the aforementioned “Korvac Saga,” he traveled from the future of Earth-691 to Earth-616, but before that, Michael Korvac betrayed humanity to the Badoon who later cut off his legs and fused him to a hovering computer module. Seeking revenge, he decided to take over the Badoon empire, but was first brought to the present by Elder of the Universe Grandmaster in GIANT-SIZE DEFENDERS (1974) #3 . Using his machinery’s ability to absorb energy, he syphoned off some of the Grandmaster’s power, which allowed him to travel through time on his own.

Returning to the present, Korvac visited Galactus ’ ship and managed to absorb some of the Power Cosmic, which allowed him to restore his body and take control of all things. He eventually fought the Avengers and the Guardians but took his own life when he felt that his partner Carina lost faith in him.

Korvac came back in his own time-hopping mini-crossover called “The Korvac Quest” (playing out across FANTASTIC FOUR ANNUAL #24 , THOR ANNUAL #6 , SILVER SURFER ANNUAL #4 and GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY ANNUAL #1 ), but was ultimately turned into a baby in the future. He has returned as an adult to the present several times, including in AVENGERS ACADEMY (2010) #11-12 . Members of the team accidentally transported Carina to their base which drew Korvac's attention. When she rebuked him, it led to a huge battle with all the Avengers involved!

Planning another attack, Korvac went back to Earth-616 and began slowly dismantling time. In GUARDIANS 3000 (2014) , the original Guardians felt it in their own time and went back to discover the cause: Korvac. His plans wound up falling apart because of the Incursions leading into SECRET WARS (2015) . After reality was put back together, he appeared regularly in IRON MAN (2020) and attempted to bring peace to Earth by ending all life. Thankfully, the Armored Avenger and his allies stopped Korvac once more.

OLD MAN LOGAN

More than most super-powered groups, the X-Men are no strangers to time-travelers joining their ranks. One of the more recent additions came from Earth-21923 , a world in which the villains worked together and manipulated Wolverine into killing the X-Men before dividing up the whole nation amongst themselves. Afterwards, Logan attempted to live a normal, non-violent life, but returned to action when an older Hawkeye needed help with a mission. Wolverine ultimately killed the Red Skull of his time but returned home to discover that his wife and children had been murdered by the Hulk Gang.

This “Old Man Logan” version of Wolverine wound up in the Earth-616 present after the entire Multiverse was rewritten during 2015’s SECRET WARS. Though he began a mission of preemptive vengeance almost immediately in the pages of OLD MAN LOGAN (2015) , he slowly allowed himself to be integrated into the larger X-Men family, taking the place of his past self who had died before his arrival. This more experienced, (more tragic) James Howlett regularly appeared in his own book as well as EXTRAORDINARY X-MEN (2015) , X-MEN: GOLD (2017) , and WEAPON X (2017) .

During his time in the present, he met many of Earth’s heroes, and even participated in the Second Superhuman Civil War . In DEAD MAN LOGAN (2018) , the hero said his goodbyes in the present and returned to his future to live out the rest of his life.

KATE PRYDE (EARTH-811)

While many of the characters on this list have made several trips to the present, others managed to change the course of human history in just one journey. In the classic “Days of Future Past” story (1981’s UNCANNY X-MEN #141-142 ), readers were introduced to Earth-811, a possible future in which Senator Robert Kelly, Charles Xavier , and Moira MacTaggert were killed by mutant terrorists on Halloween 1980.

That attack prompted the government to unleash the Sentinels and create three designations for living beings: H (baseline humans), A (anomalous humans), and M (mutants). The mutants that were not killed were placed in concentration camps, but that did not destroy their hope to change the past.

Working with her fellow alternate future X-Men, Kate managed to send her consciousness back to 1980 to inhabit the body of her younger self, Kitty Pryde . She got the attention of the X-Men and explained the future to them, noting that they could fix the whole thing by going to Washington, D.C. to prevent the assassination. They did exactly that by stopping Mystique and the Brotherhood of Mutants . Not bad for a one-time time-traveler!

With origins in yet another future where mutants were rounded up and imprisoned ( Earth-1191 ), Lucas Bishop became a member of the X.S.E. (Xavier Security Enforcers) AKA the mutant police. During one mission he was chasing Trevor Fitzroy , a rebel-turned-criminal mutant whose powers allowed him to travel through time. Bishop wound up in the present as seen in UNCANNY X-MEN #282-283 , and although both of his X.S.E. partners were killed, he succeeded in sending his quarry Fitzroy back to the future. Though initially uneasy of the X-Men, Bishop decided to stick around with the team in hopes of stopping the event that triggers his future.

During his time in the present, Bishop went on scores of missions with the X-Men, but he became incredibly important during the AGE OF APOCALYPSE event as the catalyst for returning everything to the way it had been before Charles Xavier was killed by a time-traveling Legion .

Further down the line, Bishop found himself at the heart of the “Messiah Complex” crossover which featured a variety of factions trying to track down the first mutant born since HOUSE OF M , Hope Summers . Bishop revealed that, in his timeline, this “mutant messiah” would kill one million humans. To that end, he fought against many of his old teammates—including fellow time-traveler Cable —to kill the child Hope. Bishop eventually saw the error of his ways and has since made amends with his fellow X-Men.

[ RELATED :  Bishop's Complete Marvel History ]

On the island of Krakoa , Bishop became an inaugural member of  Kate Pryde’s  Marauders, and added Red Bishop  of the Hellfire Trading Company to his resume. He was also one of Krakoa’s  Great Captains , established by the  Quiet Council of Krakoa . Then, in  INFERNO (2021) #1 ,  Cyclops  stepped down from the position of Captain Commander, the leader of all Great Captains, and promoted Bishop to the role.

SPIDER-MAN 2099

Back in 1992 , Marvel launched a forward-looking lineup of series that took place in the year 2099, a not-so distant alternate future of Earth-616. Miguel O’Hara was 2099’s Wall-Crawler, carrying on Peter Parker's legacy of arachnid heroics in SPIDER-MAN 2099 (1992) . Though there were a few meetings between the 2099 and Earth-616 Spidey, Miguel did not travel back to the prime reality for a long period of time until SUPERIOR SPIDER-MAN (2013) #17 . During that time, Miguel was not only stranded in the past , but encountered Otto Octavius in the body of Spider-Man!

Taking on the identity of Michael “Mike” O’Mara, Miguel began working for Alchemax, the company that were a critical part in his life circa 2099. Down the line, Spider-Man 2099 has played major roles in the multiversal SPIDER-VERSE and SPIDER-GEDDON events, helping to save not just the present reality, but countless others too.

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THE GOD(S) OF THUNDER

To battle the threat of Gorr the God Butcher , God of Thunder Thor needed all the help he could acquire in fan-favorite series THOR: GOD OF THUNDER (2012) . So, who better to recruit than versions of himself?

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To cut off the source of Gorr’s universal god-killer “the Godbomb,” the past’s “Young Thor” and the future’s “King Thor” collaborated with the present Odinson. These three cross-time Thors were also assisted by King Thor’s granddaughters Frigg , Ellisiv and Atli all of whom worked together to save godhood.

The three goddesses would later travel back via Time Diamonds to meet the legendary Jane Foster after her initial stint as Thor . Though they took her flying, they did not tell her about the epic story ahead in the WAR OF THE REALMS event, at the end of which the Fantastic Four used Doctor Doom’s Time Platform to recruit King Thor and Young Thor to end the conflict. WAR OF THE REALMS also resurrected Jane as Thor once more.

THE ENTIRE SUMMERS FAMILY

Warning: The Summers-Grey kids know how to alter a timeline.

Thor and his selves get around the time stream regularly, but not nearly as much as the Summers’ mutant family. Dad Cyclops alone has traipsed through time on a variety of occasions, so let’s start with that. As a kid, he and his fellow original X-Men traveled to the present as versions of their younger selves in ALL-NEW X-MEN (2012) . And don't forget about the time that he and his wife Jean Grey took a trip several thousand years into the future in ADVENTURES OF CYCLOPS & PHOENIX (1994) to save Scott’s son Nathan Summers, AKA Cable.

Oh, and remember Kate Pryde from the “Days of Future Past” timeline? Well, she's not the only one from that future who came to the present. Kate was followed by Rachel Grey/Summers —the daughter of that era's Scott Summers and Jean Grey—who had telepathic powers like her mother, but had been turned into a mutant-hunting Hound following the destruction of Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters. After Kate’s mission to the past, Rachel eventually made contact with the Phoenix Force which allowed her to physically, not just mentally, travel to the present of Earth-616 in UNCANNY X-MEN #184 . Since then, Rachel has allied herself with Xavier's other students and teams, defending the denizens of the present for years, now under the codename Prestige.

But it’s son of Cyclops, Cable—whose mother is Madelyne Pryor , a Mister Sinister -created clone of Jean Grey—that has made his way through time more often than even his half-brother X-Man . Following Nathan’s birth in UNCANNY X-MEN #201 , Apocalypse infected the infant with a techno-organic virus that threatened his life ( X-FACTOR #65-68 ). To save his son, Cyclops agreed to let Sister Askani, a member of a religious anti-Apocalypse cult, take the child to the far future where they could better manage baby Cable’s affliction.

The Clan Askani saved Nathan's life but could not fully cure him of the virus. When he was still a child, the mysterious “Slym and Redd” stepped in to raise him. Though Cable didn’t know it at the time, this couple was a temporally displaced Scott and Jean. While Scott and Jean returned to their present in ADVENTURES OF CYCLOPS & PHOENIX #4 , the boy grew to become an incredibly resourceful soldier of the future. Though a younger version of him did come to the present in X-FORCE (2018) , the most well-known version of the man known as Cable debuted in NEW MUTANTS (1983) #87 , though he would not reveal his history, or connection to the Summers family, for some time.

Since then, Cable has been involved in just about every major X-event. He was at the forefront of defeating his own time-traveling clone Stryfe in the “X-Cutioner's Song” storyline , and also ensured Hope Summers’ survival during “Messiah Complex” and throughout CABLE (2008) . Hope Summers not only represents the reinvigoration of the mutant race, but as a member of The Five , she's an integral part of the mutant resurrection process, making her one of the most important beings in the continuation of Krakoa.

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KANG…ALL OF THEM

If you had to take notes to keep track of some of these temporally adventurous individuals, now's the time to break out the cork board, red string, and pushpins because Kang’s got them all beat! Born to Earth-6311, a reality in which humanity evolved to the point where peace reigned supreme, a man named Nathaniel Richards—related to either present-day Reed Richards or Doctor Doom —grew bored and desired conquest.

[ RELATED :  The Many Faces of Kang ]

To that end the conquering Nathaniel built his own time ship which was stocked with future tech and traveled to Ancient Egypt where he took on the identity of Pharoah Rama-Tut in FANTASTIC FOUR (1961) #19 . While in that era, he encountered many heroes traveling from Earth-616’s present. However, after surviving a time storm, “Rama-Tut” decided to switch things up by becoming the Scarlet Centurion ! Those attempts to destroy Earth's Mightiest Heroes early in their tenure—as seen in AVENGERS ANNUAL (1967) #2 —proved a failure.

Leaving that identity behind, Richards became Rama-Tut once more, but overshot his home in the 30th century and wound up in the far more dangerous 40th century where he took on the name Kang the Conqueror , the character who debuted in AVENGERS (1963) #8 . Thus began Kang’s recurring attempts to defeat the heroes of the present. Though he has come close several times—like during the “Kang War” story in AVENGERS (1998) #38-55 —the Conqueror has never truly lived up to his name, though it appears that he never stops trying just like the interminable march of time.

But not all Kangs are bad. (And thanks to parallel and offshoot timelines there are plenty.) In one unusual blip of the timestream, a teen version of Kang, Iron Lad , traveled back to the present and became a founding member of the Young Avengers . He even succeeded in killing his older self, but that led to a time storm of epic proportions, so much so that Iron Lad undid the murder and returned to his proper period, knowing he’d eventually become the corrupted Kang.

But as readers have learned over the years, “Kang” isn't even this character's endpoint. The Lord Immortus —who first appeared in AVENGERS #10 —pops up from time to time to mix it up not only with the heroes of the present, but also with Kang himself. (As seen in tales like “ Celestial Madonna ” and “ Destiny War .”) You'd be surprised how many times Kang has tussled with himself and the wild results—but that doesn't stop the Kangs from interfering with each other’s intricate plots for power!

Regardless of which variant of Kang we’re talking about, no character has traversed time as often and as freely. And while these stories take place across the expansive Marvel Multiverse including all of time and space, they can all be read in one place: the Marvel Unlimited app !

To read your Marvel comics digitally, download the  Marvel Unlimited app  for  iOS  and  Android  devices. Gain an expansive catalog of 30,000+ comics spanning Marvel Comics history, plus access your entire digital library including comics redeemed from print.  

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The Strongest Time-Traveling Superheroes, Ranked

Superheroes have all sorts of powers, from flight to being bulletproof, but there's one superpower many would argue to be the very best of them all: the ability to travel through time. Throughout the years, there have been a ton of superheroes who have this ability. Some acquired it naturally, while others learned how to manipulate the space-time continuum through the use of some insane technology.

Let's face it: it's not easy to break out of one time and enter into another, but there are some who have done it. Leaving the obvious villains like Doctor Doom aside, the superheroes of Marvel, DC, Image, and other comic book universes have figured out time travel and have used it to help achieve their goals. Not everyone who jumps about in time ends up mucking it up and creating events like the Flash, but there are those who travel through time without creating much of a fuss.

Here is a list of popular superheroes that can control time, but it's up to you to determine who is the best! Whether you prefer Marvel's time travel stories or prefer the ones form DC, make your voice heard. Vote up your favorites and see which superhero jumps to the top as the greatest time-traveling superhero of them all!

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Iris West Allen

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Ranking comic book characters by their powers, strength, physical traits, affiliations, and other features, like how just goshdarn super they are.

The Avengers: Endgame Timeline, Explained

Here's exactly how Marvel's time travel works, how it doesn't, and what it means for the future of the Cinematic Universe [This Article Contains Spoilers].

Editor's note: There are spoilers in this story.

Most fans leaving the theater after Avengers: Endgame will likely spend the next few days lying awake at night trying to figure out time paradoxes and drawing out visual aides of timelines. The time travel theories the MCU introduced with its latest movie are complex, but within the comics, heroes and villains have actually been jumping between both time and space for decades. It's part of what's most exciting about the vast world that thousands of creators have had a hand in building, but also why translating something like time travel to the screen can ultimately be incredibly confusing.

Time Travel in Avengers: Endgame

In Avengers: Endgame , the Ancient One explains to Banner that each of the Infinity Stones help keep the core timeline in place. But if the Avengers remove them, they'll create splinter timelines that would hypothetically each continue alongside the original one. The technical term for this would be a multiverse, and that's something that has existed for almost the entire history of the Marvel comics continuity. But when Banner convinces the Ancient One to give him the Time Stone, he theorizes that returning all the Stones back to their rightful places in time will mean that the timeline has been rectified, meaning that nothing in the timeline should be out of place.

By the end of the film there are a lot unknowns in the MCU's version of time travel. And their meddling with the past fundamentally changes the entire universe in ways our heroes couldn’t have possibly predicted.

Another part of why the Avengers exploration of time travel feels so strange is that, unlike the whirling cosmos of the Marvel Universe in the comics, the MCU has largely attempted to stay away from the complex nature of the multiverse. Intergalactic heroes like the Guardians and Thor have been more interested in adventures and scavenging than solving the cosmic mysteries of the universe.

Time Travel in The Marvel (Comics) Universe

Over the natural course of thousands of comics, the idea of a multiverse has been used to explore and explain away the often narratively muddled Marvel Universe, while also giving creators a chance to delve into numerous realities and possibilities. To explain the concept behind the Ancient One's warning, we have to go back to the earliest days of the Marvel’s fictional comic universe to hundreds of thousands of years ago when the Infinity Stones were created.

During the the "Thanos Quest" storyline it's established that the Infinity Gems, as they were known in the books, were the remnants of an ancient entity from before recorded time. According to what Thanos saw in the Infinity Well, this all-powerful being was the only living thing in any and all realities. The loneliness of this omnipotent solitude led the entity to kill itself, but out of the ashes of their death came the six Infinity Gems, which held the all the power of their former self. Eagle-eyed fans might remember that this origin was briefly summarized and reimagined in the MCU by the Collector in Guardians of the Galaxy .

But if we look back to the comics, that scope, alongside time travel has long been a part of the shared storyline of some of our favorite heroes and their most fearsome villains. Kang the Conqueror is one of the Avengers' most notorious villains and one of Marvel's most prolific time travelers. The iteration that we see of Hulk in Endgame —a smart merging of both sides of Bruce Banner—has to face down an evil future version of himself known as Maestro. Time travel is a tangible thing that scientists can access, and heroes can utilize. In the comics it is accepted that it exists and almost always has. That influence is felt here in Endgame with the sudden inevitability of time travel.

The Problem With Time Travel in Avengers: Endgame

In the world of the MCU, Banner's plan to put the Infinity Stones back where they found them kind of works. After Tony dusts Thanos and his army, the stones and the universe are theoretically safe.

Unfortunately, the film also contradicts its own version of time travel. When the Avengers go back in time to try and secure the Stones, Thanos' actions in the Infinity War dusting aren't immediately changed. When they gain all of the stones, however, Banner is able to bring the vanished back into existence by thinking on it and snapping his fingers. But surely the simple act of taking the Stones at all would've meant that Thanos would have never been able to collect them all and dust half of the world in the first place, right? Well, not quite, because what it seems like the MCU is actually presenting here is one fluctuating singular timeline.

An ever changing but singular timeline is the only way that the film's events would make any sense. It appears that the directors want us to believe that the impact of the events were such that they happened during the films we have already seen, without changing the future in 2024.

It's a messy set of rules that seem to shift depending on the needs of the story. The Russos and Feige are essentially taking a leap of faith, relying on the fact that the suspension of disbelief is needed from viewers—as if it wasn't a stretch from aliens and trees fighting an evil extraterrestrial threat to time travel being real.

The Future of Time Travel in the MCU

It's highly probable that this is just the beginning of the MCU's exploration of time travel, and Bruce's hashed-together plans might have much larger ramifications. For example, Loki's escape is a fact that is likely to be revisited in his upcoming Disney+ series, which will now probably center on the God of Mischief causing havoc throughout time and space with the cosmic cube. The tesseract has been a key part of the MCU, so this should affect the world as we know it. These moments will have an impact outside of the cinematic universe as Cap's arrival with a shiny new shield for Sam means that his Disney+ series will now focus on his tenure alongside Bucky as Captain America rather than as Falcon.

If we are to imagine that every action has an equal and opposite reaction, there's a chance that all the Avengers' time-shenanigans have just opened the door to some of Marvel's most famous dimension hoppers... the Fantastic Four and their notorious enemy, Victor Von Doom. Kang the Conqueror could be lurking in the shadows waiting to take advantage of the timescape, or maybe we will see the return of the omnipotent Adam (Warlock) who was introduced at the end of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 , and has in the comics wielded the gems. For now, let's hope that the interdimensional rift caused by Endgame doesn't create too many problems as 2020 still doesn't have any heroes lined up with no MCU films on the release slate.

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• From <i>Captain America</i> to <i>Thor: Love and Thunder</i>, Here’s the Complete Marvel Cinematic Universe Timeline

From Captain America to Thor: Love and Thunder , Here’s the Complete Marvel Cinematic Universe Timeline

Warning: This post contains spoilers for all of the Marvel Cinematic Universe films.

The timeline that runs through the Marvel Cinematic Universe has gotten a bit muddled. After all, our heroes have done more than simply age: they’ve traveled through time in Avengers: Endgame and across the multiverse in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness . It can be tricky to keep track of the order of various events when the Avengers are constantly jumping across decades or parallel universes.

If you’re a little fuzzy on how the Infinity Saga , the introduction of the multiverse , and the ground-level battles between heroes and villains on the streets of New York all fit together, we’ve got you covered. We’ve recapped every movie and dated every important event, even though Marvel hasn’t always been super specific about the Marvel Cinematic Universe timeline. (We did our best to estimate when everything took place.)

For the sake of brevity, we’ve left some minor characters. We’ve also skipped over movie plot points that haven’t had any impact on other Marvel films—yet. But perhaps this recap will inspire you to dedicate an entire week of your life ( literally ) to re-watching the films.

MCU Timeline: 1940s

Captain america: the first avenger (released in 2011).

The Marvel Cinematic Universe timeline officially beings in the 1940s when scrawny Steve Rogers (Chris Evans if he were 5’4″ and didn’t have a gym membership) gets rejected by the army. So he volunteers for a dangerous military experiment that turns him into a tall, ridiculously muscular soldier (actual Chris Evans). Scientist Howard Stark (Iron Man’s dad) gives Cap a shield made of a powerful metal called Vibranium—which Stark probably stole from Wakanda. Pretty messed up.

Cap and his childhood friend Bucky Barnes fight HYDRA, a science-focused wing of the Nazi Party. Bucky dies—or does he?—and Cap crash-lands a plane into the snow with the powerful blue orb that HYDRA uses to power its weapons onboard. (Spoiler alert: This is the Tesseract with the Space Stone inside. The Space Stone can transport people across space.)

In 2012, scientists discover Captain America frozen but still alive because…science.

Important Post-Credits Scene: Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson), the head of a covert American military operation called S.H.I.E.L.D. (Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division) recruits Steve to join a team of superheroes called the Avengers Initiative.

MCU Timeline: 1995

Captain marvel ( released in 2019).

Carol Danvers (Brie Larson) a former fighter pilot with Tesseract-related superpowers and a bad case of amnesia, crash lands on earth. There, with the help of Nick Fury and her old friend Maria Rambeau (Lashana Lynch), she discovers the aliens she’s been hanging out with for the lat few years, the Kree, are genocidal maniacs trying to destroy a shape-shifting alien race called the Skrulls. She retrieves the Tesseract for S.H.I.E.L.D. and rotects earth from a Kree attack using her ill-defined but very intense superpowers. Fly? She can do it. Shoot lasers? She can do that too. Destroy an entire spaceship by flying and shooting lasers? Yep.

Carol then gives Fury a tricked-out pager to call her if there’s an emergency on earth. Bizarrely, he doesn’t contact her when alien tries to enslave Earth or an A.I. tries to destroy all human life.

Important Post-Credits Scenes: Though Captain Marvel takes place in the 1990s , the post-credits scene is set in 2018 when Avengers: Infinity War and Ant-Man and the Wasp take place. As you will see later, Thanos makes half of all life disappear in the year 2018. Fury finally activated the pager that Carol gave him before he died during Thanos’ attack. The Avengers find it, and Captain Marvel arrives in the Avengers headquarters.

MCU Timeline: 2005-2011

The incredible hulk ( released in 2008).

The U.S. military tries to revive the Super Soldier program that produced Captain America in the 1940s. Scientist Bruce Banner (Edward Norton, for now) agrees to the series of experiments, probably assuming he’d end up looking like Chris Evans. Instead, he turns into a big, green monster every time he gets angry. Tough break. The folks over at Marvel recast Hulk and like to pretend this movie never happened, so we’ll do the same.

MCU Timeline: 2010

Iron man (released in 2008).

Howard Stark’s cocky son Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) has made billions building high-tech weapons. He has no moral qualms about this until terrorists kidnap him using said weapons. Tony builds a gigantic metal suit to escape captivity.

Tony returns home a sort-of changed man. He realizes he’s in love with his personal assistant who he treats sort of terribly, Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow). And he swears he won’t build weapons anymore, except for the Iron Man suit, which only he can control. A billionaire playboy with abandonment issues is definitely more qualified than the U.S. government to decide who to kill. His business partner betrays him. They fight. Tony announces to the world that he’s Iron Man because he just can’t help himself.

Post-Credits Scene: Nick Fury tells Tony about the Avengers.

MCU Timeline: 2011

Iron man 2 (released in 2010).

This movie is mostly just Mickey Rourke mumbling in an inscrutable accent while a white bird perches on his shoulder. (Seriously.) But the sequel does introduce Don Cheadle as Iron Man’s sidekick War Machine and Scarlett Johansson as S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Black Widow.

Important Post-Credits Scene: S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent Coulson (Clark Gregg) drives up to a crater in New Mexico and sees Thor’s hammer in the center.

Thor (released in 2011)

Odin (Anthony Hopkins), the king of Asgard, banishes his son Thor (Chris Hemsworth) to Earth because he thinks Thor is arrogant. Iron Man already occupies the haughty hero slot on the Avengers team so Thor is going to have to undergo a personality transplant before he can join the team.

Thor meets Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner), a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent who only uses arrows because everyone has to have a gimmick. Thor’s adopted brother Loki (Tom Hiddleston) tries to have Thor killed but fails. Loki dies—or does he?

Important Post-Credits Scene: Nick Fury explains to a scientist that S.H.I.E.L.D. has recovered the Tesseract from Captain America’s plane.

MCU Timeline: 2012

The avengers (released in 2012).

Loki survived falling through a wormhole for unexplained reasons. An evil, faceless alien named Thanos lends Loki a staff that contains the Mind Stone. The stone allows Loki to control others’ minds. It’s strange that Thanos would lend Loki this extremely valuable stone considering Loki’s short resume includes “failed to murder brother,” but oh well.

Loki steals the Tesseract (with the Space Stone inside) and kills Agent Coulson—or does he? Agent Coulson will later be resurrected in the spin-off TV series Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., but for now he’s dead so the superheroes have someone to avenge .

Loki uses the Tesseract to open a portal between Earth and space and conjures an alien army and a giant space snake to attack New York City. Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, Black Widow, Hawkeye, and the Hulk (now played by Mark Ruffalo) join forces to fight Loki. But the government doesn’t have a ton of confidence in the Avengers and decide to nuke New York because you cannot trust the government in these movies.

The Avengers win by redirecting the nuke at the alien ship. Once the alien ship blows up all the aliens on earth die because…space science. Thor takes Loki and the Tesseract back to Asgard.

Important Post-Credits Scene: We see Thanos for the first time. Dun dun dun.

Loki (released in 2021)

Here’s where the concept of “time” and “timelines” starts to get a little wonky. During Avengers: Endgame , the Avengers travel back in time to the Battle of New York in 2012 to try to steal the Space Stone so they can stop Thanos in the future. However, the plan goes awry and Loki winds up stealing the Space Stone, creating a split in the timeline.

Loki begins with a group called the Time Variance Authority apprehending Loki for diverging from the master timeline. Loki finds out that there are multiple possible timelines with multiple “variants” of himself across them, including a female Loki who goes by Sylvie (Sophia Di Martino). Loki falls in love with her (himself?) because he’s an egomaniac.

Loki and Sylvie uncover the man behind the “master timeline,” He Who Remains (Jonathan Majors). He Who Remains defeated an unsubtly named bad guy variant of himself called Kang the Conquerer , and created one true timeline to prevent Kang from trying to rule the whole multiverse. Sylvie kills He Who Remains, and it’s a huge mistake: Loki finds himself stranded in a universe where Kang the Conquerer has taken over. It’s unclear what “year” this all happens, or whether you can really assign a year to that event at all given that the Time Variance Authority is described as being set in the “void at the end of time.” Let’s just say, “Time is mysterious,” and move on.

Read More: Everything You Need to Know About Loki and Time Travel in the MCU

Iron Man 3 (released in 2013)

Villain Aldrich Killian (Guy Pearce) kidnaps the president. Iron Man stops him. Killian then kidnaps Pepper and injects her with a serum that may kill her—or may give her super powers. This plan turns out to be as dumb as it sounds: Pepper gets superpowers and then kills Killian. Iron Man is there, too.

MCU Timeline: 2013

Thor: the dark world (released in 2013).

Some aliens try to use Aether, a floaty red substance, to turn all matter into dark matter because they’re evil and therefore must to evil things. We learn Aether is actually a manifestation of the Reality Stone. Loki decides he’s a good guy now and helps Thor defeat the bad guys. Loki dies, again—or does he?

Important Post-Credit Scene: Thor can’t keep the Reality Stone in Asgard because The Space Stone (Tesseract) is already there. You might as well be asking Thanos to come destroy your planet. Thor’s friends bring the Reality Stone to the Collector (Benicio del Toro). Thor’s friends seem really hesitant to leave such a powerful object with the Collector, which is reasonable because the guy has Howard the Duck trapped in a cage in his office.

MCU Timeline: 2014

Captain america: the winter soldier (released in 2014).

This one has a lot of twists, so prepare yourself. Nick Fury tells Captain America that S.H.I.E.L.D. is building a worldwide surveillance system that can kill anybody. Cap rightly points out that this sounds kind of fascist. Their political argument is rudely interrupted by HYDRA agents who have infiltrated S.H.I.E.L.D. (Gasp! Seriously, you cannot trust the government.) A HYDRA assassin called the Winter Soldier kills Nick Fury—or does he?

Cap and Black Widow go on the run, but they can’t stay hidden for long because Captain America is very handsome and very recognizable. They track down the Winter Soldier only to discover that he is Cap’s best friend Bucky Barnes, but brainwashed. (Gasp!)

Cap and Black Widow team up with a war vet named Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie), who conveniently knows how to fly an army-grade winged jetpack. They find out Nick Fury faked his own death. (Gasp!) Together they publish all of S.H.I.E.L.D.’s secrets on the internet. Bucky saves Cap during the ensuing fight proving himself to be good again. The bromance lives, but S.H.I.E.L.D. disbands.

Important Post-Credits Scenes: A HYDRA scientist reveals that he has created two new mutants using the Mind Stone. We meet Scarlett Witch and Quicksilver—the only X-Men Disney could get the rights to at the time.

Guardians of the Galaxy (released in 2014)

Marvel elevates Chris Pratt—the schlubby dude from Parks and Recreation— to sex symbol status. He plays Peter Quill, a.k.a. Star Lord, an orphaned thief obsessed with 70s music. Peter steals a not-very-well-guarded Infinity Stone called the Power Stone. Bad guy Thanos sends one of his adopted daughters Gamora (Zoe Saldana in green body paint) to take the stone from Peter. Thanos is extremely lazy and never gets up from his throne for the entire movie.

Peter and Gamora eventually join forces with other lovable misfits—trisyllabic tree Groot (Vin Diesel), machine-gun wielding raccoon Rocket (Bradley Cooper) and muscular blue alien Drax (Dave Bautista)—to prove that Marvel can make money on even the weirdest and most obscure comic book characters. They protect the stone from Thanos and his minions, including Gamora’s half sister Nebula. Groot sacrifices himself to save the others and dies—or does he?

Important Post-Credits Scene : Groot doesn’t die. He’s reborn as a cute baby tree. The Guardians hand over the stone to Nova Corps, the Space Police.

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (released in 2017)

Peter finds out that his father is a planet named Ego (Kurt Russell), which seems cool for awhile until Ego reveals he killed Peter’s mom. The Guardians and an empath named Mantis (Pom Klementieff) defeat Ego. At one point, Peter turns into a giant Pac-Man because he’s kooky like that. Disney sells a lot of Baby Groot toys.

MCU Timeline: 2015

Avengers: age of ultron (released in 2015).

The Avengers did not assemble when a terrorist kidnapped the president. They did not assemble when a sleeper Nazi organization infiltrated S.H.I.E.L.D. But they do assemble to go on a road trip to the ludicrously named country of Sokovia, where Loki’s scepter might be. Sure.

Tony Stark and Bruce Banner use the Mind Stone to create an artificially intelligent being called Ultron and task him with keeping peace on earth. Ultron predictably turns homicidal. Ultron recruits Pietro Maximoff (Aaron Taylor-Johnson)—who is super fast—and Wanda Maximoff (Elizabeth Olsen)—who has vague, ever-changing mind control and levitating powers. But the mutants later abandon Ultron and join the Avengers.

The Avengers, undeterred by how badly the Ultron experiment went, create a new superhero using the Mind Stone and Tony’s A.I. assistant Jarvis. They name him Vision (Paul Bettany), and he has even vaguer powers than Scarlett Witch. He’s maybe invincible? And also a ghost who can move through walls?

Ultron develops an extremely convoluted plan to turn Sokovia into a meteor that will crash into earth. Together the Avengers destroy Ultron but also kill almost everyone in Sokovia. Quicksilver actually dies. Oh, also Hulk and Black Widow are in love now, which is outrageous and dropped immediately in the next Avengers movie.

Important Post-Credits Scene: Thanos is finally fed up with his minions failing to attain the Infinity Stones. He puts on a golden glove called the Infinity Gauntlet that can hold each powerful gem and says “Fine, I’ll do it.” This line doesn’t totally make sense since Ultron was neither a minion of Thanos nor trying to get an Infinity Stone, but don’t overthink it.

Ant-Man (released in 2015)

Hank Pym (Michael Douglas) and his daughter Hope (Evangeline Lilly) are scared that their old colleague Darren Cross is going to sell shrinking technology to bad guys. For sentimental but somewhat sexist reasons, Hank won’t let Hope fight this bad guy. So they recruit a random thief they don’t know named Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) to wear the Ant-Man suit and fight Cross.

Important Post-Credits Scene: Hank offers Hope her own superhero suit (finally!). She will don the suit for Ant-Man 2 .

MCU Timeline: 2016

Captain america: civil war (released in 2016).

Iron Man tries to get the rest of the Avengers to agree to U.N. oversight because they’ve accidentally killed hundreds (thousands?) of civilians in the last two Avengers movies. Captain America says no because he’s watched the other Avengers films and knows you can’t trust the government. Everyone takes sides except Thor and Hulk who are off on a space road trip (more on that later).

A terrorist murders the King of Wakanda, T’Chaka, and frames Bucky. T’Chaka’s son T’Challa (Chadwick Boseman as Black Panther) goes after Bucky, but Cap tries to protect his old friend. Iron Man recruits Spider-Man (Tom Holland) to his side and hits on Peter’s Aunt May (Marisa Tomei), who is young and hot now. All the superheroes fight in an evacuated airport and nobody dies because that would make these heroes anti-heroes.

Iron Man realizes Bucky was set up. He and Cap are about to reconcile when Iron Man finds out brainwashed Bucky killed his parents. Cap, Bucky and Iron Man fight each other and let the bad guy get away. Black Panther, the only competent superhero left, arrests the terrorist. The Avengers disband.

Important Post-Credits Scene: Black Panther brings Bucky to Wakanda. Wakandan scientists freeze Bucky until they can figure out how to fix his brain.

Black Panther (released in 2018)

Just days after the death of his father, T’Challa becomes the King of Wakanda , a secretive and technologically advanced African nation. T’Challa’s long-lost cousin Killmonger (Michael B. Jordan) challenges T’Challa for the throne and throws him off the side of a waterfall. T’Challa dies—or does he?

Killmonger becomes the Black Panther after he drinks a special plant that also allows him to visit his ancestors in another realm. He plans to share Wakanda’s technology and weapons with oppressed people, which is actually a legitimate and surprisingly nuanced political stance for a Marvel villain.

T’Challa survives the fall. His genius sister Shuri (Letita Wright), stealth ex-girlfriend Nakia (Lupita Nyong’o), and badass head of his armed forces Okoye (Danai Gurira) help him defeat Killmonger. T’Challa, the only person in the modern era to be swayed by another’s political opinions, decides to open up Wakanda to the rest of the world.

Important post-credits scene: Shuri greets a seemingly recovered Bucky Barnes in Wakanda.

Black Widow (released in 2021)

Black Widow, on the run after the events of Civil War, reunites with her sister, Yelena (Florence Pugh). Pugh’s Russian accent is both totally outlandish but also utterly delightful because Florence Pugh can do no wrong. Both women grew up with fake adoptive parents in the U.S. before being forced to train as Black Widow assassins back in Russia. They team up with their fake “parents”—who totally trafficked them, but they feel bad about it so it’s fine! Let bygones be bygones!— to free the remaining women in the Black Widow program.

Important post-credits scene: Years later, after the events of Avengers: Endgame , Yelena visits her sister’s grave. There, she’s met by Valentina Allegra de Fontaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus), who Yelena has apparently worked for before as an assassin. Val tells Yelena that Hawkeye (a.k.a. Clint Barton) is responsible for Natasha’s death. (And she’s not wrong! But more on that later.)

Spider-Man: Homecoming (released in 2017)

After the events of Civil War, Peter Parker really wants to become an official member of the Avengers. In hopes of winning a spot on the super squad, he fights a villain called the Vulture (Michael Keaton) who is selling weapons made out of alien debris to bad guys.

Iron Man scolds Peter for recklessly fighting the Vulture, but then later rewards him for fighting Vulture by offering him a spot on the Avengers. (Iron Man need to work on his disciplinary skills before he becomes a dad.) Peter turns him down to concentrate on high school because he’s 15 years old and probably shouldn’t be fighting supervillains. (Except obviously he’s going to fight Thanos, a supervillain.)

Doctor Strange (released in 2016)

Surgeon Steven Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) hurts his hands in a car accident and ventures to the mystical city of Kamar-Taj to find a cure. He trains under the Ancient One (Tilda Swinton), Wong (Benedict Wong), and Mordo (a criminally underused Chiwetel Ejiofor) to jump through holes in space. Doctor Strange saves the world using the Eye of Agomoto, which contains the Time Stone and can turn time backward or forward. The Ancient One dies, but she was an extremely problematic character so nobody is that sad about it.

Important post-credits scene:

MCU Timeline: 2017

Thor: ragnarok (released in 2017).

Thor, the bleak god who shouts his lines in faux-Shakespearean dialect, is funny now.

Odin tells Thor and Loki that their evil sister Hela (Cate Blanchett) is en route to Asgard to unleash the apocalypse and then immediately dies. Hela destroys Thor’s hammer, which is the space-god equivalent of setting fire to your little brother’s security blanket.

Valkyrie (Tessa Thompson), a former Asgardian, captures Thor and sells him into slavery as a space gladiator. Luckily, Thor’s first opponent is his old coworker Hulk. Valkyrie, Hulk, Loki and Thor team up to evacuate and destroy Asgard before Hela can unleash the apocalypse. Thor loses an eye, and Loki steals the Tesseract (containing the Space Stone) from the Asgardian treasure room because that guy can never decide whether he’s good or bad.

Important post-credits scene: A big ship overtakes Thor’s getaway ship. It’s Thanos coming for the Tesseract. Dun dun dun.

MCU Timeline: 2018

Ant-man and the wasp (released in 2018).

Scott Lang (a.k.a. Ant-Man) is under house arrest after the events of Civil War but escapes in order to help Hope Pym (now operating as superhero The Wasp) rescue her mother Janet from the Quantum Realm, a scary subatomic place where she’s been stuck for literal decades. Hope’s father Hank travels to the Quantum Realm where he finds Janet, who inexplicably has conjured up clothes, food, makeup, possibly a toilet while living in a void for literal years. Luckily she hasn’t gone insane.

Important post-credits scene: Scott enters the Quantum Realm for research purposes, but while he is there, Hope, Hank and Janet all disintegrate in Thanos’ culling (more on that below). Hopefully one of the Avengers remembers that Ant-Man exists in the next film and saves him.

Avengers: Infinity War (released in 2018)

Thanos wants to murder half of all people in the universe because of overpopulation. What an environmentally conscious baddie! To do so, he needs to acquire all six Infinity Stones , which, when wielded together, will allow him to control all life in the universe. Though nobody stops to ask Thanos why he doesn’t just use the Infinity Stones to double all the resources in the universe instead.

Anyway, considering that he’s been eyeing these stones for almost a decade and acquired none, he is able to snag all six surprisingly quickly, though at a runtime of 2 hours and 40 minutes, it may not feel that way for the audience.

Thanos’ basic strategy is threaten to kill one superhero so another superhero will give in and hand him an Infinity Stone with mostly positive results. He successfully gains the Space Stone from Loki by threatening his brother, Thor. He messes with Star-Lord by forcing him to shoot Gamora to save the Soul Stone—though he uses the Reality Stone to show Star-Lord that was all an illusion. And he forces Wanda to destroy the Mind Stone powering Vision, but then turns back time and takes it anyway.

The Avengers are too noble to kill each other in order to save the universe—which is too bad because Thanos destroys half of all life in the universe once he has all six stones. So ends the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Just kidding: They have another decade of movies planned.

MCU Timeline: 2018-2023

Avengers: endgame (released in 2019).

Avengers: Endgame opens at the same moment Infinity War ends, as Hawkeye, living with his wife and children and blissfully retired from the Avengers squad, realizes that his family has disappeared (because of Thanos). The Avengers hunt Thanos down and, after the bad guy reveals he destroyed the stones, Thor cuts off his head. It’s gnarly.

The movie picks up five years later in 2023 (gasp!) and the surviving heroes are spread across the world and galaxies. Captain Marvel has a new haircut, Captain America is running group therapy in New York, Black Widow is eating a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. But then Scott Lang wakes up and sets a new plan in motion, and the heroes finally come back together to travel through time in the hopes of saving the 50 percent of life that disappeared.

Members of the squad travel to different moments in time to retrieve the Infinity Stones, bring them back to the present (2023) and use them to snap everyone back into existence. A Thanos from the past finds out what they’re up to and travels forward in time to stop them. There’s a big battle. Captain America gets to wield Thor’s hammer. Iron Man sacrifices himself to save humanity. There’s a seriously cringe moment when all the ladies team up to fight Thanos and the guys just…take a water break, I guess? Anyway, the Avengers win. Thor goes off with the Guardians, and Steve—finally released from his Marvel contract—travels back in time to live out his days with Peggy. (Aww!)

MCU Timeline: 2023

Wandavision (released in 2021).

Wanda, grieving Vision’s particularly brutal death, enslaves an entire town to perform a sit-com-esque life for her and an imagined Vision. (That sounds bad, but actually—okay yeah, this is a pretty dark turn.) She even gives birth to super-powered twin boys, Billy and Tommy, using magic.

A nosy neighbor reveals herself to be a witch named Agatha Harkness (Kathryn Hahn) and pegs Wanda as the prophesied Scarlet Witch. Wanda gives up the mirage and decamps to a cabin in the woods, and the government is just kind of fine with that—or too terrified to Wanda to do anything. But before she goes she takes the Darkhold or Book of the Damned from Agatha.

Important post-credits scene: Wanda decamps to a remote cabin, studies the Darkhold, and looks for a way to reunite with her children.

Read More: Wadavision Offers Hope That Originality Can Survive the Era of the Ever-Expanding Franchise

The Eternals

For centuries a bunch of god-like beings have been living on earth tasked by a being called a Celestial a with protecting the planet from evil beings called deviants. If you’re wondering where the heck they were when, say, Thanos showed up, we’re told they were not allowed to interfere with any other events on earth, be it genocide or nuclear war for…cosmic declaration reasons. Despite their immense powers, the Eternals are rather boring and take way too long to figure the Celestial has been using earth as a big battery and will destroy it. They stop him, but only after the world’s longest, most contemplative road trip.

MCU Timeline: 2024

Spider-man: far from home (released in 2019).

Spider-Man and his friends go on a euro trip. Peter works up the courage to confess his feelings to M.J. ( Zendaya ). Distracted, yearning for a father figure since Tony Stark died, and sick of the responsibilities of being a superhero, Peter hands over valuable Stark technology to Mysterio (Jake Gyllenhaal), a random guy he met just hours before. Mysterio claims he’s from another timeline but turns out to just be a grifter.

Mysterio stages a bunch of attacks to make himself look like a superhero. Spider-Man does eventually stop him, but not before Mysterio frames Spider-Man for the attacks.

Important post-credits scene: J. Jonah Jameson (J.K. Simmons) reveals Spider-Man’s secret identity!

Falcon and the Winter Soldier (released in 2021)

At the end of Avengers: Endgame , Steve Rogers bestowed the title of Captain America on Sam Wilson. Sam initially rejects the title but then the government gives it to a guy named John Walker (Wyatt Russell) who has a very punchable face and quickly proves himself to be unworthy of the shield by killing people with it. (In fairness, Steve Rogers no doubt killed a Nazi or two with that shield. I mean, that thing is heavy . How could he have not? But intent counts, I guess?)

Val picks up John Walker for whatever evil group she’s building, and Sam Wilson finally takes up the shield. Bucky is there too just kind of doing sidekick things and grimacing about his guilt from his days as a brainwashed HYDRA soldier. Oh, and Sharon Carter is maybe a villain now? In fairness, she’s probably traumatized from that time she kissed Steve Rogers who turned out to be her uncle.

Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (released in 2021)

Remember that terrorist group the Ten Rings that kidnapped Tony Stark? Well it turns out the head of that organization, a man named Wenwu (Tony Leung) held 10 actual, magical rings (well, bracelets, really) that gave him superpowers. Wenwu was not an amazing dad though. After his wife was murdered, he was pretty cold toward his son and daughter. The son, Shang-Chi ran way to America and adopted the name Shaun, which, as his friend Katy (Awkwafina) points out made him very easy to track. Wenwu becomes convinced that his wife is alive and being held somewhere, and Shang-Chi eventually has to fight the monster his father unleashes. And Katy becomes a master arrow-shooter after practicing for, like, 20 minutes.

Spider-Man: No Way Home (released in 2021)

Spider-Man and his friends want to go to M.I.T., but after Mysterio frames Peter Parker for the attack in London, none of them get in. Peter is so convinced that they deserved a spot at one of the most elite and selective universities on earth that he asks Doctor Strange to cast a spell to make everyone forget that Peter Parker is Spider-Man. The spell goes predictably awry, unleashing a bunch of Spidey villains from the old Sony movies into the MCU.

Peter has to catch them like Pokemon and then create an antidote for their evil-ness. Luckily, every single Spider-Man villain is a naturally kind, usually brilliant man who just turned evil after an accident, like falling into a big tub of eels. So all their psychological ailments are totally fixable. But before Peter can cure the Green Goblin (Willem Dafoe), Goblin kills Aunt May.

Andrew Garfield and Tobey Maguire’s Spider-Men show up to help Tom Holland fight Green Goblin. A very emotionally vulnerable Andrw Garfield catches Zendaya falling off the Statue of Liberty, and it’s lovely. maybe we actually want Andrew Garfield back as Spidey after all? Holland’s Spider-Man asks Strange to make everyone forget who Peter Parker is, including his friends. Truly an orphan, he moves alone into a sad apartment with a GED book and his old, pre-Stark tech Spidey costume. Happy holidays!

Read More: What’s Next for Spider-Man After No Way Home

Hawkeye (released in 2021)

Back when Hawkeye’s family was blipped, Clint worked through his emotions by just ruthlessly murdering bad guys. It was not the best look (and I’m not just talking about that mohawk). Now, he’s repenting for his sins by helping his biggest fan, Kate Bishop (Hailee Steinfeld) take down a New York crime syndicate lead by Kingpin (Vincent D’Onofrio). They shoot a bunch of trick arrows, get bruised up, and adopt an adorable golden retriever, who at one point wears a Santa hat. Yelena shows up to avenge Natasha and kill Clint, but Kate and Clint explain it’s all a big misunderstanding. Everyone makes it home in time for Christmas.

MCU Timeline: 2025

Doctor strange in the multiverse of madness (released in 2022).

Doctor Strange finds himself babysitting yet another super-powered teen. This time he has to protect America Chavez (Xochitl Gomez), a superhero who can hop across the multiverse at will, from Wanda Maximoff, who covets America’s power. Wanda has had a pretty tough beat so far in this universe, losing her parents, her twin brother, her boyfriend, and her two children in a rather short span of time. So she is understandably struggling with some stuff. The Darkhold has corrupted her and convinced her that killing America will allow her to reunite with her sons in another universe.

She pursues America and Strange in a universe-hopping chase, killing many a superhero and turning Fantastic Four leader Reed Richards (John Krasinski) into ribbons in the process. (Take that, fan casters!) Eventually, Wanda does reach her sons, and the boys are so disturbed by what their mother has become that Wanda realizes the error of her ways. She seemingly kills herself by collapsing a mountain.

Moon Knight (released in 2022)

A museum gift shop worker with an absolutely comical British accent named Steven Grant (Oscar Isaac) discovers he has a second personality named Marc. (The impulse to end every sentence with “init?” might have been a tip-off that he wasn’t really British.) Both Steven and Marc can wield superpowers granted to them by the Egyptian god of the moon Khonshu. They learn to work together with the help of Marc’s wife, the superhero Scarlet Scarab (Layla El-Faouly). They all fight bad guy (Ethan Hawke), who walks around in glass with his shoes for reasons that are never explained. He wants to free the Egyptian goddess Ammit and exact judgment on humans for crimes they have not yet committed.

Read More: Everything to Know About Moon Knight

Ms. Marvel (released in 2022)

New Jersey teen and Avengers superfan Kamala Khan discovers that she has superpowers herself, like the ability to stretch and grow. It was really only a matter of time before Marvel started venturing into the tween market.

Thor: Love and Thunder (released in 2022)

Thor’s old hammer calls to his girlfriend Jane Foster (Natalie Portman). She picks it up and becomes the Goddess of Thunder. Old Thor (Hemsworth) and New Thor (Portman) team up with Valkyrie to battle Gorr the God Butcher (Christian Bale), who is on a mission to, well, butcher the gods.

There are not a ton of signposts to tell us when Thor: Love and Thunder takes place. Thor himself does offer us a hint. When he runs into his old flame, Jane Foster (Natalie Portman), Jane asks when they last saw each other. “What’s it been, like three, four years?” she asks him. Thor quickly responds, “Eight years, seven months and six days, give or take.” Clearly he’s been missing her.

We don’t know exactly when Thor and Jane broke up. They were likely together in 2015 when Thor bragged about his genius girlfriend to Iron Man in Avengers: Age of Ultron . But Thor was definitely single and hurting by the events of Thor: Ragnarok in 2017. So if we assume that Thor’s pain in that movie was fresh from a breakup, we can guess that Love and Thunder is set in 2025.

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10 Best time-travelling superheroes of all time

Get confused in time with these best time-travelling superheroes ever

Time travel is having something of a moment in current superhero media, and that's not just because Avengers: Endgame  used time travel as a key plot device. But none of that would be possible without the help of the best time-travelling superheroes of all time.

So what better time than now to look at the best time-travelling superheroes ever?

10. Waverider

The almost-forgotten hero from the alternate timeline of DC Comics ' 1991 event Armageddon 2001, Matthew Ryder escaped a dystopian dictator and certain death by traveling into the past with the ability to "read" potential futures of people just by touching them.

Unfortunately, while he prevented his future from happening, he did so by accidentally causing the creation of his dictator nemesis a decade early, setting in motion events that led to the Zero Hour crossover years later.

In recent years, Waverider has returned in spirit as the namesake of Rip Hunter's time ship in DC's Legends of Tomorrow - a unique live-action transition, to say the least.

9. Iron Lad

The Young Avengers' first leader sought to balance the scales for things that he'd do later in life - time travel can get weird, when it comes to cause and effect, remember - by adopting the guise of Iron Lad before he grew up to become the villainous Kang the Conqueror.

As Iron Lad, he managed to lead the team's short-lived first incarnation before fate - or the time-traveling equivalent - asserted itself, taking him to his destiny as one of the Avengers' most famous, and most deadly, foes. His career may not have been the longest, but his aim was true…

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8. Deathlok

The original Deathlok was Luther Manning, a man from the post-apocalyptic future world of 1990 - well, he was created in 1974 — who traveled back to the present to find himself teaming up with the Thing and Nick Fury (after earlier clashes, of course) to try and undo the world from which he came.

Since most of us will recall that 1990 was not the year society collapsed into dystopian ruin, we'll have to assume he succeeded.

Good job Deathlok!

7. Guardians of the Galaxy

No, not the current team, but the original 1969 lineup which decided to try and save the world of the 31st century by travelling back to our time and recruiting some more heroes to the cause.

Along the way, they had numerous chances to accidentally screw up things, but always managed to avoid it - even when that meant avoiding spilling the beans to Vance Astrovik, the future New Warrior known as Justice, that one of their members was… Well, an alternate version of himself. All that and they defeated the Badoon invasion that was the reason behind their formation.

Members of this version of the team even appeared in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, with writer/director James Gunn pointing to the potential of future film stories featuring the characters.

One of the two most time-travel-y X-Men, Lucas Bishop didn't really intend to be a time traveler; instead, it was more a matter of doing his job as one of the XSE (Xavier's Security Enforcers) and following a bad guy through a time portal.

Like Rachel Summers, he watched as the future he'd arrived from became more and more likely, but unlike Rachel, he decided to do something about it… Namely, try and kill Hope, even if that meant traveling through time again and hunting down Cable to make sure it happened (actions that got him on our time-traveling villains list, as well). He failed, of course, and realigned himself with the X-Men once again.

5. Green Lantern

What's that? You don't tend to think of Green Lantern as a time-traveler? Clearly, you've never heard of Pol Manning, Earth's Greatest Hero in the year 5700 — better known, perhaps, as Hal Jordan. The surreal existence of Manning is one of the stranger pieces of Green Lantern lore: When in need of a hero to save the world, the governments of the Earth of 5700 would simply kidnap Jordan from his own time, wipe his memory and give him the temporary (fictional) identity of Manning before returning him to his rightful time, place and mindset.

Sure, Jordan may not have been in control of - or even fully aware of - his time traveling double life, but that doesn't mean that he didn't serve as a Time Cop as well as a Space Cop when the situation demanded it.

4. The Flash

With the creation of the wonderfully-named Cosmic Treadmill, The Flash mythos gained a whole new dimension as the speedy superhero was suddenly given the ability to travel through time, meaning that his adventures could take place any when as well as any where.

Of course, it was only a matter of time before this ability would end up being exploited in the wrong way, leading to a butterfly effect mix up that created Flashpoint and the New 52, but for that brief period before everything went wrong, the Flash could be relied upon to clean up messes all through time.

Time travel has even played a significant role as a plot element in CW's The Flash too.

3. Superboy

For a teen who'd grow up to become the world's greatest superhero, it's almost disappointing to discover that it took three time-traveling teens from the 30th (later, 31st) century to introduce Clark Kent to the mysteries of the timestream.

Once the Legion of Super-Heroes entered his life, Superboy became a regular passenger on the cross-time express, either by Time Bubble or under his own steam but somehow always managing to stay away from any knowledge of his future self's actions, which may end up being his most impressive feat, considering just what Superman ended up accomplishing during his long career.

Now, the current Superboy, Jon Kent, looks to be the latest inheritor of the mantle to adventure alongside the Legion of Super-Heroes.

To try and get into the reasoning behind Cable and his various time-travel escapades would be both exhausting and confusing, so let's just leave it at this: At no point during his entire decades-long career as the X-Men family's favorite techno-organic enforcer has he managed to entirely undo the time stream by needlessly slaughtering another superhero, even with the amount of heavy artillery he carries around at all times.

Cable was played by Josh Brolin in Deadpool 2, a movie that hinged on his time-traveling nature (and provided the fuel for an all-time-classic mid-credits stinger scene).

1. Booster Gold

Perhaps comic books' top time-traveling superhero, Booster Gold may have started off his superheroic career with one simple time jump, but since then, he's teamed with Rip Hunter - who may or may not have been Booster's son - to protect the timestream from unwanted changes, only to fall victim to the rewriting of all DCU history via the New 52, where he's traveled into the past to meet Jonah Hex, and later went back to the future as part of Justice League 3001.

Booster recently returned to the DC Universe as part of Heroes In Crisis - another story in which time travel played a role. He'll next appear in the era-spanning Legion of Super-Heroes: Millennium this September.

It might be dangerous, but is time travel one of the most useful super powers ?

I've been Newsarama's resident Marvel Comics expert and general comic book historian since 2011. I've also been the on-site reporter at most major comic conventions such as Comic-Con International: San Diego, New York Comic Con, and C2E2. Outside of comic journalism, I am the artist of many weird pictures, and the guitarist of many heavy riffs. (They/Them)

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Time Travel Superheroes: 15 Heroes Who Can Travel Through Time

How cool would it be to go back in time and meet your younger self? 

Yes, we know. It’s probably a bad idea. These Superheroes, however, don’t think so. Each of them has traveled through time and has saved the world many times using this ability.

Let’s take a look at these time travelers and their adventures!

#15 Rip Hunter

Publisher:  DC Comics Time Travel Meter:  10+

Rip Hunter is a DC superhero that has come to the aid of many heroes if ever there were any time travel-related issues. He first appeared in the ‘Challengers of the unknown’ and later even got his series during the 1960s. 

Hunter is an ordinary man who uses an invention of his called the Time Sphere, and he travels through time seeking new adventures. Rip Hunter has been instrumental in many Crisis events in the comic books. We also see him playing essential roles in the events of the Arrow-verse. 

In the comics, he is the one who develops the tech that our heroes use to go back in time and fight the Anti-Monitor. This is during the events of the Crisis on Infinite Earths. The changes that occur because of this event completely alter the DC fictional universe, making way for new and old stories to be told differently.

#14 Spider-Man 2099

Publisher:  Marvel Comics Time Travel Meter:  5+

Miguel O’Hara, or Spider-Man of 2099, comes from one of the dark timelines of the Marvel Universe. He is a brilliant young geneticist who works with the Alchemax School for Gifted Youngsters, which is implied to be the old X-men Headquarters. Here, the young scientists conducted experiments and studies about the original Spider-Man. During one of these experiments, an accident gives O’Hara spider powers. 

Miguel’s powers are superior to the original Spider-Man’s, and the two have shared pages on many occasions.

Spider-Man 2099 is a regular time traveler as well. Upon realizing that Tyler Stone was his actual father and that an issue in the past might get his father erased, Miguel decides to go back in time to stop the temporal shift from happening. He does so through a time machine that his biological father destroys, which traps him in the past. He travels into the future along with the Spider-man army to fight the Inheritors.

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#13 Franklin Richards

Publisher:  Marvel Comics Time Travel Meter:   4+

Franklin Richards is the son of Mr. Fantastic and the Invisible Woman. Believed to be a mutant, he has vast reality-warping powers and is said to be one of the most powerful beings in the universe. 

The Child of Mr. and Mrs. Fantastic has been riddled by many journeys in time, and most were not at his discretion. There are instances of him being kidnapped into the future and sometimes even being wiped out of existence. 

Time travel is usually mind-bending by itself, but imagine someone who could do it with the snap of his finger. Franklin is said to easily create galaxies in his hand and travel dimensions. In the comics, a young Franklin is trained by a mysterious figure in his play area. The figure is eventually revealed to be an adult, Franklin Richards. Like we said, Mind-bending. 

#12 Wolverine

Publisher:  Marvel Comics Time Travel Meter:  4+

The Wolverine needs no introduction. Weapon X is one of the critical members of the X-men and has been instrumental in saving the day several times. His healing factor makes him a nightmare to go up against, and he can even stand toe-to-toe with the Hulk.

One more should be added among his many persona and titles – Time Traveler. Wolverine has journeyed through time on many occasions, and we also see that in the movie version. It involves Kitty Pryde sending Wolverine’s consciousness back in time to save mutants from annihilation.

In the new series – X Deaths, two Wolverines are sent back in time from two different future timelines. In both timelines, Wolverine is the last mutant alive and must go back in time to change the future.

Time Travel is messy, guys. Please don’t try this at home.

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#11 Kitty Pryde

Publisher:  Marvel Comics Time Travel Meter:   1+

Kitty Pryde is a core member of the X-Men. Her powers allow her to phase through objects, which means she can move through anything. She has used her powers on many occasions and has helped her team save the day. She even uses her abilities to phase out of sync with the earth’s rotation. She can travel at infinite speeds, or at least faster than light. 

In fictional theory, she could use this ability to phase in and out of time. However, Kitty Pryde travels time without achieving this feat as well. Unlike the movie adaptation of the ‘Days of future past’ storyline, Kitty’s consciousness goes back in time to save mutant kind from extinction. Rachel Summers, the daughter of Cyclops and Marvel Girl, can send her back in time. 

She eventually manages to save mutant kind and change their dark future.

#10 Super Boy

Publisher:  DC Comics Time Travel Meter:  5+

Superboy has had many incarnations over the years, with some iterations just being the younger version of the original Superman. As Superboy, Kal El meets the Legion of Superheroes, formed after taking inspiration from the former’s stories. 

The Legion travels back to the 31st century to recruit Superboy to their team and fights threats in the future. The Legion already has time travel tech in the future, and it is using this that Superboy can travel to the future. 

Another character incarnation is Con El, who has the DNA of both Lex Luthor and Superman. This Superboy has died many times but has been revived multiple times as a clone. He is even resurrected in the 31st century by Brainiac. This same Con El travels back in time to live with Jonathan and Martha Kent. 

There are so many origins and stories for this character that it can get confusing at a point.

#9 Dr. Manhattan

Publisher:  DC Comics Time Travel Meter:   Infinite

Dr. Manhattan turned into an energy being after he was exposed to a lab accident. The abilities he acquired manifested over time and slowly grew in power. Eventually, he turned into a being that could be everywhere at once and had the powers of a god. He could change reality to his wishes and create universes out of nothing.

With his omniscience came a significant shift in perspective. He no longer saw time in the same way as others. It was one large picture rather than a string of events, and he could place himself anywhere in that picture with just a thought. This has enabled the Doctor to travel to any moment he wished. 

Since he is a timeless being, he doesn’t precisely need to travel anywhere. He can change realities and change futures instantly. He even destroys the DC universe and restarts it.

What is time to a God?

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#8 Dr. Strange

Publisher:  Marvel Comics Time Travel Meter:  3+

Stephen Strange is no Stranger to time travel. The Sorcerer Supreme is a master of the Mystic Arts and is a core member of the Avengers. He takes the lead on any threat of supernatural origin and is a more powerful practitioner of all things magic. 

We see Dr. Strange using these magical objects to manipulate time on many occasions. The most famous would be the Eye of Agomotto or the Time Stone to see different futures. However, that is not the case in the comics. Dr. Strange discovers that the Book of Cagliostro can be used to travel time and that this method does not align with the scientific techniques in the other versions of time travel fiction. 

Even without tools, Dr. Strange has been shown to simply travel time with her mystic arts.

#7 Superman

Publisher:  DC Comics Time Travel Meter: 4+

There is seemingly very little that Superman can’t do. He is faster than light, can create a rift in reality just by punching it, and bench press the earth for five days straight. That is some next-level power. With the speeds he can achieve, it has been asked whether the Man of Steel can also travel time.

Superman has traveled time on many occasions. The how’s of this are rather sketchy and used to depend on the writer. The Superboy iteration could simply go back and forth in time with relative ease and could even carry people with him.

Even in one of the earlier Superman movies featuring George Reeves, we see the character go back in time but simply slow and reverse the earth’s rotation. He also uses his speed in the comic ‘Return to Krypton’ to go and visit Krypton before its destruction and meet his parent.

There truly is nothing that this man can’t do, huh?

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#6 Green Lantern

Publisher:  DC Comics Time Travel Meter:   5+

The Lantern’s ring is only limited by its wielder’s imagination. From energy constructs to energy projection, the possibilities seem endless. Within its vast capabilities lies the power to manipulate and travel through time.

Hal Jordan has used the Ring to travel to the 70th century, and another GL Arisia Rrab uses the Ring’s power to send time through her and age quickly. We have to admit that the latter is rather strange.

Hal used his power in the comics to open a portal to the past so that he could send a few pterodactyls through it. 

News Flash – comics books can be bizarre. 

#5 Iron Lad

Publisher:  Marvel Comics Time Travel Meter:   5+

Nathaniel Richards is a 30th-century genius and the younger version of Kang the Conqueror. Kang appeared to his younger self and saved him from a bully, thus giving him a glimpse of his future self and his armor similar to that of Iron Man. Upon seeing what he would turn into, Nathaniel renounced his destiny and decided to use his intellect to never become the evil version of himself. 

The armor given to Nathaniel has neuro-kinetic capabilities and allows him to travel time, the same as Kang.

The most amazing time travel Adventure is when Iron Lad travels back in time to warn the Avengers of the oncoming dangers. Unable to get in touch with them, he helps the Young Avengers and even kills his older version in battle.

Publisher:  Marvel Comics Time Travel Meter:   10+

Bishop is the great-grandson of the mutant Gateway, who could manipulate and travel through time. Although he does not possess the powers to do so himself. Bishop is a soldier from the future who can passively absorb energy and dispel it however he wants. He is often depicted holding an energy gun that would allow him to shoot his absorbed energy out as blasts.

Bishop uses time travel devices from the future similar to that of Cable to journey to different periods. He is usually seen traveling back in time from a dystopian future to help the X-men rewrite history.

Bishop was sent back in time to stop Legion from killing Magneto, but his failure to do so is what brought about the Age of Apokolips.

The fastest man on the planet has been known to play around a little too much with time. With the ability to run at a million times the speed of light, The Flash can alter the vibrations in his body to travel through time. He can do the same to travel through dimensions as well. 

Not all versions of the Flash can achieve this feat, but Barry Allen and Wally West seem to do so easily. The most famous time-related adventure by a Flash is the Flashpoint paradox.

Due to his selfish needs, the Flash goes back in time and saves his mother, creating a massive rift and modifying the future to a world on the brink of war and destruction. Once in this new reality, Barry Allen realizes his mistake and works toward correcting his actions. He uses his time traveling abilities to go back in time and correct his errors.

This storyline is the most critical example of why the time stream is not to be tampered with.

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#2 Booster Gold

Publisher:  DC Comics Time Travel Meter:  20+

Booster Gold is from the 25th century Gotham, and unlike other future genii who come back in time, he just does so for fame. An underachiever in the future, Booster works as a janitor at the Museum of Superheroes. This is where he discovers much about the legendary heroes and their stories. He manages to steal a flight ring and Brainiac 5’s energy belt. He also takes Rip hunter’s time sphere, and it is with this that he travels back in time. 

All his tools are still high-tech in the 20th century, and he uses them to make people believe that he is a superhero and simply works to become famous. Though initially shown to be a greedy showboat, Booster slowly learns the way of a true hero. He uses his abilities to travel through time and help change histories that lead to dystopian futures.

Booster uses his tech to go back in time and save Blue Beetle from getting murdered just moments before his death.

Publisher:  Marvel Comics Time Travel Meter:  20+

Cable is the most famous time-traveling character in the Marvel Universe. He is the son of Scott Summers and a clone of Jean Grey from the future. He has traveled back in time numerous times to help the X-men with a threat or to prevent a dystopian future from occurring. 

There are many versions of the character and various explanations for how he can travel time. The most common two are – he possesses inherent time travel abilities due to the techno-organic virus in his body, and the other is that he has a time travel device that looks like a watch which helps his travel time.

The best example of this feat is during the events of Ultimate X-men, where he comes back in time to warn and train Professor Xavier for their upcoming battle with Apokolips.

Honorable Mentions

• Guardians of the Galaxy
• Reed Richards

This brings us to the end of our time traveler’s list. If anything, we have learned that messing with time is bad news. However, do you think we could create a timeline where superheroes were real if we mess it up enough?

Interesting. Very interesting.

What Is the Ability to Control Time Called?

Chronokinesis is the ability to alter or control time with your mind. With it, you can travel through time or even stop it.

Which Superhero Can Travel Through Time?

The Flash can travel through time. He can vibrate his body at such speeds that he can phase through time. He can use some power to travel dimensions as well.

Which Marvel Hero Can Time Travel?

Kitty Pryde can time travel. She is the mutant that goes back in tune during the events of Days of Future Past in the comics.

Can Any Marvel Character Time Travel?

Yes, Iron Lad can time travel. He is the younger version of Kang the Conqueror and travels back in time to warn the Avengers of his future self.

What DC Characters Can Time Travel?

Booster Gold can time travel. He does so by making using Rip Hunter’s Time sphere that he stole from the 25th century.

Can Green Lanterns Time Travel?

Yes, Green Lanterns can time travel. Anything is possible as long as there is enough willpower. Hal Jordan once made a jet construct that could travel fast enough to enter the speed force, which means that he can probably travel through time.

• X (Twitter)

Jeremiah de Rozario is a professional songwriter and a comic nut. He has been an avid songwriter for over three years and has vast experience writing comics and pop culture. The people close to Jeremiah say he lives in a bit of fantasy land, as his career choices point us all in the same direction. Comics have taken Jeremiah on adventures since he was a child and continue to be where he draws most of his inspiration and life lessons. We know, weird! From stories of heartbreak, love, evil, and perseverance, comic books have it all. These fantasy stories have taken new and exciting turns on both paper and the big screen, and the little boy with his Incredible Hulk comic could not be happier. Jeremiah started his journey as a writer with Averagebeing and has written numerous detailed articles that deep dive into comic theories, TV shows, and the current happenings of this exciting world. If he isn't writing new songs, he is reading as many comic books as he can find. If you need a breakdown of your favorite comic hero or supervillain, Jeremiah is here to spill the tea.

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Glossary : Time Travel

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Time Travel

Time travel is the process of leaving the timestream at a given point, traversing through the timeless realm of Limbo for a timeless interval, and re-entering the timestream at another point, not having physically aged in transit. Since there are alternate futures, it is not always possible to travel to the same one. Since traveling into the past always affects reality in at least a minute way, one can never physically travel to one's true past, which is by definition the past in its original state, uncomplicated by extra temporal factors.

Limbo is a dimension that is unique in that it exists outside the timestream and thus possesses no time. Reality in Limbo is comprised of a single, ever-changing moment in which everything that ever was, is, and could be coexist. Human beings within Limbo might imagine that time passes there, since they are conditioned to think in such a way, but they cannot age or die there.

There are three possible methods of time travel in the Marvel Universe : a. Time travel machines. b. Magic. c. Personally generated energy. All methods involve generating "chronal displacement inertia" freeing one's chronological position in the timestream (just as escape velocity frees one from Earth 's gravitation), skimming through the extra-temporal realm outside the timestream (Limbo), and re-entering the timestream at another chronological position. Because no time exists outside the timestream, the perceived duration of the passage through limbo may be anything from non-existent to an eternity.

The Marvel Universe is part of a Multiverse (a system of related universes) which diverge from one another at critical junctures. Without using a Doomlock or similar device, the act of time travel using technology almost always produces a critical juncture diverging a new alternate timeline or world at the moment one enters the reality of another time period, past or future of the time period set out from, creating one timeline where an extratemporal person or element materialized via time travel, and one "virgin" timeline where that person or element did not.

Almost all cases of time travel actually involve dimensional travel. A time traveler does not truly travel straight backwards or forwards in time, but backwards or forwards and a bit off to the side, to a divergent timeline running parallel to one's timeline of origin. [1] [2] It is usually impossible to travel to the "virgin" timeline, because divergent timelines are dimensionally displaced from one's root timeline. Since this timeline will have been identical to the "virgin" timeline until the moment of divergence, there will be virtually no differences between the two timelines, and most time travelers have no reason to be aware that they are not on the "virgin" timeline.

If one travels a second time to an era one has already been to, one will not materialize on the "virgin" timeline nor the timeline diverged by one's previous trip, but a third timeline diverged from one or the other. A time traveler can never travel back to the exact same timeline more than once. Again, since the second and third divergent timelines are identical until the time traveler's arrival, they will be indistinguishable at first.

When one travels a second time to any era in which one already exists, it will be possible to meet a temporal counterpart of one's self already there. A new counterpart diverges into being every single time a time traveler travels to a timeline one already exists in. Subsequently, multiple temporal counterparts could co-exist through multiple time trips to the same time period.

The co-existence of multiple counterparts of the same being on one timeline does not cause time paradoxes. Time paradoxes are only possible in single timeline universes. Altering an incident in the past will indeed affect the future reality of the timeline diverged by the time traveler's presence. One can create any number of different divergences by one's significant actions, the act of time travel being but the first. Whether one will be able to return to the present of the timeline where one did no reality-tampering divergences or one which diverged as a consequence of one's past actions is a function of the means of time travel.

Returning to one's present also creates a divergent reality. If one has been gone any length of time, one may find differences have accumulated in accordance with the length of time one was away. Selective alterations in the present as a consequence of the time traveler's actions in the past do not occur. An alteration in the past will create an entirely new timeline with events proceeding smoothly from the point of divergence. To the denizens of that timeline's "present", the past is a continuous series of events that always happened as they happened. Were one to see selective dematerializations, they would either be caused by something other than the act of time travel unto itself or would be hallucinations.

(See Also: Divergence )

• ↑ Marvel Two-In-One #100
• ↑ Venom (Vol. 5) #24
• ↑ Defenders (Vol. 6) #1
• ↑ Venom (Vol. 5) #24 – 25
• ↑ Fantastic Four Annual #11
• ↑ All-New X-Men Annual #1
• ↑ Knights of X #4
• ↑ Venom (Vol. 5) #9 – 10

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• 1 Onslaught (Psychic Entity) (Earth-616)
• 2 Mutant Power Level Classification
• 3 Nathan Summers (Earth-616)

Marvel Rivals Leaks 20 New Characters, 5 New Maps

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Marvel Rivals Reveals Closed Alpha Characters, Maps, Modes, and More Info

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• Marvel Rivals leak hints at new characters and maps, potential roster increase to 39 heroes.
• Closed Alpha test allows players to try out curated selection of heroes across two maps.
• Leak includes characters like Captain America, Thor, Wolverine, and more.

A huge Marvel Rivals leak has potentially revealed 20 new characters for the hero-shooter's roster, in addition to five new maps that could be on the way for the game. Marvel Rivals is a new hero-shooter game that's clearly inspired by Blizzard's Overwatch . An official release date for Marvel Rivals has yet to be revealed, but some lucky Marvel fans will have the chance to play it as early as this weekend.

The Marvel Rivals Alpha Test takes place from May 10 to May 20, and will give players the chance to try the game out using a curated selection of heroes across two maps. If Marvel Rivals is a success, the developers will no doubt flesh out the roster of heroes with characters from the gigantic Marvel universe. No announcements have been made in an official capacity, but a fresh datamine has potentially revealed 20 new characters that are on the way.

The upcoming Closed Alpha test for Marvel Rivals is set to get an exciting roster of characters along with a variety of maps and modes.

According to the leak by Miller Ross on Twitter, there is data in Marvel Rivals that points to Adam Warlock, Black Widow, Blade, Captain America, Cloak & Dagger, Jeff the Landshark, Hawkeye, Human Torch, Invisible Woman, Iron Fist (Lin Lie), Moon Knight, Mr. Fantastic, Psylocke, Squirrel Girl, The Thing, Thor, Ultron, Venom, Winter Soldier, and Wolverine being in the works for Marvel Rivals . Their dataming efforts have also leaked five new Marvel Rivals maps : Hydra Erebus Base, The Intergalactic Empire of Wakanda, Klyntar, Empire of Eternal Night, and Krakoa.

Marvel Rivals Leaked and Confirmed Heroes (Leaked in Bold)

• Adam Warlock
• Black Panther
• Black Widow
• Captain America
• Cloak & Dagger
• Doctor Strange
• Jeff the Landshark
• Human Torch
• Invisible Woman
• Iron Fist (Lin Lie)
• Moon Knight
• Mr. Fantastic
• Peni Parker
• Rocket Raccoon
• Scarlet Witch
• Squirrel Girl
• The Punisher

Marvel Rivals Leaked and Confirmed Maps (Leaked in Bold)

• Empire of Eternal Night
• Hydra Erebus Base
• Intergalactic Empire of Wakanda

If the leak is accurate, the Marvel Rivals roster will potentially balloon to 39 heroes . This is just one hero shy of the number of heroes Overwatch 2 has eight years after the original game came out, so it's likely these heroes will be added over the course of years. So far, Marvel Rivals only has 19 heroes confirmed in an official capacity, though the leaked roster includes some obvious inclusions like Captain America, Thor, and Wolverine.

Whether Marvel Rivals lasts enough to see all these heroes added to the lineup remains to be seen. There is certainly room for an Overwatch competitor, but time will tell how Marvel Rivals is received by the community. If the game's PC Alpha Test is a hit, hopefully it doesn't take too long to see Marvel Rivals get its official launch. It's also been suggested that Marvel Rivals could be coming to consoles , so fans should keep an eye out for more information on that front.

Marvel Rivals

Marvel Rivals is a 6v6 hero-shooter from NetEase that features a roster of classic Marvel characters, iconic maps, and destructible environments.

This X-Men Movie Is the Greatest Love Letter to the Franchise

This X-Men movie honors both the future and the past.

The Big Picture

• X-Men: Days of Future Past is the best of the X-Men franchise, combining the best elements from the comics and films into a pulse-pounding adventure.
• The movie hinges on the X-Men's hope for a better future, bringing together old and new characters in a compelling narrative.
• The film successfully adapts the classic Marvel comic story while introducing new elements, humor, and character dynamics, making it the perfect X-Men story.

These days, longtime X-Men fans have been blessed with a renaissance of new material that has triumphantly brought Marvel Comics' premiere superhero team back into the spotlight. With the animated revival series X-Men '97 and the upcoming Deadpool & Wolverine —which will officially insert both titular characters into the Marvel Cinematic Universe—there's a lot to be excited about if you're a fan of these mutant heroes. But a decade ago, one blockbuster best honored the original comic book characters in a feature that took the best elements from both the film series and the comic books and mashed them together for a new, pulse-pounding adventure. Yes, we're talking about X-Men: Days of Future Past , which is unashamedly the best of the X-Men franchise to date.

X-Men: Days of Future Past

'x-men: days of future past' expertly adapts one of the best marvel comics.

If you were to poll a group of long-time comic book fans as to which X-Men stories they'd recommend, more than likely everyone would mention "Days of Future Past." This Marvel classic, penned by comic legends Chris Claremont and John Byrne , appeared in the pages of Uncanny X-Men in 1981, quickly becoming a hit with readers. The story itself goes something like this: escaping from a dark future threatened by a nuclear holocaust by projecting her consciousness back into her younger body, the future Kitty Pryde returns to the present to warn the X-Men of the horrors to come—and stop the assassination of Senator Robert Kelly (and Professor Xavier) . Though the X-Men prevent the assassinations and stop Mystique's Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, they're left wondering if this dark future was fully prevented at all. If you haven't read this one before, this is your cue to travel back to a simpler era of Marvel Comics.

This heroic tale has been adapted into animation, revisited in comic sequels, and even influenced X-Men-centric video games, but it was best adapted here for the big screen. Days of Future Past gives X-Men fans just about everything we could ask for from an X-Men movie . We finally get to see the mutant heroes in mortal combat with Sentinels, witness many of the X-Men (some of whom we're meeting for the first time) at their peak, and reunite nearly the entire original trilogy cast for the first (and last) time in almost a decade. But that's not all. After the success of the standalone prequel X-Men: First Class , we grew attached to the younger iterations of Charles Xavier ( James McAvoy ) and Erik Lehnsherr ( Michael Fassbender ), who happen to be the stars of the show despite all the other X-Men wandering about.

The 2014 film—and its superior extended edition, dubbed The Rogue Cut — masterfully captures the spirit of the original Marvel material while translating it within the context of the live-action films that came before . The entire X-Men franchise is at stake here, and this compelling take on these outcast heroes engulfed in a wretched future makes this a finale well worth celebrating. Maybe it's the way the film pivots between the future and the past, or maybe the fact that we've been reintroduced to our favorite X-Men under threat of immediately losing them again, but there's nothing in Days of Future Past that feels out of place or unfocused despite the shifts in time and place. The whole time-travel narrative feels ripped directly from a Marvel comic book long before Avengers: Endgame had the guts to pull its own "time heist" in 2019.

Both the Film and the Comic Hinge on the X-Men's Hope for a Better Future

Unsurprisingly, the movie changes quite a few plot points from the source material. Given the inconsistent nature of Fox's X-Men films, this was inevitable. For one thing, Kitty ( Elliot Page ) sends Wolverine ( Hugh Jackman ) back in time to his younger bone-clawed body rather than Kitty going herself. The film gives her a sort of "time-phasing" ability to explain how this can happen. Additionally, the Sentinels here are much more powerful than in the comics, and rather than assassinating Senator Kelly (played by Bruce Davidson in the first X-Men movie), Jennifer Lawrence 's Mystique aims to kill Bolivar Trask ( Peter Dinklage ), the man responsible for creating the Sentinels in the first place. Of course, the X-Men roster is also a bit different too, but that's always been the case in the X-Men movies. Despite these changes, X-Men: Days of Future Past hinges on the one thing that ties the original comic and the film seamlessly together: hope .

Whenever we mix the word "hope" with superheroes, it's easy to picture Superman or Spider-Man or some other tried-and-true symbol of comic book idealism that stands tall in the face of all evil, and rightfully so. The X-Men aren't usually our go-to band of hopeful heroes, and yet, that's exactly what Charles Xavier's dream has always been about . It's hope that compels the older Professor X ( Patrick Stewart ) and Magneto ( Ian McKellen ) to re-unite and convince their younger selves to settle their differences in the past. It's hope that helps Wolverine encourage a young Charles to revisit his telepathic abilities. It's hope that changes Mystique's mind as she stands up for humanity in the wake of Magneto's war on humans. And it's hope that we're ultimately left with when Logan wakes up in a new future where all his old friends—including the should-be-deceased Jean Grey ( Famke Janssen ) and Cyclops/Scott Summers ( James Marsden )—have been restored, as if X-Men: The Last Stand and the years between never happened.

In contrast to the younger Magneto's actions at the end of the film, hope is why the X-Men continue to fight for a better future . It's the very reason that a better future is realized in the end. The moment Logan is thrown off the chess board in the final act puts the fate of the world in the hands of Charles, Erik, Mystique, and Beast ( Nicholas Hoult ), and we're not sure whether they're quite up to the task. However, like the comic book X-Men who manage to get the job done, this band of misfits does the same. Days of Future Past reminds us that the small steps in the past will always lead to climactic results later, either for good or for evil. Our heroes in the future race against the clock while those in the past settle in for the long game where they're left wondering for decades if they ultimately succeeded or not. The fruits of their labor will take time to grow, but the seeds are thoroughly planted here. Thankfully, Charles lives to see it through to the end.

'X-Men: Days of Future Past' Thrives by Combining the Old With the New

The "magnum opus" of the X-Men film series , Days of Future Past masterfully combines the old and the new . In some ways, the film acts as a revival production not unlike what X-Men '97 is to the original X-Men: The Animated Series . It reunites Hugh Jackman's Wolverine (a delight as always) with the rest of his usual castmates from the X-Men trilogy and gives them such a gripping sendoff that, although we don't need it, leaves us ravenous for more. (If only we'd got one more adventure with that original cast). Seeing the Xavier School for Gifted Youngsters back in business was something that we didn't know we needed to see after the travesty that was The Last Stand , and, thankfully, Days of Future Past literally overwrites those pesky memories.

Screenwriter Simon Kinberg weaves in threads from X-Men: First Class while simultaneously prepping for the future of the continuing prequel series. While both sequels would fail to recapture this X-Men magic , Days of Future Past still works as a reboot in the best of ways—one not afraid to let go of the past while still honoring it. When the younger Charles and Erik appeared in First Class , it was easy to see how they might one day become the Professor X and Magneto we first met in X-Men , but Days of Future Past forces these versions to confront their sins and choose forever the paths that were destined for them . Charles convinces his younger self to resume his mission, and in effect revises his own future in an almost Back to the Future -like fashion, thus escaping the Terminator -inspired fate they may have suffered.

On the contrary, Erik, ever the rebel, chooses his own path in spite of his future self. He does here what Magneto always does in the end, choosing violent means and ends in the face of controversy. It's no wonder the older Magneto isn't seen when Logan awakes in the revised 2023. While we shouldn't expect anything different from these characters, it's precisely because they stick to the script that the stakes feel real. Yes, Charles and Erik end their relationship in very much the same place they did in First Class , but that's where these two always fall. They've always walked separate paths , and Days of Future Past best emphasizes their respective sides on the chess board.

This 'X-Men' Reunion Ends With Hope For The Future (and We May Just Get More)

With how X-Men: Apocalypse and Dark Phoenix turned out, it's almost a shame that the theatrical X-Men timeline didn't officially end here. Barring Logan , which faithfully wraps up Wolverine's story, Days of Future Past is the perfect X-Men story . It's dramatic, well-paced, and handles all of its moving parts with an ease and maturity that would make any MCU film jealous. Given how bizarre the uncanny mutant group's adventures often get in the comics, the superhero epic does a grand job of adapting both the world-ending and the introspective to the screen . Every character has something to lose here, and, as usual, X-Men stories are at their best when there's a deeply personal wound driving our hero's (and our villain's) controversial choices. Usually, that falls on Wolverine, but others get their fair share here too.

That's not to say this is all doom and gloom. Evan Peter 's Quicksilver brings some much-needed humor and charisma to this picture, with an immaculate super-speed sequence that future installments could never quite replicate. The return of Anna Paquin 's Rogue is also a treat, and Iceman's ( Shawn Ashmore ) side-quest to rescue her is something the theatrical version should never have left out . There are other inside jokes, nods to the source material, and small touches that only make X-Men: Days of Future Past better. We can't wait to see the premiere mutant heroes make their way into the MCU, but until then, this decade-old X-Men legacy picture is the absolute best we could ask for.

X-Men: Days of Future Past is available to stream on Max in the U.S.

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This Marvel Quiz Knows Exactly What Your Superpower And Origin Story Would Be

Turns out I'd have the ability to time travel.

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Marvel Villians That Still Need An MCU Arc

When you look at the Marvel Cinematic Universe , you first notice that they haven't even scratched the surface of the Marvel pantheon. This goes for villains as well as heroes. The thing is, some fantastic villains can be added to really up the level of tension and dread in the MCU.

These names may not all be familiar to people unaccustomed to the vastness of Marvel Comics. However, each of them has stood toe-to-toe with some of the heaviest hitters on the Avengers and other related teams. What is it about these ten characters that make them exceptionally perfect for an MCU arc of their own?

Enchantress

Enchantress (not to be confused with the DC character from Suicide Squad ) is an Asgardian named Amora who has been a foe of Thor's for some time. She is skilled in various forms of mysticism and is much stronger than the average human. Amora's main skill seems to be seduction, and she utilizes it time and again to try and tempt Thor while working with his brother Loki. Enchantress has gone up against the Avengers on many occasions and is often seen as part of the original Master of Evil, started by Baron Zemo.

Thor Won't See Enchantress Coming

When Enchantress enters the MCU, it will most likely be as part of a team. Although she is a formidable foe, she does not possess the power of someone like Hela. Also, with the destruction of Asgard, she may need to be given a different origin story or some kind of workaround to explain why she is still alive. If the Masters of Evil do become a team, she could play a pivotal role in bringing down the Avengers.

Annihilus is an absolute unit of a bad guy. He is a general and sometimes ruler of the Negative Zone, a pocket universe found by Reed Richards and The Fantastic Four. Annihilus is a rabidly fierce foe who holds a grudge about the incursions that our dimension has had and the heroes that have caused them. He is also in possession of the Cosmic Control Rod, which slows down his aging process and allows him to control limitless cosmic energy, to fly, and to have fire energy blasts. He is also an insect-like character with a special suit and wings.

More Incursions Equal More Foes Like Annihilus

The MCU is about to have an entirely new set of interesting characters to deal with. With The Fantastic Four movie coming out next year, we have the chance to learn about the Negative Zone and its inhabitants. The second these heroes enter that place, they will spark the interest of Annihilus. His realization that there is more to conquer outside the Negative Zone may provide our heroes with a deadly foe as well as an entirely new pocket universe to explore.

Molecule Man

The Molecule Man is one of the most dangerous characters in Marvel Comics. Owen Reese was one of those Marvel characters who was accidentally bombarded with radiation, causing him to gain powers. However, unlike characters who can shoot optic beams or climb walls, Reese realized he could change things with his mind. When he started to use his powers, he realized that his full potential was control over all matter, down to the very molecules. This means he has full reality-altering powers that not only throw off people's perceptions, but that literally change the very fabric of everything we know.

Molecule Man May Be Too Strong For the MCU

The Molecule Man is so vastly overpowered that we actually may never see him in the MCU. However, if Marvel Studios truly wants to mess with the universe, they'll bring him in and let him run wild. The fact is that there is one character in the MCU who has beaten Molecule Man in the comics: Sersi. The Eternal can transmute molecules. If she joins the fight , the heroes of the MCU may actually stand a chance.

Who Is X-Men '97's Real Villain?

Ares is the Greek god of war. Let's just start there. We've already got him at God-level destructive abilities. We have seen a form of Ares in the DCU, fighting against Wonder Woman, but this version is a bit different. Ares is an enormous figure who can heal, is immortal, and who is an expert in combat. He is often seen wielding a giant ax and wearing a Greek-style helmet. In the comics, he has been an enemy of Thor and the Avengers.

Ares Could Fight Against Thor

The idea of taking the pantheon of one culture and pitting it against another is nothing new to Marvel Comics, but it could be fascinating in the MCU. The idea that all gods exist has already been established in Thor: Love and Thunder , but the post-credit scene gave us Hercules. Ares hates Hercules and this could be his entry into the MCU. Perhaps Ares first comes to Thor's aid, only to show that he has no intention of being a good guy and just wants to get Hercules out of the way before going after the Asgardian himself.

Absorbing Man

Crusher Creel is a brute. He has been on multiple teams and was, for a long time, a minor villain. However, he is a character who went through some very specific personal revelations to become something far more frightening. Creel can take on the characteristics of whatever he touches. This means that if he were to touch a rock, his body would become hard and nearly indestructible. The same goes for things like rubber, where he would become malleable. However, he figured out that his powers extended to nearly everything when he absorbed Ultron and became super-intelligent. This meant that he knew how much he could actually accomplish with what he thought were limited powers.

The Absorbing Man's Journey Could Fit Into the MCU

The Absorbing Man could be a fascinating character due to his personal journey. If a Marvel movie were to introduce him as a low-level bad guy, ignored by the heroes, we could watch him realize his true potential and then kick their asses. In the Earth X comics , Creel absorbed the entire city of New York, so why couldn't this happen in the movies? Marvel loves screwing with the Big Apple. Creel could take this to an entirely different level.

Tombstone is a villain most notably associated with Spider-Man. He is extremely strong, has filed his teeth to be razor-sharp, and is a very capable hitman. One of his most glaring characteristics is his albino appearance, even though he was born African American. Tombstone has worked on his own or for The Kingpin, which has led to run-ins with Spider-Man and Daredevil. He is very much a street-level villain and would not be going up against people like Thor or Captain Marvel.

The Rise of The Kingpin May Lead to Tombstone's Appearance

The fact is that, with The Kingpin becoming such a big player in the MCU , we may see Tombstone a lot quicker than the others on this list. He did already show up in Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse but has yet to find fame in the MCU. The Kingpin has quite a number of henchmen, and Tombstone could be the one to really lay claim to a Daredevil-level hero.

The Chameleon is another street-level villain. However, he brings with him a level of intrigue that could seriously disrupt the highest echelons of power. He can be most associated with the Skrulls, who can change their appearance at will and impersonate anyone. The Chameleon has been doing this and using his powers against Spider-Man.

The Chameleon Has Indirectly Appeared in the MCU

The interesting part is that a character with his name (Dimitri) has appeared in the MCU as the bus driver in Spider-Man: Far From Home . However, we did not see this character as having any powers. The Chameleon will be appearing in Kraven the Hunter in the MCU adjacent universe, although it is not clear what powers he will have. This is a bit of a letdown as the Sony versions of characters do not always live up to their full MCU potential. However, this may change with Kraven.

20 Marvel Villains Who Became Heroes Over Time

Let's talk about a true psychopath. Arcade dresses like a sideshow barker and is always sporting a Joker-level smile. His backstory is unknown except for the fact that he's a mechanical genius and celebrated assassin for hire. He is known for creating what he calls "Murderworld" where he has set specific traps for heroes to be caught in and killed. He often does this for a price, paid for by other villains. He has attempted to kill Spider-Man, the X-Men, and other major Marvel heroes. He is very much the Jigsaw of the Marvel Universe .

Arcade Is Perfect For a Disney+ MCU Series

Arcade does not deserve his own film but could be a fascinating character to bring into a Disney+ story arc. The interesting part is that he could use his machinations against just about any hero out there which allows Marvel to take their time in using him. He might even be a great villain for a Deadpool-type character who cannot be killed but who can be maimed by all manner of death traps thrown his way. Arcade loves to watch his victims attempt to become free. This is his weakness, and it could just prove that the MCU has some real crazies.

Mephisto is pure evil. He is essentially the Marvel version of the devil. Mephisto is a cosmically powerful creature who is said to have been created towards the beginning of the entire universe. He has gone up against The Silver Surfer, The Fantastic Four, The Avengers, and nearly everyone in between. He is immortal, can shape-shift, alter reality, and use copious amounts of magic. He is often seen as being completely red and wearing a cape.

Mephisto Could Go Against Wong or Dr. Strange

Mephisto appeared in Ghost Rider , the Nicolas Cage film, as the one who gave Johnny Blaze his powers after agreeing to save his father. This appearance was the first time he had been in a live-action film which means he predates the MCU by one year (2007 vs. 2008). If Ghost Rider were to reappear in the actual MCU , it could mean a helpful doorway for Mephisto to make his appearance. That being said, he might also be a great adversary for someone like Dr. Strange or even Wong as they are all dipping into the same well of magic and sorcery.

Serpent Society

This is a weird one but, strangely, a group that might have more of a chance to show up in the MCU than anyone else. The Serpent Society is a group of various super-powered villains, all with snake-related abilities. These include body contortion, venom-spitting, tentacle arms, and teleportation (as all snakes can do). The group has frequently gone up against the Avengers, most notably Captain America, and has proven themselves to be a challenge. Their main problem is constant infighting as they all seem to want to lead.

The Serpent Society Almost Appeared in the MCU

Here's the thing: they were supposed to appear in Captain America: Brave New World . Unfortunately, they appear to have been completely scrapped from the film. It is well-known that the movie underwent massive reshoots which may have led to giving other characters more screen time and thus removing the nonessential group from the story. However, this near-miss may mean that Feige & Co. are excited enough about the group to include them in some way at a future date. They could be a formidable problem for the Avengers or even show up in a Disney+ show of their own.

Disney Adds More Marvel: Another Park Classic Receiving Superhero Retheme

in Disney Parks

If The Walt Disney Company loves to do one thing in 2024, it’s work as much IP into its theme parks as possible – especially Marvel.

The past few years have seen the opening of not one but two Avengers Campus lands (one in California Adventure, one in Walt Disney Studios Park), as well as a third Marvel land at Hong Kong Disneyland known as Stark Expo.

Not content with entire lands, Disney has also opened separate  Guardians of the Galaxy  (2014) attractions at both California Adventure and EPCOT, as well as announcing a temporary Marvel overlay for one of its most classic rides (“it’s a small world”) at Tokyo Disneyland from winter 2025.

The latter hasn’t gone down particularly well with Disney purists . After the announcement dropped in March, fans argued that it was “infuriating and a zillion times more disrespectful to the spirit of the attraction than the addition of (actual) Disney characters ever was.”

Despite the negative sentiment floating around the integration of Marvel into existing Disney properties, another addition was announced last month – and as of today, guests can finally book to experience it for themselves .

Disney’s Hollywood Hotel is officially debuting Marvel rooms as of this summer . The hotel (which, as you probably guessed from the name, is inspired by classic Hollywood) only reopened from its mass makeover last year but saved a special surprise for the superhero-obsessed until 2024.

Marvel-themed rooms now available at Disney’s Hollywood Hotel 🛏️ Reservations will start from May 10th for check-in on August 9th! #HKDL_info #HKDL

「ディズニー・ハリウッド・ホテル」Marvelテーマルーム、 本日より予約スタート！ #HKDL_info #HKDL https://t.co/6C3Thr2u1Y — Emporium HKDL情報🏰✨ (@hk_emporium) May 10, 2024

Like Disney’s existing Marvel hotel , Disney Hotel New York – The Art of Marvel in Disneyland Paris, the rooms feature subtle Art Deco touches inspired by the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Rooms are limited but are now open for bookings for check-in dates after August 10, 2024.

This may be the latest Marvel addition to Disney’s theme parks, but it certainly won’t be the last. In September, Marvel superheroes will make their Tokyo Disney Resort debut in its brand-new, as-yet-unnamed fireworks show. Disneyland Resort is also set to receive a new Avengers E-Ticket attraction at some point in the future, as previewed at Destination D23 in September.

Hong Kong Disneyland is also said to receive another Marvel E-Ticket attraction named Avengers Quinjet Experience (although the park hasn’t offered an update on this in a few years). Meanwhile, rumors have swirled that Disney World could receive its own Avengers Campus as a part of the resort’s $17 billion investment plan over the next decade.

Do you think Disney should integrate more Marvel into its theme parks? Let us know in the comments!

Top 10 Most Powerful Superheroes Who Can Travel Through Time

Time travel is one of the most powerful abilities a superhero can possess, and these ten comic book heroes all showcase this awesome ability.

Traveling through time is the ultimate ace in the hole when it comes down to superhero battles and plenty of DC and Marvel super-powered beings, including some anti-heroes, are gifted with this powerful ability.

RELATED: Shocking! The 10 Best Electrically Powered Heroes  

In some cases, these heroes' time-manipulating skills are the side effects of talents that, in and of themselves, have nothing to do with journeying to the past or the future, like super-speed for example. Any damage taken or mistakes that were made are irrelevant in the presence of these ten powerful superheroes who can defeat their enemies and right their wrongs by going forward and backward through time.

The fastest man in the DC universe, Barry Allen —  The Flash is so quick that he is capable of traveling through time. That gives him the power to alter timelines  just like in the Flashpoint story in order to restore the world to its normal state. Furthermore, he can even go beyond that and travel across what is known as hypertime — the stream of multiple timelines, which allows visitors to hop from one reality on to another.

9 Doctor Strange

The Doctor doesn't really need the Time Stone as shown in the MCU in order to time travel. The Master of the Mystic Arts is capable of manipulating time without it, in a variety of ways through his formidable magical capabilities . Strange is able to stop time, slow it down or he can just travel to the past or the future. Despite his remarkable skills, he still requires a significant amount of concentration in order to pull this particular trick off.

Young Superman , back in the Silver Age of comics, was able to travel through time. His later, more grounded version, was deprived of that skill probably so that his opponents can be more of a threat to him.

RELATED: 15 Children Of DC Superheroes Who've Become More Powerful Than Their Parents  

The less experienced Clark Kent, however, known as Superboy during the Pre-Crisis period was just a casual time-traveler who could simply move faster than light, affect his past and future self and occasionally, take people with him for the ride.

Rina Patel discovered her one and only power by accident, which started her on an adventure that led the unsuspecting college student to the New Warriors. Timeslip can travel to the future or the past and manipulate time in basically every other way. If Patel wants to be faster than a foe, she slows time down. If she wants to fast-forward to a moment in the future, Rina simply speeds it up. This ability also allows her to be super fast (in the eyes of others).

Nathan Summers can manipulate timelines through his psionic powers. Cable is able to transport himself as well as other individuals to any point in time and he can stay there temporarily (from a few minutes to years).

RELATED: Marvel Comics: 10 Most Powerful Superheroes Who Control Weather  

Summers is also capable of going through this special type of travel in his astral form (his spirit detached from his body). Although Nathan used the ability once and it was extremely difficult, there is no certain proof that he is incapable of doing it again.

Nathaniel Richards (Iron Lad) from Marvel's Other Earth (Earth - 6311) brought peace to this particular version of the planet and its history after arriving through time-travel. His armor is quite similar to Tony Stark's and shares many of his Iron Man suit's features . The one difference is that Iron Lad's armor allows him to create temporal divergences, which let him manipulate time and travel through it. Richards also has a ship featuring that same ability.

DC's Godspeed can travel through time with the assistance of Barry Allen's Cosmic Treadmill. The device allows August Heart to jump into the timestream and move to whatever point in the past or the future he prefers. All of that is possible because of his Speed Force connection that grants him a number of other superhuman abilities such as enhanced stamina, strength, reflexes, healing and dimensional travel.

Bishop is a mutant of considerable talents and he is a master of energy absorption but one other very special ability of his is time travel. The member of the X-men is a capable time-traveler because of the Forge cybernetic arm that Bishop claimed as a replacement of his lost limb.

RELATED: Marvel Comics: 10 Most Powerful Marvel Superheroes Who Control Fire  

The prosthetic is equipped with a technology, which allows Lucas to time-jump and move so quickly that he appears to be super-fast to the individuals that surround him.

2 Booster Gold

This particular DC superhero doesn't have any special powers of his own - his strength is derived from the artifacts that he stole from a future museum. Gold's power suit makes him quite a formidable being. One of its many uses is the so-called Time-travel circuitry or Chronokinesis, which is more or less the upgraded version of time travel since it also allows the user to manipulate the timestream from a distance.

1 Green Lantern

The Green Lantern Power Ring grants the wearer with many abilities but one of the most powerful and yet, somehow less popular ones is time travel. Naturally, more willpower is required for farther trips into the future. Hal Jordan, in particular, has definitely proved his mental toughness and spiritual resilience since he has successfully explored as far as the 70th century. Also, the Power Ring allows the Lantern to communicate with other individuals that are from a different point in time.

NEXT: DC: 10 Superheroes Who Were Given Their Powers  

‘Avengers’ Directors Say Marvel’s Recent Problems Aren’t Due to Superhero Fatigue but a ‘Big Generational Divide About How You Consume Media’

By Zack Sharf

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Filmmakers Joe and Anthony Russo were responsible for some of Marvel’s biggest box office hits, from “Captain America: Civil War” to “Avengers: Endgame,” but they don’t necessarily believe superhero fatigue is to blame for the studio’s recent struggles. Marvel had a tough 2023 with two flops: “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania” and “The Marvels.” Speaking recently to GamesRadar+ , the directors said that Marvel’s current issues boil down to the changes in how people absorb media: It’s a Hollywood-wide issue, not just a Marvel one.

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Joe Russo noted that the new generation of moviegoers communicates largely though “memes and headlines with nobody reading past two sentences, so everything’s 100 characters or less – or 10-second videos on social media you swipe through.”

“I think that the two-hour format, the structure that goes into making a movie, it’s over a century old now and everything always transitions,” he added. “So, there is something happening again and that form is repetitive. But it’s hard to reinvent that form and I think this next generation is looking for ways to tell their own stories that service their own sort of collective ADHD.”

Anthony Russo told GamesRadar+ that superhero fatigue has nothing to do with superheroes in particular; it’s just “fatigue in general.”

As concerns about superhero fatigue continue to be discussed in the comic book movie world, “The Batman” villain Paul Dano  recently made headlines  for telling  The Independent  that perhaps it’s a good thing.

“It’s an interesting moment where everybody has to go like, ‘OK – what now?’ Hopefully from that, somebody either breathes new life into [comic book movies], or something else blossoms which is not superheroes,” Dano said. “I’m sure there will still be some good ones yet to come, but I think it’s kind of a welcome moment.”

Joseph Quinn, who is joining the Marvel Cinematic Universe as Johnny Storm/Human Torch in the upcoming tentpole “ The Fantastic Four ” recently told Entertainment Weekly that he’s not too concerned about superhero fatigue as he gets ready to make his own superhero debut.

“I think that with the story of the Fantastic Four, it feels like we want to get this right,” Quinn said about superhero fatigue concerns. “There are aspects of it that are very different to other Marvel films. That felt very compelling to me. And again, going back to who’s involved, Matt [Shakman], of course, the director, I think is brilliant, and the cast, and I’ve read it, and the script is brilliant. It’s really brilliant. I’m delighted to have this opportunity.”

Head over to GamesRadar+’s website to read Anthony and Joe Russo ‘s thoughts on superhero fatigue in their entirety.

Now dig into a VIP+ subscriber report …

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Marvel changed the rules of time travel again, and killed all hope of gambit's return.

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X-Men '97 Episode 8 Ending Explained

Marvel finally did an overlooked x-men character justice after 15 years of live-action disappointment, x-men '97's 5 season plan revealed by creator (& there's no way marvel can change it).

Warning: This article contains SPOILERS for X-Men '97 episode 8!

• Marvel frames Gambit's death in X-Men '97 as permanent due to new time travel rules.
• X-Men '97 presents absolute points in time, preventing time travel to change events like Genosha.
• The series hints at MCU ties through similar iconography of the Sacred Timeline concept.

Marvel has just changed its rules of time travel again, and this time, X-Men '97 makes Gambit's possible return from the dead hopeless. Marvel Studios still has to present its live-action version of the X-Men, with the studio only using multiverse variants played by actors who were part of Fox's X-Men franchise since Disney acquired that studio. Alongside that, Marvel Studios has used nostalgia in another key way, bringing back the world of the excellent X-Men: The Animated Series on Disney+ with an impressive roster of characters in X-Men '97 .

Since its debut, X-Men '97 has quickly become a sensation, being held highly as possibly the best adaptation of the mutants outside of the comics. It is easy to see why, as the animated series does a great job of making all of its characters matter instead of pretty much just Wolverine, as was the case in Fox's movies. One of the series' standout characters was Gambit , who sadly died in the Genosha massacre in episode 5. Now, Marvel Studios' new time travel rules make Gambit's return from the dead this season or in X-Men '97 season 2 likely impossible.

Bastion's global threat has brought the world to the brink of all-out war, with a Magneto cliffhanger that could change everything for the X-Men.

X-Men '97 Changed How Absolute Points In Time Work

Cable has brought new time travel rules.

X-Men '97 just used the concept of absolute points in time. Marvel Studios' other animated series, What If...? , explained the concept as absolute points being events that simply cannot be changed ; otherwise, that could lead to the destruction of that entire timeline. That effect was practically shown in What If...? season 1's Doctor Strange episode , where the variant of Benedict Cumberbatch's MCU character attempted to save the life of his Christine Palmer over and over. Eventually, Doctor Strange's efforts lead to the destruction of his universe, with him as the sole survivor.

X-Men '97 names the concept but introduces a different way for absolute points to work. In the animated series, Cable explains that he has tried to stop the Genosha event several times, only he is pulled back from that moment every time he tries to travel there, as was shown in X-Men '97 episode 5 when he was sent back to the future after meeting his mother, Madelyne Pryor. On Twitter, X-Men '97 showrunner Beau DeMayo commented on how Cable's explanation of absolute points means no time travel can undo Genosha .

X-Men '97 Means Gambit's Death Is Permanent

The genosha event is an absolute point.

Based on Marvel's new explanation for absolute points, Gambit's death is likely to stick. The most common theory for how the character could come back hinged on Cable 's presence in Genosha. However, the reveal that Nathan Summers has tried to undo the tragic event over and over but is always pulled from that moment in time means Gambit, Madelyne Pryor, and countless other mutants are permanently dead. As Gambit was finally shining after being done dirty in live-action, the news will surely upset fans of the character.

Marvel Studios' X-Men '97 continues to deliver, and the animated series has shown more respect for a mutant than the Fox X-Men movies ever did.

However, it is perhaps good that X-Men '97 will not walk back on Gambit's death. The moment was one of the most shocking and emotional in any Marvel series, and undoing it would take away from Gambit's sacrifice, with the character dying to stop the three-headed Sentinel and save as many mutants as he could. Adding to that, X-Men '97 has already walked back on enough major deaths , revealing that Charles Xavier has been alive all this time and that Magneto never died in Genosha. Due to that, Gambit's death should stick, showing the series does have high stakes.

Does X-Men '97's "Absolute Points" Rule Mean It's In The MCU Multiverse?

Loki established the sacred timeline concept.

X-Men '97 included a scene where a display in front of Cable showed a very similar representation of the MCU's Sacred Timeline from before Loki created Yggdrasil at the end of Loki season 2. The moment seemed to hint that X-Men '97 is part of the MCU's multiverse; however, showrunner Beau DeMayo chalked that to borrowed iconography that would make the concept of absolute points easier for fans to understand without delving too much into it.

DeMayo claims that X-Men '97 's use of absolute points was so that there was no need to introduce a new word/concept when they could use one that fans were already familiar with. However, the X-Men '97 showrunner did concede that there is some crossover between the series and the MCU. DeMayo revealed that he views the series " as its own neighboring tree " to the MCU's but claimed that " a few leaves from one tree can mingle with another at some point ." While Gambit's death seems to be permanent, it is interesting that X-Men '97 is exploring an MCU concept.

X-Men '97

X-Men '97 is the direct continuation of the popular 1990s animated series X-Men: The Animated Series. Taking up where the third season left off, Marvel's revival brings back famous mutants such as Wolverine, Storm, Rogue, Gambit, Cyclops, Beast, Magneto, and Nightcrawler, who fight villains like Mr. Sinister, the Sentinels, and the Hellfire Club.

• X-Men '97 (2024)
• Marvel Cinematic Universe