Marvel keeps the entire timeline of the MCU on a table-length paper scroll (no, seriously, it does)

The MCU timeline can be a confusing mess of battles, betrayals and basically everything else. Heck, even Spider-Man: Homecoming is a little bit sketchy on exactly when it takes place, unless you want to dig into it. If you’re on Marvel’s books, though, (like Homecoming director Jon Watts) you get access to the document detailing everything in the MCU and, yes, it’s a giant scroll. Because Marvel don’t do things by halves, clearly.

Speaking to EW, Watts revealed that he’s privy to a few of Marvel’s big secrets, and there was one in particular he was keen to divulge, “Well, there is this scroll. It’s an actual scroll they unrolled for me. One of my producers, Eric Carroll, it was his first job at Marvel to work on this timeline and to see where things line up and where they didn’t quite. It’s the most amazing thing because it starts, no joke, at the beginning of time. So you can see where all the events line up! Like, oh that’s when Captain America was born.”

Captain America being born, though, wasn’t the beginning of the MCU timeline. Not even close. Watts was asked, probably jokingly, whether it started at The Big Bang and… well, it’s not far off: “I can’t remember specifically [where the timeline starts] but I think it has something to do with a Thor storyline. Or maybe Guardians. It’s the MCU version of the history of time. It’s a very long scroll. Longer than conference table. It’s a pretty amazing document.”

One day maybe us commoners will be able to feast our eyes on the scroll (I seriously can’t believe it’s actually a scroll), but for now we’ll have to make do with imagining the faces of suited Marvel execs as a giant scroll is rolled out in front of them. It must be quite the picture.

Image: Marvel

Bradley Russell

I'm the Senior Entertainment Writer here at GamesRadar+, focusing on news, features, and interviews with some of the biggest names in film and TV. On-site, you'll find me marveling at Marvel and providing analysis and room temperature takes on the newest films, Star Wars and, of course, anime. Outside of GR, I love getting lost in a good 100-hour JRPG, Warzone, and kicking back on the (virtual) field with Football Manager. My work has also been featured in OPM, FourFourTwo, and Game Revolution.