When does The Marvels take place on the Marvel timeline? It's a fair question, as the Marvel timeline is becoming one complicated beast indeed. Luckily, we're here to figure it all out for you.
The Marvels is the latest project to arrive from the MCU – debuting on Loki season 2 finale day, no less – but it's been teased to have some pretty major connections to the wider universe. That means it's worth knowing the chronology and how everything fits together.
We've done the MCU homework for you and pinned down when The Marvels takes place on the Marvel timeline, as accurately as we possibly can. So, for all the answers, head to the below. A word of warning, though, that the following contains spoilers for The Marvels, so turn back now if you haven't seen the film yet!
When does The Marvels take place on the Marvel timeline?
The Marvels follows on from multiple MCU projects: the first Captain Marvel movie, WandaVision – which is where Monica Rambeau gets her powers – Ms. Marvel, and Secret Invasion.
The Ms. Marvel post-credits scene features a cameo from Carol Danvers, who unexpectedly shows up in Kamala Khan's bedroom when the teenage superhero uses her purple powers. As it turns out, Carol, Kamala, and Monica Rambeau are all switching places whenever any of them use their individual abilities at the same time, which could prove tricky for the trio.
The Marvels follows on almost perfectly from this scene, though it rewinds a little to show us how the switching – or entanglement, as it's officially called – came to be.
As for Secret Invasion, the Skrull-heavy story is the most recent time we've seen Nick Fury, who features in The Marvels. But, no references are made to the events of Secret Invasion in this movie.
Both Ms. Marvel and Secret Invasion are set in 2025 (though Secret Invasion could potentially be in 2026, considering Disney Plus places it chronologically after the Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special, which is the Christmas of 2025) – so that would mean The Marvels takes place in either late 2025 or in 2026. We'd guess 2026 is the year that makes the most sense, considering there are no festive decorations to be found in the movie.
As for what that means for the MCU, that puts The Marvels as the most recent MCU project going both by release and chronological order.
Of course, since Monica ends up in a different reality entirely by the end of the film, things are a little more complicated. We'll have to wait for the return of the MCU's X-Men to learn more about how things work in that dimension, however, but it's an alternate reality where Maria Rambeau is the superhero Binary – so expect things to be very different.
For more on that, read our guides to The Marvels post-credits scenes, what you need to know about Kelsey Grammer’s Beast cameo, and how does The Marvels ending set up Deadpool 3?
The Marvels is in theaters now. For much more on the movie, check out our deep dives on:
- The Marvels ending explained
- All of The Marvels Easter eggs and MCU references
- All of The Marvels cameos - listed and explained
- The comics that influenced The Marvels, according to Nia DaCosta
- Nia DaCosta explaining The Marvels’ “lighter, softer” Fury
- The Marvels director weighing in on whether or not you need to have watched the TV shows beforehand
- The MCU movies and shows to watch before The Marvels
- How many Captain Marvels are there in Marvel Comics?
- Ms. Marvel: The powers and comic book origins of Kamala Khan
- What team is Kamala Khan recruiting for at the end of The Marvels?
