Spider-Man: Homecoming uses a major Marvel Cinematic Universe moment to explain when the events of Homecoming take place. Upon further investigation, it doesn’t add up.
[Warning: The following contains spoilers for Spider-Man: Homecoming.]
One of the earliest scenes in the film takes place directly after the destruction New York suffered following the battle that took place in The Avengers. According to a quick title card that appears in the film, Homecoming takes place eight years after the events of that battle. We have been led to assume that The Avengers takes place in 2012. This is the understood truth among journalists and fans. The Avengers, like Captain America: Civil War, is set in the same year it was released.
Since The Avengers, most of the movies have actually been set close to the same year they were released in. For example, Civil War takes place in 2016. One of the only movies that breaks from that rule is Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, which was released this year but is based just after the events of the first Guardians of the Galaxy, released in 2014.
This is relatively new for the MCU. Most people assumed that the first phase of Marvel Cinematic movies — Iron Man, Captain America: The First Avenger, The Incredible Hulk, Iron Man 2 and The Avengers — all took place in the year they were released. Before The Avengers was released, however, Marvel issued an official timeline correcting this line of thought. Captain America: The First Avenger, Iron Man 2, The Incredible Hulk and Thor all took place within the span of a week. It’s referred to as “Nick Fury’s Big Week” and details the Avengers being introduced for the first time. These five movies take place in 2011, while Iron Man has been retconned to take place in 2010.
Post Avengers, however, everything changed. This is where it gets complicated: If The Avengers is set in 2012, as is believed to be true, than eight years after that would be 2020, which means Homecoming would be set in 2020.
That’s three years from now and, more importantly, introduces Homecoming as a film that takes place after the events of Avengers: Infinity War. It doesn’t make any sense.
To prove it, let’s use some circumstantial evidence.
We know Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 takes place in 2014, thanks to movie’s prologue. The title card says 1980, and then skips forward 34 years. The title card used in the prologue card for Guardians of the Galaxy does the same thing, jumping forward 26 years from 1988. That puts the setting of both films in 2014.
Here’s where the timeline comes into question. In an interview with CinemaBlend earlier this year, Marvel Studios’ chief, Kevin Feige, confirmed that Infinity War takes place four years after the events of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 — setting it in 2018, the same year it will be released. That sets the events of Infinity War, a movie that hasn’t even happened yet, before Homecoming. It’s not logical.
It’s also not the first time that Marvel has broken its timeline, either.
In Captain America: Civil War, there’s a moment where the Vision refers to the moment that Tony Stark publicly announced that he was Iron Man; a moment, Vision adds, that took place eight years ago. While that makes sense when looking at Iron Man’s release date, it contradicts what Marvel itself previously announced as its timeline.
If Tony Stark announced that he was Iron Man eight years before Civil War, that would be 2008, not the 2011 date Marvel had given.
At this point, both Homecoming and Civil War contradict the timeline that Marvel has given. If Homecoming takes place eight years after The Avengers, and Iron Man takes place eight years before Civil War, that gives two very different starting points for a few different movies in the MCU, including Iron Man. Simply put, the math doesn’t add up.
If anything, Homecoming just adds to the main issue — Marvel doesn’t know when its movies have been set. Even worse, with the studio changing things on the fly, it messes around the barely comprehensible timeline they’ve provided thus far.
For example, we’re led to believe that the events of Homecoming take place a few months after Civil War. But based on the different takes Marvel has given fans, the “eight years” past or later sentiment doesn’t make any sense. If Civil War takes place in 2016, which we know it does thanks to some calendar shots, than Homecoming can’t exist in 2020. Especially when the movie opens with shaky-hand cam footage of Spider-Man in Civil War before diving right into Homecoming.
There’s no other explanation than Marvel making a miscalculation somewhere along the line. Too much retconning, too much fiddling around — and this is what happens.
Feige is aware of how complicated and complex timeline things can get, too. He has said on multiple occasions that Marvel doesn’t include direct references to years in its films for this reason.
In that same interview with CinemaBlend, Feige said:
Yeah, knowing that outside of the Guardians franchise, we don't necessarily always date the movies. You don't always know, we don't say, '2012, 2013...' We do in the Guardians because you do the math and 1988, and it's 26 years later. But we never say, 'Oh, this takes place in 2018, this takes place in 2017.' But it was important for the story that James wanted to tell that they're still relatively fresh in their new group.
In a more recent interview with the site, Feige added that they don’t like to think about specific timeline structures, choosing to focus on the larger story instead.
I think people like to talk about our long term plans, which we certainly have. But very rarely do those long term plans dictate the specificity of any individual film. It’s usually the opposite. It’s focusing on a story, and focusing on the individual movie that we’re making to do what’s best. And then, if something changes that we weren’t quite expecting down the line because it was made for a better movie, then we deal with it down the line.
The problem with this is, as seen by this lengthy piece, plot holes. When Polygon reached out to Marvel for comment on the status of the timeline, we were told by multiple people that the studio didn’t have comment on the specifics, but was looking into it.
Hopefully things will be cleared up before the Homecoming sequel — or Infinity War — is released, but don’t expect too much out of Marvel on this issue.