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The Marvel Universe is a fictional shared universe where the stories in most American comic book titles and other media published by Marvel Comics take place. Superhero teams such as the Avengers, the X-Men, the Fantastic Four, the Guardians of the Galaxy, and many Marvel superheroes live in this universe, including characters such as Spider-Man, Wolverine, the Hulk, Captain America, and Iron Man. It also contains well-known supervillains such as Doctor Doom, Magneto, the Green Goblin, Loki, and Thanos. It also contains antiheroes such as Deadpool, Ghost Rider, the Punisher, Elektra, and Black Cat.
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The Marvel Universe is further depicted as existing within a "multiverse" consisting of thousands of separate universes, all of which are the creations of Marvel Comics and all of which are, in a sense, "Marvel universes". In this context, "Marvel Universe" is taken to refer to the mainstream Marvel continuity, which is known as Earth-616 or Prime Earth.
History
Some of the characters in Timely Comics (the 1930s and '40s predecessor to Marvel Comics) coexisted in the same world, as first established in Marvel Mystery Comics #7 (1940) where Namor was mentioned in Human Torch's story, and vice versa. Later several superheroes (who starred in separate stories in the series up to that point) met each other in a group dubbed the All-Winners Squad.
Though the concept of a shared universe was not new or unique to comic books in 1961, writer/editor Stan Lee, together with several artists including Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko, created a series of titles where events in one book would have repercussions in another title and serialized stories would show characters' growth and change.[1] Headline characters in one title would make cameos or guest appearances in other books. Fantastic Four #12 is the first crossover comic book in modern Marvel continuity (first meeting of Fantastic Four and the Hulk). Eventually, many of the leading heroes (Ant-Man, Wasp, Iron Man, Thor and the Hulk) assembled into a team known as the Avengers, which debuted in September 1963. This was not the first time that Marvel's characters had interacted with one another—Namor and the original Human Torch had been rivals when Marvel was Timely Comics (Marvel Vault), under editor Martin Goodman[2] — but it was the first time that the comic book publisher's characters seemed to share a world.[3] The Marvel Universe was also notable for setting its central titles in New York City; by contrast, many DC heroes live in fictional cities. Care was taken to portray the city and the world as realistically as possible, with the presence of superhumans affecting the common citizens in various ways.[4]
Over time, a few Marvel Comics writers lobbied Marvel editors to incorporate the idea of a Multiverse resembling DC's parallel worlds; this plot device allows one to create several fictional universes which normally do not overlap. What happens on Earth in the main Marvel Universe would normally not affect what happens on a parallel Earth in another Marvel-created universe. However, writers would have the creative ability to write stories in which people from one such universe would visit this alternative universe.[5]
In 1982, Marvel published the miniseries Contest of Champions, in which all of the major heroes in existence at the time were gathered together to deal with one threat. This was Marvel's first miniseries. Each issue contained biographical information on many major costumed characters; these biographies were a precursor to Marvel's series of reference material, The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe, which followed shortly on the heels of Contest of Champions.[6]
Concepts
This section may contain original research. (August 2009) |
The Marvel Universe is strongly based on the real world. Earth in the Marvel Universe has all the features of the real one: same countries, same personalities (politicians, movie stars, etc.), same historical events (such as World War II), and so on; however, it also contains many other fictional elements: countries such as Wakanda and Latveria and organizations like the espionage agency S.H.I.E.L.D. and its enemies, Hydra and A.I.M. In 2009, Marvel officially described its world's geography in a two-part miniseries, the Marvel Atlas.[7]
Most importantly, the Marvel Universe also incorporates examples of almost all major science fiction and fantasy concepts, with writers adding more continuously. Aliens, gods, magic, cosmic powers and advanced technology all exist prominently in the Marvel Universe. These extra elements are incorporated simultaneously into the stories, lending to the existence of the superpowered characters. The general public is so familiar with such concepts that Empire State University has a scholarship for "aliens, dimensional travelers, clones, independent machine intelligences and other students outside the norm",[8] businesses and residences have superhero property insurance[9][10][11] bookmakers take bets on their battles' outcomes,[12] and New York air traffic controllers handle starships landing at local airports.[13]
Comparatively, little time passes in the Marvel Universe compared to the real world, owing to the serial nature of storytelling, with the stories of certain issues picking up mere seconds after the conclusion of the previous one, while a whole month has passed by in "real-time". Marvel's major heroes were created in the 1960s, but the amount of time that has passed between then and now within the universe itself has (after a prolonged period of being identified as about 10 years in the mid-to-late 1990s) most recently been identified as 13 years.[14] Consequently, the settings of some events which were contemporary when written have to be updated every few years to "make sense" in this floating timeline. Thus, the events of previous stories are considered to have happened within a certain number of years before the publishing date of the current issue. For example, Spider-Man's high school graduation was published in Amazing Spider-Man #28 (September 1965), his college graduation in Amazing Spider-Man #185 (October 1978), and his high school reunion in Marvel Knights Spider-Man #7 (December 2004). Because of the floating timeline, where stories refer to real-life historic events, these references are later ignored or rewritten to suit current sensibilities; for instance, the origin of Iron Man was changed in a 2004 storyline to refer to the war on terror in Afghanistan,[15] whereas the original Iron Man stories had referred to the Vietnam War in Vietnam; similarly, the Punisher's backstory has also been changed as well.[volume and issue needed]
Marvel Comics itself exists as a company within the Marvel Universe, and versions of people such as Stan Lee and Jack Kirby have appeared in some of the stories, whereas characters like Steve Rogers, (Captain America's alter ego), have worked for Marvel.[volume and issue needed] The Marvel of this reality publishes comics that adapt the actual adventures of the superheroes (except for details not known to the public, like their secret identities); many of these are licensed with the permission of the heroes themselves, who customarily donate their share of profits to charity. Additionally, the DC Comics Universe is also said to exist in the Marvel Universe as one of the many alternative universes. The reverse may also be said concerning the DC Universe. This is one method of explaining the various crossover stories co-published by the two companies.[volume and issue needed]
Pop culture characters such as Sherlock Holmes, Dracula, and Frankenstein's Monster exist in the Marvel Universe. This is usually justified as a second-hand account of events as told to credited authors Arthur Conan Doyle, Bram Stoker, and Mary Shelley, although the general public continues to believe them to be fictional. Robert E. Howard's Conan the Barbarian, Red Sonja, Kull the Conqueror, and Solomon Kane also have real-life existences in the Marvel Universe. The Hyborian Era of Conan and Kull is considered part of Earth-616 pre-recorded history. However, they rarely encounter modern Marvel superhero characters. This is most likely possible due to the uncertain legal status of Howard's works before 2006 when they became public domain. As of 2019, Conan the Barbarian, as well as Kull the Conqueror and Solomon Kane, have been firmly integrated, thanks to Marvel regaining the publishing rights to the characters. Other licensed works that have been incorporated into the Marvel Universe include Godzilla, the Transformers, the film 2001: A Space Odyssey (in the character of Machine Man), Rom the Spaceknight, the Micronauts, and the Shogun Warriors. In most cases, such material is either restricted from use after the license expires or the characters redesigned or renamed to avoid copyright infringement.[volume and issue needed]
Costumed superheroes and supervillains
Within the fictional history of the Marvel Universe, the tradition of using costumed secret identities to fight or commit evil had long existed, but it came into prominence during the days of the American "Wild West" with heroes such as Carter Slade/the Phantom Rider. During the 20th century, the tradition was reinvigorated by Steve Rogers/Captain America and the Invaders in the 1940s, who fought for the Allies of World War II.
Unlike the DC Universe, few of Marvel's Golden Age characters have risen to prominence in modern publications; Captain America is one exception, and to a lesser extent, his contemporary, Namor, primarily because both of these characters were reintroduced to readers and the Marvel Universe during the 1960s.[citation needed]
Marvel's most prominent heroes were created during the Silver Age of Comic Books in the 1960s to early 1970s, including Spider-Man, Doctor Strange, Daredevil, Nick Fury, the Black Panther, the Silver Surfer, and the early members of the Avengers, X-Men, Fantastic Four, and the Inhumans.
The Bronze Age and Modern Age from the early-to-mid 1970s to the early 1990s introduced many new additions to every corner of the Marvel Universe. The comics introduced street heroes such as the Heroes for Hire and the Punisher, space heroes including many members of the future Guardians of the Galaxy and Nova, supernatural heroes such as Ghost Rider and Blade. New members were added to existing hero teams, including Wolverine, Storm, Kitty Pryde, Colossus, Nightcrawler and Rogue to the X-Men; and Mockingbird, Monica Rambeau, and Tigra to the Avengers. Other notable debuts include Scott Lang, the Black Cat, Emma Frost, the She-Hulk, Jessica Drew, Elektra, and new teams including the New Mutants, Eternals, Power Pack and the New Warriors.
From the mid-90s to present, Marvel created characters such as Deadpool, Gambit, Cable, Domino, the Thunderbolts, the Runaways, Shuri, Phil Coulson, and Maria Hill. Legacy characters became a popular staple during this time, introducing characters such as X-23, Miles Morales, Yelena Belova, Cassie Lang, Kamala Khan, Kate Bishop, Moon Girl, America Chavez, Robbie Reyes, Ironheart and Spider-Gwen.
Prominent teams of superheroes include the Avengers, the X-Men, the Fantastic Four, the Defenders, the Inhumans, S.H.I.E.L.D., the Howling Commandos, the Guardians of the Galaxy, the Runaways, the Midnight Sons and the Thunderbolts. Notable supervillain teams include the Masters of Evil, the Emissaries of Evil, the Brotherhood of Mutants, the Sinister Six, the Frightful Four, the Lethal Legion, the Legion of the Unliving, the Black Order, the Annihilation Wave, and the Cabal.
Origin of superhuman powers
Most of the superhumans in Marvel's Earth owe their powers to the Celestials, cosmic entities who visited Earth millions of years ago and experimented on their prehistoric ancestors (a process they also carried out on several other planets). This resulted in the creation of two hidden races, the godlike Eternals and the genetically unstable Deviants, in addition to giving some humans an "x-factor" in their genes, which sometimes activates naturally, resulting in sometimes superpowered, sometimes disfigured individuals called mutants. Others require other factors (such as radiation) for their powers to come forth. Depending on the genetic profile, individuals who are exposed to different chemicals or radiation will often suffer death or injury, while in others it will cause superhuman abilities to manifest. Except for psionic abilities, these powers are usually random. It is not clear why the Celestials did this, although it is known that they continue to observe humanity's evolution. A Marvel series titled Earth X explored one possible reason for this: that superhumans are meant to protect a Celestial embryo that grows inside Earth against any planetary threats and have done so for eons. The majority of the public is unaware of what may cause superhuman powers.[volume and issue needed]
Some heroes and villains have no powers at all but depend instead on hand-to-hand combat training or advanced technological equipment. In the Marvel Universe, technology is considerably more advanced than in the real world; this is due to unique individuals of genius-level intelligence, such as Reed Richards (Mister Fantastic) of the Fantastic Four. However, most of the advanced devices are too expensive for the common citizen, and are usually in the hands of government organizations like S.H.I.E.L.D., or powerful criminal organizations like A.I.M. Advanced technology has also been given to humans by hidden races, aliens, or time travelers like Kang the Conqueror, who is known to have influenced the robotics industry in the past.[volume and issue needed]
The Marvel Universe has a vast number of additional sources of superhuman powers, including cosmic forces (such as the Power Cosmic or Phoenix Force), extra dimensions (such as the Darkforce and Lightforce dimensions), or the many branches of magic. Some races are born with natural powers beyond the means of humans.
Races
In Marvel Comics, mutants (Homo superior) are a key source of storytelling and the origins of a number of prominent characters, mostly those in the X-Men universe. Mutants are born with the X-gene, often granting them superhuman abilities and sometimes physical mutations differing them from normal humans. Many people of the Marvel Universe fear or despise mutants, seeing them as dangerous threats. This has caused organizations to form to deal with the problem. Some seek peaceful coexistence between mutants and normal humans (the X-Men and their affiliated groups), those who seek to control or eliminate humans to give mutants safety or dominance (Magneto and his followers, as well as other mutants such as Apocalypse), and those who seek to regulate or eliminate mutants in favor of humans.
In addition to mutants, Eternals, and Deviants, several other intelligent races have existed secretly on Earth. These include the Inhumans, another genetically unstable race (like the Deviants, but in their case, it is due to their use of a substance called the Terrigen Mist) that was created by a Kree experiment long ago; the Subterraneans, a race of humanoids adapted to living below the surface, created by the Deviants (some Subterraneans were transformed into the 'Lava Men' by a demon); and Homo mermanus, a humanoid species of water-breathers that live in Earth's oceans. Most of these races have advanced technology but existed hidden from humanity until recent times. More variants of humanity can be found in the Savage Land (see Places below). Most of the Savage Land races have their origin from a group of primitive ape-men who seems to have escaped the Celestial experiments and whose influence is present in all modern Homo sapiens. Other leftovers from the era when primitive humanoids walked on Earth still exist, such as the radiation-altered Neanderthal man known as the Missing Link, an enemy of the Hulk.[16]
Alien races
The Marvel Universe also contains hundreds of intelligent alien races. Earth has interacted with many of them because a major "hyperspace warp" happens to exist in the Solar System.
The three major space empires are:
- the Kree, who rule the Kree Empire (in the Greater Magellanic Cloud)
- the Skrulls, who rule the Skrull Empire (in the Andromeda Galaxy)
- the Shi'ar, who rule the Shi'ar Empire.
The three are often in direct or indirect conflict, which occasionally involves Earth humans; in particular, the Kree and Skrulls are ancient enemies, and the Kree-Skrull War has involved humans on several occasions.
Another prominent alien race is the Watchers, immortal and wise beings who watch over the Marvel Universe and have taken a sacred vow not to intervene in events, though the Watcher assigned to Earth, Uatu, has violated this oath on several occasions.
The Elders of the Universe are ancient aliens who have often had a great impact on many worlds for billions of years, acting alone or as a group. A power called the Power Primordial is channeled through them.
Many other races exist and have formed an "Intergalactic Council" to have their say on matters that affect them all, such as interference from Earth humans in their affairs.
Supernatural creatures
Also abundant in the Marvel Universe are legendary creatures such as gods, demons and vampires. The 'gods' of most polytheistic pantheons are powerful, immortal human-like races residing in other dimensions who visited Earth in ancient times, and became the basis of many legends. However, all of these 'gods' share a common ancestry and connection to Earth due to Gaea, the primeval Elder Goddess that infused her life essence into all living things on Earth. Besides mythological gods, many deities made up by Marvel writers exist as well, such as the Dark Gods, enemies of the Asgardians. [volume and issue needed]
Angels and demons have appeared throughout the franchise, with some form of Heaven and Hell existing on other planes in the Universe. Some notable demons include Blackheart, Mephisto, Nightmare, and Satannish. There are also powerful benevolent mystical entities such as the Vishanti; or amoral and malevolent entities who are not truly demonic, such as Dormammu and the Octessence, or ones heavily drawing upon the mythologies of H. P. Lovecraft and Robert E. Howard. Some supernatural beings, entities and human characters created by Lovecraft and Howard, who were friends and influenced each other's work, have been adapted by Marvel and include Abdul Alhazred,[17][18][19] Conan the Barbarian[20] Nyarlathotep[21] and Set.[22] Some deities or demonic beings that are original characters of Marvel have been heavily influenced by these mythologies, such as Shuma-Gorath.[23]
Most of the current generation of gods have been revealed to be the descendants of the Elder Goddess Gaea. The two most featured pantheons are the Asgardians (of whom Thor is a member) and the Olympians (of whom Hercules is a member). The lords of the various pantheons sometimes gather in groups known as either the Council of Godheads or the Council of Skyfathers. The gods were forced to stop meddling with humanity (at least openly) a thousand years ago by the Celestials, and most people today believe them to be fictional. Other pantheons have been depicted in the Marvel Universe that is still actively worshiped in the real world, including those worshiped by the Aboriginal inhabitants of Australia, the gods of Hinduism, the Shinto gods and the gods of Zoroastrianism. These deities are rarely depicted, however. To avoid offending the believers of still active religions, Marvel features such deities as characters in the background or who make very brief cameo appearances.
The Marvel Universe also contains a number of monsters. Classic monsters such as vampires, werewolves, ghosts, and zombies all exist within the Universe, as well as fictional monster races. Monsters were prominent in early publications such as Journey into Mystery and Strange Tales.
Cosmic entities
The cosmic entities are beings of unbelievably great levels of power (the weakest of whom can destroy entire planets) who exist to perform duties that maintain the existence of the universe. Most do not care at all about "lesser beings" such as humans, and as a consequence, their acts are recurrently dangerous to mortals. When dire threats threaten the universe, it is not uncommon for these beings to gather together to discuss the threat and even act on it.[volume and issue needed]
Most conceptual entities are simply interested in furthering their essential function or to keep the balance with an opposing force. However, certain cosmic entities, such as Galactus, the In-Betweener, the Maelstrom, or the Stranger have demonstrated personality, motivations, or (except for the first one mentioned) even ambitions beyond their functions, but often maintain the perspective that morality is entirely relative, or that destroying civilizations of "lesser" beings is no eviler than if these beings destroyed an anthill. Others such as Uatu the Watcher, Eon, or the Celestials, Ashema and Tiamut are aberrations in the sense of sympathizing with, and occasionally coming to the defense of, humanity.[volume and issue needed]
The Phoenix Force is composed of the psionic energy from all living beings' past, present, and future, and is an embodiment of rebirth and destructive transformation through "burning away what doesn't work", and helped to restart the universe before the Big Bang.[volume and issue needed]
'The "Fulcrum" is a comparatively recent addition to the hierarchy, that "all" cosmic entities allegedly serve, of a level of raw power stated to far surpass the might of the Watchers and the Celestials. Unlike most other entities, it is capable of conscience, compassion, and even a sense of humor, and has stated that it wants other cosmic beings to develop such as well. He is a possible manifestation/avatar of the One-Above-All.[volume and issue needed]
The mentioned One-Above-All is believed to be the supreme, omnipotent being, who solely created the Marvel Multiverse, and possibly acted beyond.[24] He also brought to life the Living Tribunal, an extremely powerful cosmic entity, who serves to maintain balance within the Multiverse.[25]
Cosmology
Multiverse
The Marvel Universe is part of a Multiverse, with various universes coexisting simultaneously, usually without affecting each other directly.[volume and issue needed] Furthermore, each universe has various other dimensions associated with it, and one such group is collectively known as a Reality. Often what is referred to in the comics as a Universe is actually a Reality. According to mythology, the Multiverse has been created by the omnipotent being One-Above-All.
Even the Marvel Multiverse, however, is only a part of the Omniverse, which consists of all of fiction and reality combined, including all the works that are outside of Marvel's copyright restrictions.[26]
The action of most of the Marvel Comics titles takes place in a continuity known as Earth-616. This continuity exists in a multiverse alongside trillions of alternative continuities.[27] Alternative continuities in the Marvel Multiverse are generally defined in terms of their differences from Earth-616.
Continuities besides Earth-616 include the following (for a complete listing see Multiverse (Marvel Comics)):
| Earth | Description | |
|---|---|---|
| Earth-65 | A reality where Gwen Stacy was bitten by the radioactive spider instead of Peter Parker (who became the Lizard in this universe and died) and where Gwen became a superhero. It also includes variations of other Marvel characters, such as a gender-bent version of Sam Wilson (known as Samantha Wilson, who became Captain America instead of Steve Rogers). | |
| Earth-295 | Age of Apocalypse | An alternate reality ruled by the mutant god Apocalypse. |
| Earth-311 | Marvel 1602 | A reality where Marvel superheroes emerged in the early 1600s. |
| Earth-615 | Sometimes being the same universe as Earth-616, and sometimes not. | |
| Earth-712 | Squadron Supreme | The home of one version of the Squadron Supreme, a super-team from another universe and pastiches of DC Comics' the Justice League. |
| Earth-811 | Days of Future Past | A dystopian alternate future where the Sentinels rule North America and have enslaved mutants. |
| Earth-928 | Marvel 2099 | A reality showing a possible future for the Marvel Universe in the year 2099. Also designated as Earth-616 circa 2099 |
| Earth-982 | MC2 | Another alternate future for the world of the Marvel Universe and its superheroes and supervillains |
| Earth-1218 | The setting of the real world, where superheroes, supervillains, and supernatural entities don't exist. | |
| Earth-1610 | Ultimate Marvel | A modern-day re-imagining of Spider-Man, the Ultimates, the X-Men, the Fantastic Four and S.H.I.E.L.D., as well as other Marvel heroes and villains in a new setting. The home reality of Miles Morales, the Maker (a.k.a. Reed Richards), and Jimmy Hudson. |
| Earth-2149 | Marvel Zombies | A reality where all the Marvel superheroes and supervillains were turned into cannibalistic flesh-eating zombies. |
| Earth-2301 | Marvel Mangaverse | A reality containing manga versions of the Marvel Universe characters. |
| Earth-2447 | Spider-Man: Life Story | A reality where Spider-Man and the other Marvel superheroes who debuted in the 1960s aged in real-time. |
| Earth-4321 | The reality of Marvel Universe: The End | |
| Earth-7642 | Earth-Crossover | A universe where Marvel characters co-exist with characters from DC Comics |
| Earth-8096 | Christopher Yost Universe | The reality of TV shows and movies such as Wolverine and the X-Men, The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes, Hulk Vs., and Thor: Tales of Asgard. |
| Earth-8101 | Marvel Apes | A reality where apes are the dominant species and the superheroes and supervillains are apes themselves |
| Earth-8311 | Larval Universe | The home reality of Peter Porker (a.k.a. Spider-Ham); a reality where talking animal versions of Marvel superheroes and supervillains exist. |
| Earth-9591 | Ruins | A reality where "everything that can go wrong will go wrong", where the experiments and other incidents that granted the superheroes and supervillains their powers instead resulted in horrific tragedies and deaths. |
| Earth-9602 | Amalgam Universe | A pocket universe where the Marvel and the DC Universes were combined into one reality. |
| Earth-9997 | Earth X | An alternate future for the Marvel Universe depicting an Earth mutated by the Terrigen Mists. The series was followed by two other series, Universe X and Paradise X. |
| Earth-11326 | Age of X | A reality in which a series of anti-mutant events cause the United States government to hunt down all mutants, confining the survivors to Fortress X. |
| Earth-12041 | Marvel Universe on Disney XD | The universe containing Ultimate Spider-Man, Avengers Assemble, and Hulk and the Agents of S.M.A.S.H.. |
| Earth-20051 | Marvel Adventures | An all-ages imprint. |
| Earth-30847 | Marvel vs. Capcom | The reality of the Marvel vs. Capcom games |
| Earth-58163 | House of M | A reality in which mutants are the ruling class, humans are the oppressed and Magneto and his family rule Genosha. |
| Earth-90214 | Marvel Noir | A reality home to noir versions of superheroes. |
| Earth-92131 | The universe of the 1990s Marvel animated TV shows, such as X-Men: The Animated Series, Spider-Man: The Animated Series, Fantastic Four, Iron Man, and The Incredible Hulk. | |
| Earth-93060 | Ultraverse | The home of the super-team known as Ultraforce and superhumans known as Ultras. |
| Earth-96283 | Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man trilogy | An alternate reality in which Spider-Man and Doctor Strange (mentioned) are the only two superheroes on Earth. |
| Earth-148611 | New Universe | An alternate reality where a major catastrophe that is known as the "White Event" caused numerous people to develop superpowers in a world where there are no hidden races, gods, magic or super-technology. The home reality of Star Brand |
| Earth-199999 | Marvel Cinematic Universe | A shared universe of films and TV shows by Marvel Studios featuring versions of the Avengers, the Guardians of the Galaxy, the Defenders, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and the Eternals, as well as Doctor Strange, the Black Panther, Captain Marvel, Nick Fury, Shang-Chi and many others. Called and designated as Earth-616 by some of its inhabitants. |
| Earth-200111 | MAX universe | A gritty, realistic, violent universe where traditional superheroes do not exist. Stories include: The Punisher MAX, Born and its prequel Punisher: The Platoon (these series are canon to the main Marvel Universe, with the Vietnam War later updated to the Iraq War, and then, the fictional Siancong War), Wolverine MAX, Foolkiller MAX, Fury, and Fury: My War Gone By (the latter, also canon). |
| Earth-807128 | Old Man Logan | Another dystopian alternate future where the supervillains killed all the superheroes and took over the United States (and presumably the world), dividing it among themselves. The home reality of the titular Old Man Logan, an alternate version of Wolverine |
| Alterniverse | The reality of some of the What If stories. | |
| Shadowline | A horror imprint separate from the mainstream Marvel continuity. | |
Time
One cannot normally alter the Marvel Universe's history; if a time-traveler should cause an alteration to the established flow of events at some point in the past, a divergent universe will simply "branch out" from the existing timeline, and the time-traveler will still return to their unaltered original universe. Those realities can also spawn realities of their own. There exist hundreds, probably thousands of such realities. It is unknown why this happens, though a warp known as the Nexus of All Realities exists in a swamp in the Florida Everglades of Earth-616. For the most part, this does not matter, as most beings are unaware that this occurs, or even that their universes were recently "born" from another. However, individuals and organizations exist that try to monitor or manipulate the various realities. These include Immortus, the Captain Britain Corps, the Time Variance Authority, the Timebreakers/Exiles, and Kang the Conqueror's forces. It is possible to travel through time without creating a new alternative universe, instead of altering events in the future, but this seems to have devastating and very far-reaching repercussions, as depicted in Marvel 1602 (it almost destroyed the whole multiverse, including the afterlife).[citation needed]
Also, time itself passes much differently within the confines of the Marvel Universe than it does in the real world. Despite various characters having appeared within company publications for decades, few, if any, have aged to any appreciable degree. For example, the patriotic hero Captain America was created in 1941 but stopped appearing in titles soon after the end of World War II. The character was revived more than 20 years later, explained as having been frozen in a block of ice though believed to be dead, to lead Marvel's latest team of superheroes the Avengers. This first Avengers team featured several characters that would go on to be some of the company's most famous and most popular. Although the characters would be portrayed in hundreds and even thousands of adventures over the decades, they have been portrayed as having aged little or not at all.[citation needed]
The passing of time was more discernible in the very early years, such as the graduation of Spider-Man; and what started as children or teenaged characters, such as Kitty Pryde, Franklin Richards, Valeria Richards, Power Pack, or the New Mutants are all allowed to age at wildly shifting rates (in the second case even backward at times), whereas surrounding characters somewhat dependent on a certain age limit do not change at all. This recurrently creates contradictory effects, as events are routinely described to have happened several years ago, even in cases when this would mean that some of the involved characters would have been toddlers. Different approaches also exist regarding allowing "second-generation" descendants of heroes or villains, full-grown over 18 years after an event (for example, Hulkling, other members of the Young Avengers, the Runaways, and the Secret Warriors), whereas other books, such as Young Allies use the contradiction to debunk similar claims. If a past storyline wherein a direct depiction of a then-current president or similar is referred to in a later era, it tends to become updated accordingly, sometimes with an "in-joke" acknowledgment.[citation needed]
The "sliding timeline"
The generally accepted solution to [the Marvel Universe's problem of time] is the "sliding timeline," a wonderfully convenient bit of undiluted sophistry. The clock of the story starts running with Fantastic Four #1, and the events of that issue take place about fourteen years before right now, whenever "right now" is. Anachronistic elements of old comics, like Aunt May watching The Beverly Hillbillies on TV in Amazing Spider-Man Annual #1, are "topical references," inserted into the published versions of the story to backdate them.
A more recent explanation for the irregular passing of time in the Marvel Universe was given by Galactus to the Ultimates, namely that some important events – for instance, the creation of the Fantastic Four or the Avengers – have a 'gravity' all their own and warp time around them, causing the timeline to subtly change to accommodate this.[29]
Space
While the Marvel Universe is presumably as large as the non-fictional universe comic book readers inhabit, for all intents and purposes the Local Group is the universe; practically all action takes place in it. The Skrull Empire is located in the Andromeda Galaxy, the Kree Empire in the Greater Magellanic Cloud, which is a satellite of the Milky Way galaxy in which Earth is found, and the Shi´ar Empire is located somewhere between them in one of the smaller galaxies (perhaps the Triangulum Galaxy); frequently, these three empires are quoted as the main political powers "in the universe".[30] Similarly, the Local Group seems to be the only affected area when the Annihilation Wave cut its bloody swath "across the universe".
Other media
Four role-playing games have been set in the Marvel Universe:
- Marvel Super Heroes (TSR, 1984)
- Marvel Super Heroes Adventure Game (TSR, 1998)
- Marvel Universe Roleplaying Game (Marvel Comics, 2003)
- Marvel Heroic Roleplaying (Margaret Weis Productions, 2012)
See also
References
- ↑ The first story to suggest that characters introduced in separate stories exist in the same universe.
Motion Picture Funnies Weekly #1 (1939) was the first comic book issue to feature a story by Timely Comics (Marvel's predecessor) set retroactively in the Marvel universe. - ↑ These two Marvel Comics issues, published on the same day, were the first to show that characters introduced in separate stories existed in the same universe. Moreover, Fantastic Four #1 (1961) is the first comic book issue published by Marvel Comics, and thus the first story set in modern continuity.
- ↑ "Who Really Created the Marvel Universe?". The New Yorker. 2021-02-03. Retrieved 2021-08-11.
- ↑ Howe, Sean (2013). "Part 1: Creations and Myths, Chapter 1". Marvel Comics : the untold story. New York: Harper Perennial. ISBN 978-0-06-199211-7. OCLC 856186608.
- ↑ Marvel Mystery Comics. Marvel Comics #1
- ↑ Capps, Kriston (November 13, 2018). "Stan Lee's New York City". www.bloomberg.com. Retrieved 2021-08-12.
- ↑ McMillan, Graeme (2014-11-15). "Worlds Collide: A History of Marvel and DC's Multiverses". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2021-08-11.
- ↑ Howe, Sean (2013). "Part III: Trouble Shooter, Chapter 12". Marvel Comics : the untold story. New York: Harper Perennial. ISBN 978-0-06-199211-7. OCLC 856186608.
- ↑ Travel "The World With The Marvel Atlas". Marvel.com News
- ↑ McGuire, Seanan (w), Miyazawa, Takeshi (a), Herring, Ian (col), Cowles, VC's Clayton (let), Lewis, Devin (ed). "Beautiful" Ghost-Spider, vol. 1, no. 1 (August 2019). Marvel.
- ↑ Fantastic Four vol. 1 #305
- ↑ Uncanny X-Men vol. 1 #183 (July 1984)
- ↑ Simonson, Louise (w), Shoemaker, Terry (p), Milgrom, Allen (i), Vancata, B. (col), Rosen, Joe (let), Harras, Bob (ed). "Celebrity!" X-Factor, vol. 1, no. 52 (March 1990). Marvel Comics. Retrieved 2021-07-24.
- ↑ Fantastic Four vol. 1 #133, April 1973
- ↑ John Byrne (w), John Byrne (p), Terry Austin (i). "Like a Phoenix!" Fantastic Four, vol. 1, no. 286 (January 1986). Marvel Comics.
- ↑ The Thing #13 (July 2006); Civil War Battle Damage Report (March 2007)
- ↑ Iron Man (vol. 4) #1 (November 2004)
- ↑ Incredible Hulk (vol. 2) #105-106
- ↑ Tarzan #15 (August 1978)
- ↑ Marvel Comics Presents #62 (November 1990)
- ↑ Marvel Comics Presents #152 (April 1994)
- ↑ Conan the Barbarian #1 (July 1971)
- ↑ Journey Into Mystery (vol. 2) #4 (June 1973)
- ↑ Marvel Feature #6 (May 1976)
- ↑ Marvel Premiere #10 (September 1973)
- ↑ Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe (vol. 4) #1
- ↑ Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe (vol. 4) #6
- ↑ Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe (vol. 4) #2
- ↑ Exiles Annual #1 (November 2006)
- ↑ Wolk, Douglas (2021). All of the Marvels: A Journey to the Ends of the Biggest Story Ever Told. New York, NY: Penguin. p. 30. ISBN 978-0735222168.
- ↑ Ultimates (2015) #5
- ↑ "Who is Marvel's Most Powerful Alien Race?". ScreenRant. 2020-09-30. Retrieved 2021-08-14.
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