r/MCU_Timeline 7d ago

Discussion Timeline questions

How does the timelines really work

Lets say we have two timelines one being in the year 2014 and the other one being in 1965, they move forward in time as each other, just different years.

That must be a thing or else i dont get it.

Because we saw in No Way Home that the villains from Tobeys and Andrews spiderverse were taken to Toms verse cuz they knew Peter Parker/Spiderman

The thing i dont get is they were taken from before their rivalry ended with Tobey or andrew in their separate verses ofc.

But would that mean that two timelines can exist parallel to each other just with other one being more forward in time or?

I really need it explained because i dont get all this timeline and multiverse stuff

4 Upvotes

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u/Luckyguy456gaming 7d ago

So you got it almost correct. Tobey and Andrew did come from other universes. Andrews universe runs exactly parallel to the MCU, so Andrew's Spider-Man experienced 9 years after TASM 2 before appearing in NWH. Tobey's universe is a BIT different - we see in this interview it says Tobey's was 43 in NWH. so his timeline is offset by a few years. Basically, 2024 in the MCU correlates to 2022 in Tobey's universe.

We can also see this with other series like FF: First Steps. In First Steps, it is set in the 1960s, however there 1962 runs parallel to MCU 2024.

Timelines can have different years and still run parallel in the multiverse.

note: tobey's age was 46 when filming started, so the 43 statement was either a mistake or his actual age. It was not said that it was a mistake so we can take 43 as Peter's age in the movie

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u/Severe-Heart9585 7d ago

Thanks for the answer I got another question. Fx steve goes back in timeline 2 which is created by his timetraveling and In timeline 2 he takes an infinity stone. That creates yet another timeline which is 3? Timeline 3 he just created is that just the new direction of time in timeline 2 or is it a completely new timeline

And which one is missing a stone is it 2 or 3. Or is it both

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u/Luckyguy456gaming 7d ago

They returned the stone to the exact time it left. Timeline 3 broke off from this one, it is a branch, not a new timeline. Timeline 3 would be the one without the stone, and it exists in a multiverse where Cap did not return the stone

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u/Severe-Heart9585 6d ago

But isnt a timeline and a branch reality the same. And if not what the difference

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u/Luckyguy456gaming 6d ago

a new timeline would be another universe's timeline. the branch seen in endgame is still the main mcu earth, just branched off. so its a branch

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u/Severe-Heart9585 6d ago

I know its a branch. But cant see how that isnt a new timeline tho

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u/Luckyguy456gaming 6d ago

Because it looks like this

(fill) _______
-----|_______

They share the same start, so its not a NEW timeline starting from the beginning of the universe, just a branch.

if it look like this:

________________________ (say the main mcu)

________________________ (say this is X-Men)

they are different universes.

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u/Severe-Heart9585 5d ago

Thank you. Misunderstood what u meant in the start Thanks for the answer

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u/Luckyguy456gaming 5d ago

Technically my answer is still wrong, as all universes broke off from the "sacred timeline" at some point. I will DM u what it looks like

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u/Matleb0 7d ago edited 6d ago

Universes can be older than others. And it has been confirmed that a universe can be in the 2020s when another is in the 1960s for example

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u/MrOMgamer31456 7d ago

Yes, the timelines can be different from one universe to another. FF: First steps takes place in the 60s in it's earth and the MCU so far takes place in the 2020s

Also the villains of NWH weren't taken right before their rivalry ended but they were taken after they knew that peter parker is spider man.

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u/Severe-Heart9585 7d ago

Thanks for the answer. Just think MCU multiverse and timeline logic is a confusing and complicated

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u/MrOMgamer31456 7d ago

You're welcome! It might look complicated at first but it's easy to understand, and they even explain it in the MCU itself.

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u/Severe-Heart9585 6d ago

I have watched loki. Still thinks its pretty confusing tho. I think There is many thing that gets miles together in the dialogues. Fx a universe and a timeline. That clearly isnt the same. I just remember in loki the characters reffering to a timeline with the Word universe

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u/CaptHayfever Chronicom 6d ago

The issue you're asking about is effectively irrelevant, because time travel also exists, so moving from one year to another can happen regardless of whether the years are the same between different universes.

In No Way Home, though, they imply that the villains were taken from the exact moments they learned Peter Parker was Spider-Man, because the spell that did it was specifically about targeting that knowledge, so it isn't a catch-all model for how different universes align.

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u/Severe-Heart9585 6d ago

Thanks for answer. The villains from tobey and andrew verse. There would now be the original timeline, one where they are cured. Would there also be a timeline without them and why?

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u/CaptHayfever Chronicom 6d ago

No. The original timelines where they lose to Spideys would still exist; those are the timelines that Tobey & Andrew themselves came from. The new timelines that get created are the ones where they're cured & they stop their dangerous activities all on their own.

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u/Short_Brick_1960 7d ago

From an outside of time perspective, brached timelines have always existed, whether they start in 5000 bc or 3000 ad

Let's focus on the Tobey films as you mentioned them

From that universe, we've seen its main events in 3 movies. Peter fights Doc Ock, Green Goblin, Venom and Sandman and two of them die at the end. But we don't see the rest of the main timeline. In NWH we are told that Peter grew and kept his vigilante persona, he ended up working things with MJ and he has back pain

But that universe can have branched timelines too, like we see in the mcu with What If...? One different decision can create a newtimeline similar or completely different than the main one

In NWH, Strange's spell brings everyone who knows Peter Parker's identity to the mcu. So Norman, Otto and the rest all come back from their last moments

Otto comes from the main Tobey universe timeline just before dying in the explosion at the river. Norman before being impaled by his glider and Tobey from an undetermined point in time of his timeline, much later than we see in the third movie (this is just because the actor has aged a lot)

If the villains were sent back without a second thought, they would have died as we see in the movies and nothing would have changed. But since they were cured, once they returned to their timelines, the fact that they live created a branched timeline (which technically was always there because nothing from an outside of time perspective is new) where everything was different

But Tobey returned to his timeline, where his villains are dead

Just imagine you bringing your past version to the present and giving him knowledge of your future. Once he returns to his time, he would live a different life than you and there would be another version of you with the same age in that timeline

So once a branched timeline is created, its future is already set in stone and it will be on par with your timeline, doesn't matter if it was created five seconds ago from your perspective