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Multiverse (Marvel Comics)

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Multiverse
Publication information
PublisherMarvel Comics
First appearanceThe Avengers #85 (February 1971)
In story information
TypeFictional universe continuity
Element of stories featuringMarvel Universe (features)

Within Marvel Comics, most stories take place within the fictional Marvel Universe, which in turn is part of a larger multiverse. Starting with the Captain Britain story in The Daredevils #7, the main continuity in which most Marvel storylines take place was designated Earth-616, and the Multiverse was established as being protected by Merlyn. Each universe has a Captain Britain designated to protect its version of the British Isles. These protectors are collectively known as the Captain Britain Corps. This numerical notation was continued in the series Excalibur and other titles. Each universe of the Multiverse in Marvel also appears to be defended by a Sorcerer Supreme at nearly all times, appointed by the mystic trinity of Vishanti to defend the world against threats primarily magical in nature from within and beyond and bearing the Eye of Agamotto.

Later on, many writers would use and reshape the Multiverse in titles such as Exiles, X-Men, and Ultimate Fantastic Four. New universes would also spin out of storylines involving time-traveling characters such as Rachel Summers, Cable, and Bishop, as their actions rendered their home times alternate timelines.

The multiverse also plays a role in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), with the central and main universe having originally been known as Earth-199999 in external media and Earth-616 in internal media. The concept was first introduced in Doctor Strange (2016) before becoming the focal point of the franchise in "The Multiverse Saga" (2021–present). Additionally, the Multiverse has also been explored in the X-Men film series, Sony's Spider-Man Universe (SSU), and the Spider-Verse franchise, with an emphasis on the latter regarding multiple versions of Spider-Man across different universes.

Concept

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The Multiverse is the collection of alternate universes that share a universal hierarchy. A large variety of these universes were originated from another due to a major decision on the part of a character. Some can seem to be taking place in the past or future due to differences in how time passes in each universe. Often, new universes are born due to time traveling; another name for these new universes is an "alternate timeline". Earth-616 is the established main universe where the majority of Marvel books take place.

The Marvel multiverse is protected from imbalance by the Living Tribunal, a vastly powerful humanoid cosmic entity, who is one for the entire multiverse. It may act to prevent one universe from amassing more power than any of the others or from upsetting the cosmic balance in some way. It is only overseen by the One-Above-All, an omnipotent entity said to have created the entire Marvel Multiverse.

According to the origin mythology, at the beginning there was only one universe, The First Firmament, but due to actions of Celestials existing there, it diverged.[1] Then, the Multiverse went through several incarnations and eventually the Big Bang caused the existence of the Seventh Cosmos, where most well-known heroes originated. The seventh iteration of the Multiverse was destroyed as a consequence of the phenomena known as incursions and was eventually reborn as the eighth thanks to Reed Richards.[2] According to him the ultimate fate of the Multiverse is to perish in all-encompassing heat death.[3]

Nature of the Multiverse

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According to Forge, mutants living on these alternate Earths have lost their powers due to M-Day, as stated in "Endangered Species"; however, this mass depowering has not been seen in any of Marvel's current alternate reality publications such as Exiles, the Ultimate Marvel titles, Amazing Spider-Girl, the Marvel Adventures titles or GeNext, though it is possible that the issue of time may be related to their exclusion. This was apparently retconned during the "X-Men: Messiah Complex" storyline, where Forge stated that all mutants in possible future timelines were depowered, not in parallel universes.[4] This, in addition to A.R.M.O.R.'s observation that Lyra arrived from an alternate reality[5] indicates that the topology of the Marvel Multiverse is based on new realities branching off from key nodes of a timeline instead of strictly parallel dimensions.

Other dimensions

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Not every alternate dimension is an entire independent universe, but instead maintain a parasitic relationship to a parent reality. Others can exist outside the multiversal structure altogether.

Pocket universes

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  • Counter-Earth (Heroes Reborn): A pocket dimension where Franklin Richards stored many of Earth's superheroes after the events surrounding the appearance of Onslaught. Doctor Doom saved Counter-Earth from the unstable pocket dimension and placed it in an alternate orbit of Earth-616 on the other side of the Sun.
  • The Hill: A dangerous pocket dimension used by Mikhail Rasputin after flooding the Morlock tunnels. Rasputin brought all Morlocks to the Hill to raise them in a survival-of-the-fittest mentality. In this dimension, time runs several times faster. While in Earth-616 only one or two years passed, more than 10 years passed in the Hill. Marrow and the other Gene Nation members grew up in this dimension.
  • The Microverse: Originally, many microverses existed within the Marvel Multiverse until they were made into one Microverse following an unseen conflict between Baron Karza and Thanos. The most commonly visited microverse is the one containing the regions known as Sub-Atomica and the Micronauts' Homeworld.
  • The Mojoverse: A dimension where all beings are addicted to gladiator-like television programs. Ruled by Mojo and home to Spiral, Longshot and the X-Babies.
  • The Negative Zone: Mostly uninhabited, it is a universe parallel to Earth's with many similarities. One major difference is all matter in the Negative Zone is negatively charged. Negative Zone Prison Alpha is located here. Also the home of both Blastaar the Living Bomb-Burst and Annihilus.
  • Otherplace: Also known as "Limbo" or "demonic Limbo". A magical dimension of demons which was historically ruled by Belasco and primarily featured in the X-Men comic books.
  • The Void: A pocket dimension that exists inside Shaman's medicine bag.
  • Soulworld: A pocket dimension that exists inside the Soul Gem.

External realities

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  • Avalon: Also known as Otherworld, this realm is an access point to the entire Marvel Multiverse used by the Captain Britain Corps. Also home to the Celtic gods and King Arthur.
  • The Darkforce Dimension: This dimension is connected with the characters Cloak, who uses the dimension for teleportation, and Mr. Negative. This dimension also includes, but is not limited to, Spotworld as used by the supervillain the Spot and the Brimstone Dimension as used by the X-Man Nightcrawler.[citation needed]
  • Limbo: Also known as "true Limbo" or "temporal Limbo"; outside of time, historically ruled by Immortus and the location to which Rom the Spaceknight banished the Dire Wraiths.
  • The Panoptichron: Home base of the reality-hopping Exiles, structurally dissimilar, but functionally similar, to Avalon.

Definitions

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The classification system for alternate realities was devised, in part, by Mark Gruenwald.[6]

Universe

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A universe is a single dimension, such as Earth-616, the mainstream Marvel Universe.

Reality

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A reality is the collection of a universe, where a version of the planet Earth exists, and the various other dimensions associated with it, like Asgard, the Dark Dimension, or the Negative Zone. Universes, where a planet Earth exists, are infinite, and there is (generally) one version of Asgard, one version of the Dark Dimension, one version of the Negative Zone, and so on, associated with each. For example, beings like Dormammu and gods like Odin hail from separate dimensions, but they all nevertheless belong to Reality-616, and other realities like the MCU, have different variants of these characters. Note that whether any given specific use of the term "Marvel Universe" refers to the Marvel Multiverse (in general) or to the Reality-616 (in particular) can only be determined by the context of its use.[7]

Multiverse

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A multiverse is the collection of alternate universes, with a similar nature and a universal hierarchy. The Marvel Multiverse contains the universe that holds Reality-616, most of the What If? universes, as well as the vast number of the alternate Marvel Universe Earths.

Megaverse

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A Megaverse is a collection of alternate multiverses, which do not necessarily need to have similar natures and universal hierarchies. The term was posited in the 21st century edition of the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe.

Omniverse

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According to the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe: Alternate Universes, and building on Mark Gruenwald's original definition of the term,[8] the Omniverse consists of all of fiction and reality combined, including all the works that are outside of Marvel's copyright restrictions, and therefore also outside the Marvel Multiverse. As such, there can logically only be one Omniverse, as anything and everything that currently exists, existed in the past, can potentially exist at any time or may exist in the future is a part of it.

Known alternate universes

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As stated above, nearly every imprint, timeline and appearances in other media have its own separate universe. Most of these have been cataloged by Marvel Comics in many publications, being most notable the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe: Alternate Universes. The numerical designations for these are rarely revealed outside of reference works such as the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe: Alternate Universes 2005. A.R.M.O.R. and Project Pegasus however seem to possess vast knowledge of other Marvel realities, using the same designations; whether this is simply narrative convenience on behalf of Marvel's authors or an unusual decision by these agencies to use an effectively alien catalog method is as yet unstated.

The numeric designations of these alternate universes have been confirmed by Marvel Comics throughout the years and compiled in 2005's Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe: Alternate Universes, and in Marvel publications since the release of the Handbook.

Many official numbers are random or use other numbers as a base, the best example of this is Ultimate Marvel. 1610 is the swapped numbers of 616 with a 0 to differentiate it from the already existing 161. In addition, many universes have also been designated with numbers by fans with various methods for the numbering, such as the birth date of an important Marvel staff member (artist Nelson Ribeiro for the Transformers U.S. Universe, Earth-91274) or the spelling of a name with a touch-tone phone (Animated Silver Surfer Earth-936652, spells out Zenn-La).

In 2014, during the publication of the "Spider-Verse" storyline, writer Dan Slott posted on Twitter that the numbers that appear in wiki entries and handbooks do not count, only those that are published within "actual" stories do. This was in response to the questions that the different numbers for some Earths appearing in Spider-Verse brought up, such as the Spider-Friends being from Earth-1983 and not the believed designation of Earth-8107.[9] This has created some debate among readers, as some believe that the "Spiders" with numbers that do not match the "original" ones are alternate versions, or if the former numbers should be completely dismissed, despite being official.

In the 2015 Secret Wars series, a confrontation with the Beyonders over the fate of the various alternate versions of the Molecule Man results in the destruction of the Multiverse, triggering various 'incursions' as Earths crash together and destroy each other, the Beyonders' assault culminating in Doctor Doom stealing the power of the remaining Beyonders and bringing the last of the parallel universes together into a single 'Battleworld'. Doom rules this reality for eight years until key heroes and villains from the pre-existing Multiverse are discovered and released by Doctor Strange, who had been acting as Doom's 'sheriff' until the discovery of the survivors gave him an alternative. In the heroes' final assault on Doom's fortress, the Molecule Man, who had been the source of Doom's power, transfers Doom's power to Mister Fantastic when Doom acknowledges that Reed would have done a better job as 'God' than he did. Having restored Earth-616 as it was before the Beyonders' incursions began, Mister Fantastic departs to recreate the multiverse with the company of his restored family.

List of primary alternate Earths and universes

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Below is a short, non-comprehensive list of some of the most noteworthy and significant universes in the Marvel Multiverse. Most of these were designated in the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe on both physical print and the digital Appendix.[10]

Name First appearance Notes
Earth-616 Motion Picture Funnies Weekly #1 (1939)
Earth-1610 Ultimate Spider-Man #1 (2000)
  • The original Ultimate Marvel universe is the reinvention of the Marvel Universe for the modern age, Initially beginning with Ultimate Spider-Man and Ultimate X-Men.
    • The events of the Ultimate Spider-Man video game originally took place in this reality until it was subsequently retconned and placed in a different reality.
  • Home reality of the Ultimates (this universe's counterparts of the Avengers) and Miles Morales.
  • First numbered in Marvel Encyclopedia: Fantastic Four.
  • In this world, mutants are the results of the genetic modifications done by this world's version of Weapon X who were attempting to produce a supersoldier.
  • First destroyed during the events of Jonathan Hickman's Secret Wars miniseries (2015); implied to have been restored in the Spider-Men II miniseries.
Earth-6160 Ultimate Invasion #1 (2023)
  • The setting for the rebooted Ultimate Universe which spun out from the events of the miniseries Ultimate Invasion (2023) by Jonathan Hickman and Bryan Hitch. This continuity serves as the setting for the eponymous Ultimate Universe #1 one-shot, as well as the new iterations of Ultimate Spider-Man, Ultimate X-Men, Ultimate Black Panther, The Ultimates, and future books under the relaunched Ultimate imprint.
    • An alternate continuity from the main Marvel Universe visited by the original Ultimate Universe's Reed Richards / Maker, who begins reshaping its history since 1963 as he sees fit using an Immortus Engine, a time-alteration device created by that world's Howard Stark.
    • Among the diversions in continuity between this world, Earth-616 and the original Earth-1610 universe, include:
      • Peter Parker is not immediately bitten by the radioactive spider that comes into contact with him during the science demonstration, thus not receiving powers at any point as a high school student. He instead becomes Spider-Man upon reaching adulthood and following his marriage to Mary Jane Watson, with whom he conceived two children.
      • The Maker manages to successfully delay the spacecraft launch that would've engulfed the Fantastic Four with cosmic rays and bestowed them their respective powers, with Reed Richards instead becoming Earth-6160's Doctor Doom; Susan Storm, Johnny Storm and Ben Grimm are implied to be dead as indicated by the Maker's memory logs of this universe.
      • Loki serves as the King of Asgard, with both his brother Thor and Lady Sif remaining subservient to him.
      • Howard Stark and Obidiah Stane are business partners, with Stark also operating as the Iron Man of Earth-6160, while his son Tony oversees Stark Industries and later adopts the identity of Iron Lad to differentiate himself from his father.
      • Bruce Banner / Hulk is an enlightened being, leading a movement of monks consisting of Sunfire, Viper and Silver Samurai representing the Harada-Yoshida alliance.
      • This universe's Ultimates lineup comprises Iron Lad, Thor, Captain America, Lady Sif and Reed Richards / Doctor Doom.
Earth-10005 X-Men (July 12, 2000)
Earth-92131 "Night of the Sentinels" (Part 1) (October 31, 1992)
Earth-534834 "And the Sea Shall Give Up Its Dead" (September 24, 1994)
Earth-26496 "Survival of the Fittest" (March 8, 2008)
Earth-904913 "Iron, Forged in Fire" (April 24, 2009)
Earth-12041 "Great Power and Great Responsibility" (April 1, 2012)
Earth-17628 "Origins" (August 1, 2015)
Earth-8096 "Hindsight (Part 1)" (January 23, 2009)
Earth-10022 Planet Hulk (February 2, 2010)
  • Universe in which the Planet Hulk film takes place.
Earth-8107 "Bubble, Bubble, Oil and Trouble" (September 12, 1981)
Earth-634962 "The Origin of the Silver Surfer" (February 7, 1998)
Earth-688 What If...? #88 (June 1996)
  • A reality where Spider-Man's powers began to mutate him into a monster. Also, his son Ben inherited traits from Peter's spider powers.
Earth-600001 Captain America (February 5, 1944)
  • Main setting of the 1944 film serial Captain America.
Earth-555326 Next Avengers: Heroes of Tomorrow (September 2, 2008)
  • Main setting of the animated film Next Avengers: Heroes of Tomorrow.
Earth-688B Venom (October 5, 2018)
Earth-65 Edge of Spider-Verse #2 (Nov. 2014)
Earth-6799 "The Power of Dr. Octopus" (September 9, 1967)
Earth-730784 The Avengers: United They Stand (October 1999 – February 2000)
(undesignated) "Destroy the Avengers" (July 22, 2017)
Earth-700974 Fred and Barney Meet the Thing (September 8 – December 1, 1979)
  • Main setting of the 1979 The Thing TV series.
  • This show was part of an animated package alongside The Flintstones spin-off show The New Fred and Barney Show.
  • The series contained two segments: one 30 minute episode of The New Fred and Barney Show and two 11 minute episodes of The Thing.
  • Despite the show's title, both segments remained separate and did not crossover with one another. The characters of Fred Flintstone, Barney Rubble, and Thing were only featured together during the opening title sequence and in brief bumpers between segments.
  • This version of the Thing is the only animated incarnation of the character that Ben Grimm can transform into the Thing and back to his human form.
  • He is also the only animated incarnation of the Thing to not be a member of the Fantastic Four.
Earth-9907 Avengers Next #10 (July 1999)
Earth-8311 Marvel Tails #1 (1983)
  • The Larval Universe is the home reality of Peter Porker, the Spectacular Spider-Ham and various intelligent, talking, anthropomorphic funny animal parodies of the Marvel characters.
  • First numbered in Marvel Encyclopedia: Fantastic Four. However, in Spider-Verse, Spider-Ham is said to be from Earth-25.
  • An alternate reality based on Earth-8311, undesignated currently, appeared in the film Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse alongside a variation of Peter Porker / Spider-Ham.
    • Peter Porker / Spider-Ham from Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse was later featured in the short film Spider-Ham: Caught in a Ham released in 2019.
Earth-921 Avengers #343 (November 1991)
  • This Earth was home to Phillip Javert who operated as Swordsman.
Earth-928 Spider-Man 2099 #1 (1992)
Earth-982 What If? (vol. 2) #105 (1998)
  • The setting of MC2. Home reality of Spider-Girl, J2, A-Next, Wild Thing, the Fantastic Five, and other children of the Marvel heroes and villains.
  • Set in an alternate version of Earth-616 in the late 1990s.
  • First numbered in Marvel Encyclopedia: Fantastic Four.
  • Two alternate versions of Mayday Parker appear in the film Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse. One is depicted as the infant daughter of Peter B. Parker and Mary Jane Watson, while another version has joined Miguel O' Hara's Spider-Forces as Spider-Girl.
Earth-2149 Ultimate Fantastic Four #21 (2005)
  • Reality of the original Marvel Zombies series, where an outbreak of a zombie virus that came from another alternate Earth turned all of its superheroes and supervillains into cannibalistic, flesh-eating zombies.
  • First numbered in Alternate Universes 2005.
Earth-712 Avengers #85–86 (Feb.–March 1971)
  • Home universe of the Squadron Supreme, a superhero team that is a pastiche of the Justice League and other DC Comics characters.
  • As with other worlds in the Marvel Multiverse, there are multiple versions of it. In some instances, the Squadron exists even within other 616-based worlds.
Earth-58163 House of M (June—Nov. 2005)
  • An alternate version of Earth-616 created by Wanda Maximoff, who wished mutants were the dominant species instead of humans.
  • Later numbered at an unknown time.
Earth-19529 Spider-Man: Life Story #1 (March 20, 2019)
  • Main setting of the comic limited series Spider-Man: Life Story, by Chip Zdarsky, Mark Bagley, John Dell and Frank D'Armata
  • An alternate version of Earth-616 that has progressed in real-time since the conception of the Marvel Universe in 1961, and told from Peter Parker's perspective beginning with his debut as Spider-Man in 1962.
    • This universe's Peter Parker interned for Reed Richards in 1966, later establishing the Future Foundation with him and Otto Octavius, where he worked for a decade.
    • Following the death of Gwen Stacy and his marriage to Mary Jane Watson, the couple conceived children: Son Benjamin Watson-Parker and daughter Claire Watson-Parker
    • The trauma sustained from the events of "Kraven's Last Hunt" caused Peter and MJ to later separate, with the latter taking their children to raise them in Portland.
    • Peter had established the tech firm Parker Industries by 1995.
    • Tony Stark would become the U.S. Secretary of Defense by 2005, approaching Parker in hopes of having him endorse the Superhuman Registration Act, and promptly dispatching his defense unit, the U.S.Avengers when Parker declined, causing Parker to ally himself with Captain America's faction of rogue Avengers
    • By 2019, the majority of pre-existing superhumans have either been killed or self-exiled as a result of the ensuing "Civil War", with Parker remaining as one of the last living senior heroes. Doctor Doom had seized control and rule over the planet, with Parker leading a resistance movement against his authority
    • Parker gives his life to activate Stark's "Doomsday Machine", an orbital space station constructed with the intent of globally deactivating Doom's various technologies, with the assistance of a fragmented, metaphysical memory of Aunt May, and a reformed Venom symbiote.
Earth-1287 Strikeforce: Morituri #01 (1986)
  • Reality where a scientist named Dr. Kimmo Tuolema in 2072 discovers a process which can provide humans with superhuman powers to fight back a ravaging alien invasion that started in 2069.
  • First numbered in Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe: Alternate Universes 2005.
Earth-14123 Big Hero 6 (November 7, 2014)
Earth-88194 Dr. Zero #1 (1988)
  • The setting of Shadowline. Created by Archie Goodwin under the Epic Comics imprint as a mature-themed line for Marvel Comics.
  • Home reality of Doctor Zero, Power Line and St. George, and the origin of Terror Inc.
  • First numbered in Alternate Universes 2005.
Earth-811 Uncanny X-Men #141 (1981)
  • The setting of Days of Future Past, a dystopic version of the near-distant future where mutants are actively hunted and sent to concentration camps, and whose timeline diverges from Earth-616 in occasion of the assassination of Senator Kelly.
Earth-45828 Razorline: The First Cut #1 (Sept. 1993)
Earth-148611 Star Brand #1 (Oct. 1986)
Earth-807128 Wolverine (vol. 3) #66 (Aug. 2008)
  • The setting of Old Man Logan where the supervillains united and killed all of the superheroes, then divided up the world into their respective territories.
  • The film Logan (2017) is greatly inspired by Old Man Logan, but set in its own universe.
  • A version of the Old Man Logan character is depicted in the MCU film Deadpool & Wolverine, portrayed by Hugh Jackman.
Earth-21923 Old Man Logan #1 (May 2015)
  • This Earth is similar to Earth-807128, but has some differences.
  • The Old Man Logan from this Earth was displaced on Earth-616 for a while.
  • Following Old Man Logan killing Red Skull and Hulk, a power vacuum happened in Amerika which led to Doctor Doom taking over Red Skull's territory known as The Presidential Quarter.
Earth-90214 Spider-Man Noir #1 (Feb. 2009)
Earth-31117 Captain America (vol. 4) #17–20 (Nov. 2003 – Jan. 2004)
  • An alternate version in which Nazi Germany won World War II, caused by an unknown disturbance in the timestream. Captain America is found and revived by the Nazis, leads an American resistance movement against them, and falls into a time machine which brings him to the mainstream timeline, where he is found by the Avengers.
Earth-1218 Marvel Team-Up #137 (Jan. 1984)
  • The setting of our reality, in which superheroes and supervillains only exist as fictional characters in mainstream media and popular culture.
Earth-98140 Alien Legion #1 (April 1984)
  • Main setting of the Alien Legion. Created by Carl Potts, Alan Zelenetz, and Frank Cirocco.
  • Set in the distant future where the intergalactic governing body known as the TOPHAN Galactic Union (TGU) employs soldiers in a mercenary group called the Alien Legion to fight against outside forces across the universe.
Earth-9997 Earth X #0 (Jan. 1999)
Earth-94024 Amazing Spider-Man Family
  • The setting where May Porker, the daughter of Spider-Ham, became Swiney-Girl.
Earth-7642 Superman vs. The Amazing Spider-Man #1 (Jan. 1976)
Earth-93060 Hardcase #1 (June 1993)
Earth-8116 Epic Illustrated #1 (March 1980)
Earth-13122 Lego Marvel Super Heroes (October 22, 2013)
Earth-1048 Spider-Man (2018 video game) (September 7, 2018)
Earth-2301 Marvel Mangaverse: New Dawn (March 2002)
Earth-30847 The Punisher (1993)
Earth-295 X-Men: Alpha (January 1995)
  • Also known as the Age of Apocalypse
  • Reality where the villain Apocalypse has successfully conquered North America, causing chaos & destruction across most of the world.
  • Home reality of the character Nate Grey (aka "X-Man"), who is the reality's version of Cable.
  • A version of Wolverine from this storyline is depicted in the MCU film Deadpool & Wolverine, portrayed by Hugh Jackman.
Earth-311 Marvel 1602 #1 (August 13, 2003)
Earth-61011 Spider-Man and Friends
Earth-398 Avengers (Vol. 3) #2 (January 1998)
Earth-818 Avengers (Vol. 8) #50 (December 2021)
  • This was one of the worlds that was conquered by the Multiversal Masters of Evil after they slew this world's version of the Avengers of 1,000,000 BC. Black Skull turned this world into a wasteland and ruled over it until he was defeated by a Multiverse-hopping Ghost Rider, his Deathlok companion, and the local resistance.
  • Tony Stark operates as Ant-Man.
  • A woman named Mariama Spector operates as Moon Knight.
Earth-1226 M.O.D.O.K. (May 2021)
Earth-9602 Amalgam Comics (April 1996 – June 1997)
  • An amalgamation of the Marvel and DC universes that occurred during the DC vs. Marvel crossover event.
  • Characters from both franchises were merged to create new ones (e.g., DC Comics' Batman and Marvel Comics' Wolverine become the Amalgam Comics character Dark Claw).
Earth-400083 Hulk (June 20, 2003)
Earth-121347 Ghost Rider (February 16, 2007)
  • Setting for the films Ghost Rider and Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance.
  • Official designation revealed in Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A-Z Volume 5 hardcover book.
Earth-121698 Fantastic Four (July 8, 2005)
Earth-15866 Fantastic Four (August 4, 2015)
  • Setting for the 2015 film Fantastic Four directed by Josh Trank.
  • This film was originally meant to take place in the same reality as the X-Men film series also produced by Fox, crossing over with various characters from the films, but due to its critical and financial failure at the box-office, 20th Century Fox cancelled all plans to continue with the franchise.
    • This is the only Fantastic Four film set in this reality as the rights to the characters have subsequently reverted to Marvel Studios, with a reboot of the franchise within the Marvel Cinematic Universe being developed.
Earth-11911 Marvel Super Hero Squad comics
  • Main setting for the comics.
Earth-91119 The Super Hero Squad Show (September 14, 2009)
  • Main setting for The Super Hero Squad Show.
Earth-7085 Marvel Zombies vs Army of Darkness (2007)
Earth-10005 Revised X-Men: Days of Future Past (May 10, 2014)
Earth-17040 "Chapter 1" (February 8, 2017)
Earth-17372 "eXposed" (October 2, 2017)
Earth-17315 Logan (February 17, 2017)
  • Setting for the X-Men spin-off film Logan directed by James Mangold.
  • Although this film is part of 20th Century Fox's X-Men film franchise, this film set in an previously unexplored alternate reality compared to the other films in the X-Men film series.
Earth-41633 Deadpool 2 (May 10, 2018)
Earth-704509 "The Shock of the New" (October 6, 2001)
  • Primary setting for the TV series "Mutant X" and its characters.
  • This universe features all-original characters due to 20th Century Fox owning the X-Men film and television rights at the time.
  • Mutants are a result of genetic engineering and are referred to as "New Mutants."
Earth-11714 Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark (June 14, 2011 – January 4, 2014)
  • Primary setting for the Broadway musical Spider-Man: Turn Off The Dark and its characters with music and lyrics written by Bono and The Edge. The plot of the show is inspired by the events of Earth-616 and the Sam Raimi films.
  • This production is the most expensive Broadway production in history. The production ended in January 2014.
Earth-85481 Heathcliff #1: (April 1985)
  • The universe containing comic character Heathcliff.
Earth-1610B Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (December 1, 2018)
  • Primary setting for the animated Spider-Verse franchise.
  • Created by Phil Lord and Rodney Rothman.
  • The version of Peter Parker native to this reality was murdered by Kingpin, and subsequently succeeded by Miles Morales as Spider-Man.
  • An alternate version of Parker, named Peter B. Parker from Earth-616B, was transported to this reality alongside other alternate Spider-People from Earth-65A, Earth-90214B, Earth-14512B and Earth-8311B.
  • Miles Morales is romantically involved with Gwen Stacy, the Spider-Woman of Earth-65B.
  • In-universe, this reality is designated "Earth-1610", homaging its similarities to the comics continuity of Earth-1610.
  • Reality designation revealed in the film Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (2023).
Earth-42 Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (June 2, 2023)
  • Alternate setting within the animated Spider-Verse franchise.
  • Created by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller and David Callaham.
  • In this reality, Jefferson Davis was killed in action some time ago, while his son Miles Morales was never bitten by a radioactive spider and thus never gained superpowers, as a result of the spider intended for him being transported to Earth-1610B while that world's Alchemax was conducting tests for Wilson Fisk's multiversal "super-collider", prior to the events of Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse.
  • The spider from Earth-42, codenamed in experiments as "Alchemax-42", eventually found and bit that world's Miles Morales instead, leading to him becoming that universe's new Spider-Man following Peter Parker's demise, and leaving Earth-42 without a Spider-Man to protect New York.
  • The villains of this Earth seized the opportunity awarded by the absence of a Spider-Man by founding a Sinister Six Cartel and taking control over the city.
  • As a result of his heroic instincts and drive to help his own family, Earth-42's Miles Morales became more closely involved with Aaron Davis' criminal activities, becoming an antiheroic version of the Prowler, while he and Davis used the money secured from heists against the Cartel to financially support the widowed Rio Morales.[13]
  • Earth-1610B's Miles Morales accidentally displaces himself in Earth-42 while trying to return to his home reality and ends up being captured by Davis and Morales in Across the Spider-Verse.
Earth-701306 Daredevil (February 14, 2003)
Earth-38264 Marvel's Avengers (September 4, 2020)
Earth-6109 Marvel: Ultimate Alliance (October 24, 2006)
  • Primary setting of the first two games in the Marvel: Ultimate Alliance series.
Earth-400005 The Incredible Hulk (1978 TV series) (November 1977 – May 1982)
(undesignated) Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3: The Black Order (July 19, 2019)
(undesignated) Spider-Man: Web of Shadows (October 21, 2008)
  • Main setting of the 2008 video game Spider-Man: Web of Shadows.
(undesignated) Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy (October 25, 2021)
  • Main setting for the 2021 Guardians of the Galaxy video game.
Earth-20824 Spider-Man (2000 video game) (September 1, 2000)
Earth-760207 "Heroes and Villains" (August 22, 2003)
  • Primary setting for the MTV television series Spider-Man: The New Animated Series.
    • This reality originally shared events with the continuity of Earth-96283, but diverged in significant details:
      • In this reality, Peter Parker / Spider-Man, Mary Jane Watson and Harry Osborn all attended Empire State University, as opposed to Parker solely being a student at Columbia University as depicted in Spider-Man 2 (2004).
      • Parker has an on-again, off-again romantic relationship with Mary Jane Watson following the events of the first film, contradicting his decision to leave MJ out of fear for her safety due to his activities as Spider-Man before rekindling their relationship in Spider-Man 2.
      • Supporting characters in the show also include a combination of original characters such as love interest Indira Daimonji and antagonists Turbo Jet and Cheyenne / Talon, in addition to an assortment of rogues from the comics that did not appear in any of the films, such as Curt Connors becoming the Lizard, as well as the appearances of Wilson Fisk / Kingpin, Silver Sable, Max Dillon / Electro and Kraven the Hunter among others.
      • The series' first and only season concludes with Parker permanently forfeiting his life as Spider-Man in favor of resuming a normal civilian life, a detail that shares Spider-Man 2's inspiration from the "Spider-Man No More!" storyline, but is contradicted by Parker's reasoning for initially dissociating from the mantle, and his eventual decision in the film to resume his vigilante activities after a change of heart.
Earth-58732 The Punisher (2004 film) (April 16, 2004)
(undesignated) Ultimate Spider-Man (video game) (September 19, 2005)
  • Primary setting of the 2005 Ultimate Spider-Man game.
Earth-50116 The Punisher (2004 video game) (January 16, 2005)
Earth-11052 X-Men: Evolution (November 2000 – October 2003)
Earth-12131 Marvel Avengers Alliance (March 1, 2012)
  • Primary setting of the Marvel Avengers Alliance game series.
Earth-5901 The Incredible Hulk: Ultimate Destruction (August 23, 2005)
Earth-71002 Spider-Man: Friend or Foe (October 2, 2007)
  • Primary setting of the 2007 video game Spider-Man: Friend or Foe.
  • This universe is adjacent to that of Earth-96283, with this Spider-Man sharing the same history as his counterpart, but with a few notable differences.
  • Unlike Earth-96283, Green Goblin, Doctor Octopus, Harry Osborn and Venom didn't die.
Earth-50701 Marvel Nemesis: Rise of the Imperfects (September 20, 2005)
  • Main setting of the 2005 video game Marvel Nemesis.
Earth-5724 Nick Fury: Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. (film) (May 26, 1998)
  • Main setting of the 1998 Nick Fury film, with Fury being portrayed by David Hasselhoff.
(undesignated) "Mother's Little Helpers" (October 16, 2020)
  • Also known as the Adventure into Fear universe
  • Main setting for the events of the Hulu streaming series Helstrom
  • The events in this series were originally intended to take place within the reality of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) until it was clarified as set in an adjacent universe by showrunner Paul Zbyszewski.
Earth-51778 Spider-Man (Japanese TV series) (May 1978 – March 1979)
(undesignated) Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions (September 7, 2010)
  • Primary setting of the 2010 video game Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions and its 2011 sequel Spider-Man: Edge of Time.
  • Both games have the appearance of several Spider-Man's versions, like Spider-Ham, Spider-Man 2099, Spider-Man Noir, Spider-Girl, and others.
  • The villains also have the appearance of several different versions from another Earths.
Earth-58470 Howard the Duck (film) (August 1, 1986)
  • Main setting of the 1986 film Howard the Duck.
Earth-26320 Blade (film) (August 21, 1998)
Earth-13625 Deadpool (video game) (June 25, 2013)
  • Main setting for the 2013 Deadpool video game.
Earth-79203 Super Sentai (1975–present), Kamen Rider (1971–present), Metal Hero Series (1982–present)
  • Main setting for the Super Sentai, Kamen Rider, and Metal Hero franchises.
(undesignated) The Amazing Spider-Man (2012 video game) (June 26, 2012)
  • Main setting for the two games of The Amazing Spider-Man series, based on Marc Webb's The Amazing Spider-Man films.
  • This Earth has some similarities with Earth-120703, with differences including how some events happened, the appearance of some characters, etc.
(undesignated) Guardians of the Galaxy: The Telltale Series (April 18 – November 7, 2017)
  • Main setting of the Guardians of the Galaxy game produced by Telltale Games.
Earth-120703 The Amazing Spider-Man (film series) (July 3, 2012)
  • Setting of The Amazing Spider-Man film duology directed by Marc Webb.
Earth-96283 Spider-Man (film series) (May 3, 2002)
  • Setting of the Spider-Man film trilogy directed by Sam Raimi.
Earth-14042 "The Mightiest of Heroes!" (April 2, 2014)
  • Main setting of Marvel Disk Wars: The Avengers.
  • This Earth shares the normal conventions of the Marvel universe until Loki traps the Avengers in experimental devices called DISKs. Five kids are assigned by the Avengers to carry around the DISKs and use them to bring out the Avengers to fight villains.
Earth-50810 Marvel MegaMorphs: Captain America #1 (August 2005)
Earth-135263 "Trial By Fire" (September 2, 2006)
Earth-7964 X-Men Legends (September 24, 2004)
Earth-21394 Swords of the Swashbucklers #1 (March 1985)
Earth-58627 The Punisher (1989 film) (October 5, 1989)

Marvel Cinematic Universe

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See also

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References

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  1. ^ Ultimates 2 (vol. 2) #6
  2. ^ Secret Wars (vol. 1) #9
  3. ^ New Avengers (vol. 3) #1
  4. ^ David, Peter. X-Factor (vol. 2) #25
  5. ^ All New Savage She-Hulk #1
  6. ^ "Alternate Earths". Marvunapp.com. Archived from the original on August 31, 2019. Retrieved June 21, 2015.
  7. ^ "Newsarama | GamesRadar+". gamesradar. Archived from the original on October 16, 2007.
  8. ^ "Roberson's Interminable Ramble: Mark Gruenwald, the father of modern superhero comics". Archived from the original on August 22, 2019. Retrieved June 30, 2016.
  9. ^ Slott, Dan [@DanSlott] (November 10, 2014). "@AyrMen Sorry. Was swamped w/work. Unless mentioned in actual stories, designations in Wiki entries & handbooks don't count. That answer it?" (Tweet). Archived from the original on December 6, 2022. Retrieved December 9, 2020 – via Twitter.
  10. ^ Marvel Universe Appendix web site
  11. ^ Farell, Blair (August 13, 2020). "THERE ISN'T A MARVEL GAMING UNIVERSE…OR IS THERE?". Comic Book Video Games. Archived from the original on December 10, 2022. Retrieved April 18, 2022.
  12. ^ Bacon, Thomas (December 13, 2022). "Every Spider-Man In Across The Spider-Verse Explained". ScreenRant. Archived from the original on December 10, 2023. Retrieved January 23, 2024.
  13. ^ Zahed, Ramin (July 3, 2023). Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse: The Art of the Movie. Abrams Books. p. 200. ISBN 978-1419763991.

Bibliography

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  • Marvel Encyclopedia Volume 6: Fantastic Four (November 2004)
  • Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe: Alternate Universes 2005
  • Marvel Legacy: The 1960s Handbook (2006)
  • Marvel Legacy: The 1970s Handbook (2006)
  • Marvel Legacy: The 1980s Handbook (2006)
  • Marvel Legacy: The 1990s Handbook (2007)
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