A new Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) timeline book has cleared up a major continuity error in 2017's Spider-Man: Homecoming that has been a talking point among fans for years.
As reported by The Direct, the new book, Marvel Studios' The Marvel Cinematic Universe: An Official Timeline, details the chronology of the MCU and sets the record straight on one glaring plot hole that arose in Spider-Man: Homecoming by acknowledging that the film takes place four years after The Avengers.
The timeline issue has had fans scratching their heads for a long while, as the opening scene of Homecoming takes place immediately following the Battle of New York, the climactic ending of The Avengers in 2012. The movie then shows an "8 Years Later" timecard, incorrectly placing the main events of Homecoming in 2020.
The movie should have only transitioned four years because the action in Homecoming actually plays out in the Fall of 2016. The book essentially erases the eight-year time jump, as it confirms that the opening flashback scene takes place in "Spring 2012" while the rest of the movie unfolds in "Fall 2016", not 2020.
The book enlists Loki's Miss Minutes to explain the error, which also encompasses a line of dialogue from Adrian Toomes, aka Vulture, who says that his criminal operation has flown under the radar for "eight years" without "a word from the Feds." The anthropomorphic clock puts this discrepancy down to a missing TVA case file.
"Redline alert! Hi again! Adrien Toomes says the Battle of New York was eight years ago, but that event was only four years prior," Miss Minutes says via a small text box on Page 173 of the book. "This one's a real head scratcher for us — I reckon an analyst misplaced the case file."
It seems that fans are happy enough with this explanation, as one person on Reddit wrote: "I think it's just a cute way to wave away some of the mistakes that have been made over the years." Someone else on X said, "That is Great Decision," while a third person added, "It happens, can't always be perfect."
The Marvel Cinematic Universe: An Official Timeline hit shelves on October 24, with both the Kindle and Hardback format versions available to purchase on Amazon. In the meantime, IGN has a comprehensive guide to watching all the Marvel movies in chronological order that should help with any timeline confusion, but we will have to wait and see how The Marvels impacts it all when that debuts on November 10.
Adele Ankers-Range is a freelance entertainment writer for IGN. You can follow her on X @AdeleAnkers.
