8

A number of questions/answers on the site list the MCU continuity as Earth-199999. Such as This one. But the Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness film specifically references the origin Universe for the familiar MCU heroes as 616. Previously I've seen 616 referenced as the original comic book continuity.

Has something changed? Is the most recent Doctor Strange or MCU Phase 4 more generally in a different continuity to previous films?

Machavity
  • 51,774
  • 9
  • 166
  • 265
Jontia
  • 18,889
  • 5
  • 60
  • 117

2 Answers2

11

The whole "Which universe is this?" bit seldom ends with hard answers. A lot of that has to do with the fact that comic book universes are notoriously fluid and often go through "resets" that coincide with new writers, etc. This is pretty evident when you look up Earth-616 (comics)

The reality of Earth-616 has gone through eight different incarnations, all triggered by different instances of multiversal renewal, which constitutes in the destruction and re-creation of everything there is.

616 has always referred to the continuity that Marvel comic books are taking place in. Earth 616 shares our "real world" history to some extent (World War II, etc).

The numbers have allowed for the telling of other stories in other universes. When the MCU started out, people referred to it as Earth 199999 to avoid confusion (the MCU diverges greatly from the comics in some places). At least one official Marvel publication gave it that designation. The catch is that nobody in the MCU has ever referred to it as that in-universe. Their continuity is referred to as drumroll please... 616

Spider-Man: Far From Home

Nick Fury: Mr. Beck is from Earth. Just not yours.

Quentin Beck: There are multiple realities, Peter. This is Earth Dimension 616. I'm from Earth 833.

And Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness

Christine 2: Our universe is 838. And we've designated yours 616.

What this means is that you now have the Comic 616 and the MCU 616. That's still confusing, so when someone says 199999, they unambiguously mean the MCU, which is still different from the comic continuity.

Put another way, there are multiverses of multiverses. Try not to let that concept drive you to madness...

Valorum
  • 689,072
  • 162
  • 4,636
  • 4,873
Machavity
  • 51,774
  • 9
  • 166
  • 265
  • 2
    Beck is of course either lying or getting his information from Selvig's research (which you probably want to add in here too as a more reliable source). – TheLethalCarrot Jul 11 '22 at 12:37
  • 1
    616 is also mentioned in Loki and something else I think but it's escaping me at present. – TheLethalCarrot Jul 11 '22 at 12:41
  • @TheLethalCarrot I was wondering where I missed Loki having any mention of 616 but it's an easter egg that was easy to miss – Machavity Jul 11 '22 at 12:47
  • 2
    This of course raises the question of who is group that ensures that the self selected Comic/MCU numbers are unique across the multiverse. (But I suppose may not be unique across the multiverses of multiverses) – Peter M Jul 11 '22 at 13:00
  • @PeterM The largest problem is that you have Disney's purchase of Marvel in that mix. Given that they dumped Star Wars' extended universe after they bought it, it's entirely possible the book I mentioned is no longer canon. By pocketing the nascent MCU like that, it left open the possibility that Marvel could somehow have the comics and MCU crossover. By making the MCU be its own 616, that somewhat precludes that (or you get into increasingly silly naming schemes like Earth 616-19999) – Machavity Jul 11 '22 at 13:39
  • @TheLethalCarrot "Beck is of course either lying or getting his information from Selvig's research" — or, for some reason, people across the multiverse feel compelled to choose the number 616 when picking one to designate the MCU. – Paul D. Waite Jul 11 '22 at 13:45
  • @Machavity I was talking about the in-universe designations that the characters seem aware of. – Peter M Jul 11 '22 at 13:57
  • 1
    @Machavity the MCU is also a Multiverse now, not a Universe. – OrangeDog Jul 11 '22 at 15:00
  • As I mentioned in my own question from the sister site, 6161 was used for MCU even in Thor 2 https://movies.stackexchange.com/q/105785/1190 – Ankit Sharma Jul 13 '22 at 12:32
4

“616” universe, or the “Sacred Timeline”

Officially, the MCU uses the “616” universe, or the “Sacred Timeline” designations. These are the official designations given to the main MCU universe in the book Marvel Studios’ The Marvel Cinematic Universe: An Official Timeline, which traces the history and chronology of the MCU events. In-universe, it is the Time Variance Authority (TVA), via Miss Minutes, that gives these designations.

enter image description here

INTRODUCTION

Hey Y'all! I'm Miss Minutes, and welcome to the guidebook on the beings and events that make up the universe known as 616, also known as the Sacred Timeline. Here at the Time Variance Authority, our job is to keep tabs and protect the countless timelines that weave together our Multiverse. Some of these have small differences, like altered lunar cycles or events happening at slightly different times, or big ones—like everybody being made out of paint! Now, 616 may be just one thread in this vast Multiverse, but trust me, it's a wild one!

As for your second question, no, the main universe in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is not in a different continuity from the previous films. It is still part of the same “616” universe, as stated in the same book.

Valorum
  • 689,072
  • 162
  • 4,636
  • 4,873
galacticninja
  • 11,340
  • 4
  • 68
  • 90