Marvel Studios Makes History With Huge Time Jump Before Avengers: Doomsday

Marvel Studios recently made history due to a massive timeline jump in the months ahead of Avengers: Doomsday's release. The MCU frequently uses time jumps to advance character arcs, explore different eras, and compress longer stories. Some of the notable time jumps in the franchise include the surprise 5-year jump in Avengers: Endgame after Thanos' snap and Spider-Man: Far From Home's 8-month time jump after Avengers: Endgame. While most jumps have remained relatively modest to keep the main Sacred Timeline (which is expected to get shaken up in Avengers: Doomsday) feeling grounded and connected, the animation strategy has changed. 

Marvel Studios made history with its timeline jump in X-Men '97 Season 2, the furthest-forward on-screen leap in any of its projects. The show's sophomore run catapults part of the team to 3960 AD, a dystopian future at the height of the Apocalypse's global rule. 

Following the Season 1 finale's Asteroid M disaster, the X-Men were scattered. One group arrived in the 40th century, where they helped raise Nathan Summers (the future Cable) with Clan Askani and fight Apocalypse's regime. Another landed in ancient Egypt to potentially prevent the rise of En Sabah Nur to Apocalypse. 

The 2,000-year leap forward, in addition to the ancient-past segments, marks a first for Marvel Studios. No previous project had split its core cast across millennia while keeping the story coherent. 

This strategy worked for X-Men '97 because it introduced character-level stakes for its key members, such as Cyclops and Jean grappling with raising their son, Nathan; Wolverine's bone-claw struggles; and Magneto's dangerous plan to manipulate En Sabah Nur. 

It also proved that Marvel Animation can take greater temporal risks than the live-action MCU, which has mostly played it safe to maintain continuity across its interconnected film slate. 

The furthest timeline jump that has been depicted on screen up to this point is 2077 in Loki Season 1. Loki's visit to Lamentis in Season 1, Episode 3 was one of the most memorable sequences in the MCU's Multiverse Saga because it marked the first major on-screen trip to the future in a live-action Marvel Studios project. 

Loki also alluded to the events in 7241, where Classic Loki recounted how he got captured by the TVA, but this was not depicted on-screen. It's also worth noting that this was based solely on estimates of the age gap between Richard E. Grant and Tom Hiddleston. 

Marvel Studios Is Not Done With Time Jumps In the Multiverse Saga 

Spider-Man: Brand New Day

Spider-Man: Brand New Day is set four years after Spider-Man: No Way Home, placing it in the MCU timeline in 2028 and in the timeline before, or even overlapping with, the events of Avengers: Doomsday. 

Interestingly, Brand New Day director Destin Daniel Cretton confirmed that part of the film, specifically the opening sequence, takes place just nine months after the events of No Way Home, meaning that there will be two time jumps in the film. 

This timeline change allows the viewers to experience Peter Parker's isolation immediately before the four-year gap, effectively showcasing his growth and physical transformation. 

This structure even echoed Avengers: Endgame's use of time jumps for emotional weight, with the early section showing Peter's loneliness of operating without a support system, and the latter showing his transition to a seasoned Spider-Man. 

VisionQuest

Paul Bettany (via Rotten Tomatoes) confirmed that VisionQuest picks up roughly one year after the events of WandaVision, placing its main story in 2025. 

This short forward leap is crucial as it gives White Vision the time and space needed to process the flood of memories he received from the original Vision at the end of its predecessor. 

It's possible that only some of the events take place within this time frame, mainly because it needs to catch up with the post-Agatha All Along timeline to incorporate the Billy and Tommy Maximoff story threads, tying together the Maximoff family arc across three shows. 

Avengers: Doomsday

The Thunderbolts* post-credits scene confirmed what fans suspected: the footage is part of Avengers: Doomsday. This stinger not only teased the Fantastic Four's arrival on Earth, but it also advanced the MCU's timeline. 

This connective tissue delivers a 14-month time jump after the New Avengers are announced to the world, placing the start of Avengers: Doomsday in late 2028 or early 2029. 

This forward leap in the Multiverse Saga is one of the most significant, as it serves as a direct bridge between the New Avengers' street-to-global transition and the massive Multiversal threat posed by Doctor Doom. 

Daredevil: Born Again Season 3

In June 2026, Marvel Television boss Brad Winderbaum confirmed that Daredevil: Born Again Season 3 is set one year after the events of Season 2, placing it in the year 2028 (potentially around the Fall), close to the events of Spider-Man: Brand New Day and Avengers: Doomsday. 

The one-year time jump continues the show's pattern of forward progression, focusing on the year-long prison stint of Charlie Cox's Matt Murdock and the reintegration of the Defenders (Luke Cage, Jessica Jones, and Iron Fist) in street-level New York after Mayor Fisk's political regime. 

Spider-Man: Brand New Day's street-level ripple effects could also play a factor in Daredevil: Born Again Season 3, while the looming threats of incursions and the rise of the New Avengers could finally be referenced on-screen. 

Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man Season 2

Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man Season 2 was originally titled "Spider-Man: Sophomore Year," so the time jump will be a few months to a year after Peter Parker's freshman year in Midtown High, potentially in the year 2017 of this alternate Earth. 

This modest leap keeps Peter Parker firmly in his high-school era, advancing him from freshman to sophomore year without rushing his teenage development. 

Unlike the multi-year leaps in Spider-Man: Brand New Day, this time jump relies on natural growth. This version of Peter Parker matures from a wide-eyed freshman to a slightly more experienced hero navigating crimes and villains in New York.