Thread:BEJT/@comment-815833-20160527192006

Hey man, noticed you did some work on the MCU timeline pages and wanted to drop a line.

I've been doing a timeline for the MCU since 2010 (which can be seen here):

http://www.thecomicboard.com/forum/showthread.php?13339-Marvel-Cinematic-Universe-Timeline

and wondered where you guys were getting your dates for the Captain America - Civil War placements...?

You have the attack in Lagos occurring on May 3, 2016, and the rest of the film occurring in early June, 2016.

Just wondering where you guys are pulling your dates from, specifically because Civil War did offer a couple of hard/specific dates that place the film as occurring in late March through first half of April, 2016, not May/June, 2016 as you currently have it. Is there a guidebook or something you guys are using that offers these other dates?

At beginning of Civil War, during scene in Lagos where Wanda is being talked through scoping out surrounding area (by Cap and Widow) while sitting and drinking tea/coffee, there's a newspaper on her table with a picture of Crossbones/Rumlow, with headline "Police Stations Robbed" under his picture.

The newspaper is "The Daily", and its the Saturday edition. The top portion is out of focus so no specific date is visible on newspaper, but it does feature a blurb on bottom that reads "2016 Election Conversations, Sunday, March 22, 3-5 PM. Be Part of the Audience."

That would seem to indicate (if the paper is meant to be that day's issue) the modern day portions of Civil War begin on Saturday, March 21, 2016. Of course in reality March 21, 2016 was a Monday, so this is another example where the MCU timeline (in terms of day of week matching up to dates) differs from reality (Captain America - The First Avenger also had newspaper dates and days of week which didn't align with reality's day/date alignment).

It's also entirely possible the newspaper is a bit old (few weeks or months) and Wanda just had it as dossier material, since they were actively looking for Rumlow, but I doubt it, because there is a second newspaper next to the first one, called The Spot (also with a Saturday label) with headline "Weapons Sold to Terrorists", also featuring a picture of Rumlow.

So, if I had to guess, the opening scenes in Lagos happen on March 21, 2016. Presumably the rest of film occurs in late April, with the WHIH promos occurring in early March before events in Lagos, and final one occurring that night (reporting on the Lagos explosion).

Also, the final scene with Tony helping Rhodey try out the new harness to help him walk happens on April 14, 2016. The Fedex package (delivered by Stan Lee in his requisite cameo) is labeled as a 2 Day package, delivered on/by Tuesday, April 14 (April 14 in real world was a Thursday, so Marvel is keeping the habit of date/days not matching reality).

Any info you can provide as to where you guys got the specific dates you're using (which conflict with dates shown in the film itself) would be helpful. I'd advise you to rewatch the film again when it comes out on Bluray/DVD, and double check the early scene with Wanda (as I mentioned). The dates are visible and seem to indicate the film occurs a good two months before your wikia timeline placements. Just want to help nail the placement down better.

From other members I've talked to it seems you're using real world release dates from the WHIH video shorts to place the events of Captain America - Civil War. But considering the hard dates given within Civil War (and the fact they line up perfectly with the timeline in general), I'm just wondering about the logical process behind this.

I get that dates given on props aren't always accurate, but for the most part they are. The only instances I can think of are conflicting dates given on newspaper in the Agent Carter pilot episode and a date of 2010 given in Iron Man 2 (which was its original timeline setting until it was retconned into occurring in 2011 by the canonical Fury's Big Week comic, due to its occurring around same time as events in Incredible Hulk and Thor, and those events occurring a year before Avengers in 2012).

This is why release dates don't always work, and why I've never held to them specifically as when the films themselves occur. Hence, Incredible Hulk occurs in 2011, not 2008 (it's year of release), Iron Man 2 occurs in 2011 (not 2010, it's year of release, or 2009 to account for the "6 months later" tag at the beginning--the retcon creates a bit of a problem there, but I like to think Vanko took at least two and a half years to construct his first suit, which makes sense as he lived in a Russian ghetto and didn't have the money or ready access to materials that Tony had--even in the cave in Afghanistan Tony has his weaponry that he was able to break down for parts/materials). Even Captain America - The Winter Soldier features a date of October, 2013 (seen on a security camera during the SHIELD interrogation of Batroc), which means it can't occur during its time of release in spring, 2014 (and this is backed up by Ross' dialogue in Civil War). Even Daredevil Season 2 features hard dates that are a ways off from the release date.

Just saying using real world release dates as a basis seems to directly go against the hard evidence seen in many the films themselves.

I get that you may disagree, and ultimately its your timeline to do with as you will, but just trying to be helpful and point out this info, in case you weren't aware.

I've been told you guys ignore prop dates, but I just wonder why. Especially since for the most part the dates seen on props correspond to the actual timeline of the films/shows itself.

It seems to be a bit illogical, to ignore the dates given in the film in favor of real world release dates, that's all I'm saying.

Anyway, good luck with the timeline. 