2012

This is a timeline of events that occurred in 2012.

Before the Battle of New York

 * Phil Coulson tries to convince Nick Fury that Project T.A.H.I.T.I. must be shut down because of horrific side effects the drugs have on test subjects, which can only be mitigated by erasing the victim's memory. Despite his concerns, Project T.A.H.I.T.I. was not shut down.

11th

 * To cover up the explosive nature of the Extremis virus, Aldrich Killian hires actor Trevor Slattery to pose as a terrorist leader called the Mandarin, so whenever Extremis causes a patient to explode, the media and government will assume they are suicide bombings.

13th

 * Slattery gets plastic surgery so he is not recognized when he appears on television as the Mandarin.

15th

 * The third Mandarin bombing occurs.

15th

 * Bruce Banner crosses the Pakistani border into India. He is attacked by local bandits and turns into the Hulk.

16th

 * War Machine fights the Ten Rings' allies in Northern Sudan. Afterwards, he travels to the in Afghanistan to discover more about the Ten Rings and contacts Tony Stark for advice.

13th

 * In Dubai, Iron Man (in the Mark VI armor) agrees to race two men in similar suits. Eventually, the suits of the Dubai men malfunction and are destroyed.

19th

 * As part of a training exercise, Hawkeye disguises himself as a spy and breaks into the Helicarrier to trick the Black Widow into thinking he is stealing information about the Avengers Initiative. After the exercise, Nick Fury tells them the Initiative will only be put into action when the world needs the team most.

14th

 * In the Arctic, a Russian oil team discovers the crashed Valkyrie. Eighteen hours later, S.H.I.E.L.D. agents are dispatched to the area, and exploring the wreckage they find the body of Steve Rogers, who is still alive and cryogenically preserved in the ice.

15th

 * S.H.I.E.L.D. continues their analysis of Ivan Vanko's "Whiplash" technology, Samuel Sterns' mutation, and Jane Foster's Nine Realms theory. Scavenged parts from the Destroyer are used to craft a hand-held weapon.
 * Hawkeye is sent to join Erik Selvig at S.H.I.E.L.D.'s Joint Dark Energy Mission Facility to assist with his research of the Tesseract.

16th

 * Steve Rogers' body is thawed out of the ice, and he is taken to New York City.

17th

 * Rogers wakes up and tries to run away from S.H.I.E.L.D. Headquarters building but is stopped by Nick Fury in Times Square.

30th

 * Loki makes a deal with Thanos to recover the Tesseract from S.H.I.E.L.D. in exchange for a Chitauri army to conquer Earth. Realizing Loki is alive, Frigga tries to mentally communicate with him while he is in Chitauri Space. He refuses to respond to her, but she tells Thor and Odin he is still alive.

1st

 * Destruction of Project P.E.G.A.S.U.S.: Aided by Thanos and his servant, 'The Other', Loki activates the Tesseract from within Chitauri Space. It teleports him to S.H.I.E.L.D.'s Joint Dark Energy Mission Facility in the Mojave Desert, where S.H.I.E.L.D. is conducting Project P.E.G.A.S.U.S.. He steals the Tesseract and uses the Scepter given to him by Thanos to control the minds of several S.H.I.E.L.D. agents, including Erik Selvig and Clint Barton. They escape, and the Tesseract's energy destroys the base, beginning the War for Earth. In response, Nick Fury reactivates the Avengers Initiative.
 * In Asgard, Heimdall sees Loki on Earth with the Tesseract, and informs Thor and Odin.
 * In Russia, Natasha Romanoff is extracting information from Georgi Luchkov while letting him believe he is interrogating her. Phil Coulson calls one of Luchkov's henchmen and orders him to give Romanoff the phone or S.H.I.E.L.D.'s fighter jets will destroy the entire city block. He tells her that she is needed, and while she is reluctant to leave her current mission, she agrees when Coulson mentions Barton has been compromised.

2nd

 * S.H.I.E.L.D. transfers Jane Foster to Tromsø, Norway to continue her research.
 * In Kolkata, India, Natasha Romanoff tracks down Bruce Banner, and tells him his knowledge of Gamma Radiation is essential in helping S.H.I.E.L.D. locate the Tesseract. Banner reluctantly agrees to help S.H.I.E.L.D.
 * In New York City, Steve Rogers sits in his new apartment looking through S.H.I.E.L.D. files. One of the files lists Peggy Carter's current phone number, and Rogers prepares to call her, but eventually decides not to. He goes to a boxing gym, where Nick Fury approaches him with a mission to retrieve the Tesseract.
 * Tony Stark brings his miniaturized Arc Reactor online to power the newly opened Stark Tower in midtown Manhattan, built on the location of the former . Phil Coulson visits Stark Tower and asks him to review Erik Selvig's research on the Tesseract, as well as confidential material concerning the potential members of the Avengers Initiative.

3rd

 * Odin uses dark energy to transport Thor back to Earth.
 * Steve Rogers, Natasha Romanoff, Bruce Banner and Coulson rendezvous on the Helicarrier. Banner sets to work tracking the Gamma radiation the Tesseract gives off, while S.H.I.E.L.D.'s spy satellites find Loki in Stuttgart, Germany. Rogers (donning his new Captain America costume) and Romanoff travel to Stuttgart in a Quinjet to confront Loki, who is acting as a distraction as Hawkeye steals iridium to stabilize the Tesseract. Captain America fights him in the street, but the unexpected arrival of Iron Man prompts Loki to surrender. On the way back to the Helicarrier, the Quinjet is ambushed by Thor, who takes Loki and tries to reason with him. Iron Man pursues and fights Thor in a forest, but Captain America breaks up the fight and Thor agrees for Loki to be taken into S.H.I.E.L.D. custody.
 * Parts of Vanaheim are attacked by Marauders. The Vanir in these areas retaliate, but are still defeated.

4th

 * Attack on the Helicarrier: On the Helicarrier, Loki is put in a cell designed to contain the Hulk. The Avengers debate about what to do with Loki, allowing him time to plot an escape. Steve Rogers explores the lower levels of the ship and discovers several HYDRA weapons and uniforms from the 1940's. He confronts Nick Fury, who confesses S.H.I.E.L.D. wants the Tesseract to develop weaponry. Loki's mind-controlled agents led by Hawkeye invade the Helicarrier and damage one of its engines. While Iron Man and Captain America race to repair the engine before the ship crashes, Bruce Banner loses control, turns into the Hulk and goes on a rampage through the ship. The Black Widow frees Hawkeye of his mind-control by knocking him out. Thor distracts the Hulk, while Fury and Maria Hill hold off the other mind-controlled agents. The Hulk jumps out of the Helicarrier to attack a hovering F-35 jet, but ends up falling from the sky and crashing into an abandoned warehouse on the ground below. Thor tries to stop Loki from escaping, but gets trapped in Loki's cell and ejected from the ship, landing in a field. Phil Coulson confronts Loki, armed with a weapon made from the Destroyer's parts, but Loki stabs him to death with his scepter.
 * Battle of New York: Following his escape from the Helicarrier, Loki commandeers Stark Tower. The mind-controlled Erik Selvig uses a machine powered by the Tesseract to open a portal into space, allowing the Chitauri to invade Earth. The Avengers come together to stop the invasion, with the Hulk finding Loki and beating him into submission. Despite Nick Fury's persistence, the World Security Council are not convinced the six heroes will be enough to stop the invasion, and launches a missile at New York City. While the Avengers battle the invading forces, Iron Man grabs the missile and throws it through the portal, destroying the remaining Chitauri fleet just as the missile closes the portal. Loki is apprehended and the Tesseract is reclaimed, ending the War for Earth.
 * Battle of Hong Kong: War Machine battles more allies of the Ten Rings. Iron Man contacts him to request help in the Battle of New York, but Rhodes is attacked by a tank using Hammer Industries technology. Unable to call for back-up because most of the United States Armed Forces is fighting the Chitauri invasion, War Machine manages to defeat the attackers and immediately flies to New York to help Stark.
 * Darcy Lewis shows Jane Foster live footage of Thor fighting Chitauri in New York.
 * In Asgard, Sif asks Heimdall if Thor survived his travel to Earth. While he confirms Thor is safe, Heimdall worries Loki's forces may be too much for Thor to handle.
 * The Scepter is given to S.H.I.E.L.D. scientists Nicholas Cooper and Mark Smith for study.
 * Tired from the battle, the Avengers gather at a local shawarma restaurant recommended by Stark. While they have their lunch, War Machine arrives to help in the battle, only to discover they have already won.
 * A Ten Rings agent reports to the Mandarin about their recent conflict with War Machine. Although their operatives did not manage to capture James Rhodes, they scanned his armor with every possible device, thus obtaining invaluable information about the technology.

5th

 * Thor returns to Asgard with Loki and the Tesseract, while the other Avengers go their separate ways.
 * Odin sentences Loki to an eternity of imprisonment in the Asgardian Dungeons.
 * The Other confers with his master about Loki's defeat, the loss of the Tesseract, and Earth's new protectors. He claims attacking Earth again would be an act of suicide. His master, Thanos simply turns and smiles, thinking of things to come.
 * Jane Foster and Darcy Lewis arrive in New York in search of Thor, but Erik Selvig, freed from Loki's mind control but still in shock from the battle, reveals Thor has already left.
 * Tony Stark begins making the Iron Legion.
 * Heimdall tells Thor that Vanaheim has been attacked. He gives Heimdall the Tesseract so he can repair the Bifrost Bridge. They then spend the next two years assembling an army.
 * Foster is frustrated about spending a year of her life searching for Thor, and gives up her research of the Nine Realms.

6th

 * Three volunteer firefighters, Adam Cross, Tony Diaz, and Frank Whalen, help in the clean up of the Battle of New York. They find a Chitauri's discarded helmet and decide to put it in their fire station as a decoration.

7th

 * Stark shows James Rhodes the first suits of the Iron Legion.
 * Benjamin Pollack and his girlfriend Claire Wise find a broken Chitauri weapon. Pollack fixes the weapon and they plan to rob banks with it.
 * Days after the death of Phil Coulson, Nick Fury orders S.H.I.E.L.D.'s best scientists to revive him at the Guest House. The process takes several days, but Coulson is eventually revived by a serum derived from an alien corpse.

9th

 * Pollack and Wise prepare to rob a bank in Allentown, Pennsylvania, but Pollack is worried their plan will fail. Wise reassures him, and they successfully rob the bank.
 * The final procedure to resurrect Phil Coulson takes place. To restore his former personality, the scientists remove part of his skull to change his memories of the painful process, as Coulson begs them to let him die during the operation. One of the scientists, Dr. Streiten, realizes how brutal these surgeries are and tells the others they should let Coulson die, but they ignore him. The scientists give Coulson false memories of a grass shack in Tahiti. Pleaseletmedie.PNG receiving false memories]]

11th

 * Pollack and Wise rob another bank in Richmond, Virginia.

13th

 * Pollack and Wise rob another bank in Greensboro, North Carolina.

14th

 * Pollack and Wise rob another bank in Charleston, South Carolina.

15th

 * Pollack and Wise rob another bank in Savannah, Georgia.

16th

 * Jasper Sitwell is dispatched to stop Pollack and Wise's bank robberies and retrieve the Chitauri weapon. He locates and confronts them at a hotel, but Wise attacks him with the weapon. She accidentally drops it, causing it to activate and destroy all of the stolen money. Sitwell interrogates them, and Wise admits Pollack successfully got the weapon to work. Despite being sent to kill them, Sitwell gives them the chance to join S.H.I.E.L.D. and help restore the other Chitauri technology collected from New York.

17th

 * Jasper Sitwell brings Benjamin Pollack and Claire Wise to a S.H.I.E.L.D. facility, where Pollack is assigned to the R&D think tank, and Wise is made Felix Blake's assistant. Shield new recruits.jpg and Wise recruited to S.H.I.E.L.D.]]

4th

 * Edison Po is arrested for stabbing a man in the eye with a steak knife in Boston, Massachusetts.

9th

 * Bruno Horgan, also known as the Melter, attacks Iron Man during a press conference at Stark Tower. After a quick victory, the Melter announces he will be selling his Melter technology to the highest bidder in a few days.

11th

 * The Melter attacks and defeats War Machine. Tony Stark and James Rhodes research Horgan's background and make a deal; whoever fails to find Horgan first must polish the victor's armor.

12th

 * War Machine tries several attempts to find Melter, but they all turn out to be dead ends.
 * Tony Stark spots the Melter near Stark Tower.
 * Stark and Rhodes deduce the most likely place for Horgan to be is the junkyard. Stark modifies the Iron Man and War Machine armors so they resist the Melter's attacks.
 * Iron Man and War Machine investigate the junkyard and find the Melter. They fight, and the Melter is taken into custody of the United States Army.

19th

 * The fourth Mandarin bombing occurs.

12th

 * WHiH World News holds a 10 kilometer race to support reconstructing buildings lost during the Battle of New York. The company raised millions of dollars.

18th

 * The fifth Mandarin bombing occurs.
 * Tony Stark tests his newest prototype armor, the Mark XLII.

19th

 * The Iron Legion creates friction between Stark and his girlfriend Pepper Potts. Pepper feels Stark is not paying enough attention to her, but Stark's encounters during the Battle of New York has left him traumatized and he built the Iron Legion with her protection in mind.
 * The Mandarin bombs the . The bombings leave intelligence agencies bewildered by lack of forensic evidence. Under the request of the U.S. Government, James Rhodes' War Machine armor is painted in the colors of the American flag and re-named the "Iron Patriot ".
 * At the, Jack Taggart succumbs to the effects of Extremis and explodes. Stark Industries security chief Happy Hogan is caught in the explosion and severely injured.

20th

 * Stark visits Hogan in hospital. The press try to interview him about the Mandarin, and Stark issues a televised threat to him.

22nd

 * Destruction of Tony Stark's Mansion: The Mandarin responds to Tony's threat by destroying his Mansion with helicopter gunships. Pepper and Maya Hansen (who had come to warn Stark) survive the attack, and Stark dons the unstable Mark XLII armor to fly himself to safety.

23rd

 * J.A.R.V.I.S. follows a flight plan from Stark's investigation into the Mandarin bombings, and the Mark XLII lands in Rose Hill, Tennessee. The armor runs out of power, and the world believes Tony Stark to be dead.
 * Battle of Rose Hill: Teaming with Harley Keener, Stark investigates the remains of a local explosion bearing the hallmarks of a Mandarin attack. He discovers the "bombings" were triggered by soldiers subjected to Extremis, which at this stage of development causes certain subjects to explosively reject it. After veterans started exploding, their deaths were used to cover up Extremis' flaws by manufacturing a terrorist plot. Mandarin agents Ellen Brandt and Eric Savin arrive in Tennessee and attack Stark. He kills Brandt, but Savin escapes.

24th

 * With Harley Keener's help, Stark traces the Mandarin to Miami and infiltrates his headquarters using makeshift weapons. Inside, he discovers the Mandarin who appears on television is actually an actor, Trevor Slattery, who is oblivious to the actions carried out in his name. The Mandarin is a creation of Aldrich Killian, who appropriated Maya Hansen's Extremis virus as a cure for his own disabilities and expanded the program to include injured war veterans. Killian captures Stark and reveals he has also kidnapped Pepper Potts. To gain Stark's aid in fixing Extremis' flaws, Killian injects Pepper with the virus. Hansen has a change of heart about Killian's plans, but he murders her.
 * Kidnapping of President Ellis: Aldrich Killian has also manipulated American intelligence agencies regarding the Mandarin's location, luring the Iron Patriot into a trap to steal the armor. Stark escapes and reunites with Rhodes, discovering Killian's plan to attack U.S. President Matthew Ellis aboard Air Force One. Disguised in the Iron Patriot armor, Eric Savin infiltrates Air Force One and detonates an explosive. Remotely controlling the Mark XLII armor, Stark saves some surviving passengers and crew, but cannot stop Killian from abducting Ellis. They trace them to an impounded oil tanker, the Norco, where Killian intends to kill Ellis on live television. The Vice President Rodriguez (who is secretly working for Killian) will become a puppet leader, following Killian's orders in exchange for Extremis to cure his daughter's disability.

25th

 * Battle on the Norco: On the platform of the Norco, Tony Stark goes to save Pepper Potts, while James Rhodes rescues the President. Stark summons the Iron Legion, controlled remotely by J.A.R.V.I.S., to provide air support, and discovers Pepper has survived the Extremis procedure. However, before he can save her, a rig collapses around them and she falls to her apparent death. Stark confronts Aldrich Killian, traps him in the Mark XLII and sets it to self-destruct, but it fails to kill him. Pepper, whose Extremis powers allowed her to survive her fall, intervenes and kills Killian. After the battle, Stark promises to devote more time to Pepper, and orders J.A.R.V.I.S. to remotely destroy every armor in the Iron Legion. Vice President Rodriguez and Trevor Slattery are arrested, ending Aldrich Killian's War.

27th

 * With Stark's help, Pepper's Extremis effects are stabilized.
 * Stark undergoes surgery to remove the shrapnel embedded near his heart. He throws his obsolete chest Arc Reactor into the sea, musing he will always be Iron Man.