"It's our policy not to comment on ongoing operations, but I can assure you that S.H.I.E.L.D. has the situation completely under control." The specific order and/or accurate dates presented in this article has never been confirmed by Marvel Studios, and therefore it can be inaccurate, incomplete, or partial.
"We learned that not only are we not alone, but we are hopelessly, hilariously, outgunned."
This is a timeline of events that occurred in 2010.
2010
January
7th
Stark destroys his weapons
Iron Man tracks a shipment down of first generation Tellor Propellant Rifles, made by Stark Industries. The weapons were set to be destroyed after Tony Stark made the decision to no longer provide any weapons. Instead, the shipment got diverted by a hacker to a different location. While the shipments gets unloaded, Iron Man stops the guards and destroys the weapons.[1][2]
Jesse discovers that the email was sent by hackers who mined her computer, scanned her passwords and got access to the main frame of Stark Industries. The hackers exploited Stark by pretending to be him by stealing his online identity, buying expensive art, philanthropic funding and spending money on extravagant parties. Stark is able to track down the coding from the mail downloaded by Jesse to Genoa in Italy.[1][2]
10th
Iron Man arrives at a local carnival in Genoa which is sponsored by Stark's own money via the hackers. While he circles the carnival he is spotted by Ten Rings insurgents lead by the hacker Cordo Gaines.[1][2]
Cordo Gaines
Having the rest of the stolen weapon shipment, they start shooting at Iron Man and when they use a rocket launcher, Iron Man is taken down to the ground. But the weapons are supplied with Stark Industries chips and Iron Man is able to remotely turn the weapons down. Cordo Gaines and his men get arrested while Iron Man extends the carnival with another week and calls Pepper to come over.[1][2]
As Tony Stark continues to operate as Iron Man, he brings about a period of relative peace and is credited with stabilizing East-West relations, while maintaining a partying lifestyle.[1][5][6][7]
Tony Stark's main target in his operations as Iron Man are the Ten Rings, who are based in Pavlodar, Kabul, and the Gulf of Aden. He saves an airman in the Congo who was test-piloting a vehicle designed by Justin Hammer under the orders of Thaddeus Ross. However, Stark realizes the palladium core of his Arc Reactor is slowly poisoning him, and while he searches for a cure he keeps his condition a secret.[1][5][8]
March
4th
Tony Stark trials a new system for the Iron Man suit's delivery, but it fails.[9][10][11]
19th
Test subjects are chosen for Project T.A.H.I.T.I., and they undergo the trials. Their results are monitored over the following weeks.[12]
30th
The first promotional video is released for the upcoming "Stark Expo 2010" in Flushing Meadows, New York City, due to start on May 7, 2010. A website is launched to accompany the announcement to promote the exposition - the first Stark Expo since 1974.[9][13][14]
Stark Expo 2010
Along with the site and first video, Stark Expo 2010 releases an old promotional video for Stark Expo 74, the last Expo until now, advertising it as a "dream of tomorrow, realized today," and featuring Howard Stark. The old video invites viewers to join them for the opening in April 1974.[9][15][14]
April
1st
In Germany, Tony Stark is on a business trip to make a partnership between Stark Industries and Gorani Insurance. He is stopped on the road by a policeman, who tells him that 15 million dollars’ worth of paintings have been stolen from a museum and describes the car of the thieves; he then lets Stark pass.[1][16]
Recovering the paintings
Later, Stark fixes the flat tire of a young woman. Further along the road he discovers a car matching the description of the car the policemen described earlier. Stark opens the trunk and finds all the paintings inside. The criminals return and open fire on Stark, but he fends them off with the glove of the Mark IV Iron Man armor. He manages to return the paintings to the museum and get to the meeting, where he meets the same woman whose tire he repaired.[1][16]
The woman is Evetta Gorani, the heir to Gorani Insurance. Her father and Gorani Insurance's current president Michael Gorani explains to him that the the paintings he recovered were insured by Gorani, meaning Stark saved the company over one hundred million dollars. He successfully starts a business partnership with Gorani.[1][16]
5th
In Melbourne, Australia, Cordco films its annual product presentation. Managing director Karl Oakley demonstrates a sonic fire extinguisher, adapted from Iron Man Mark IV technology for the upcoming Stark Expo 2010.[9][17][14]
7th
AccuTech release their video for Stark Expo 2010, in which CEO Charles Healey introduces the HazTech Exoskeleton, which is further discussed by Klaus Haas, head of Research and Development, explaining its uses for rehabilitative purposes.[9][18][14]
12th
Banner attempts to pick up his dropped blood
158 days since his last "incident", having now settled in Rocinha, Brazil, Bruce Banner has an accident that causes a drop of his blood to fall into a soda bottle. He sends a sample of his blood to Samuel Sterns, who conducts further experiments with it outside of the analysis that Banner needs.[9][19][20]
17th
Cordco release the video of their Melbourne presentation 12 days prior, the fourth video released for Stark Expo 2010.[9][17][14]
The test subjects for Project T.A.H.I.T.I. begin to go insane. The decision is made to alter their memories so they do not have to live with their trauma, but in the process they have to be given false memories and new identities. Agent Rebecca Stevens is declared deceased from cancer, and given a new life as "Janice Robbins".[12]
23rd
Stark-Fujikawa releases the final video in the leadup to the opening of Stark Expo 2010 in a fortnight, demonstrating the virtual reality Heads Up Display glasses "Stark HUD 2020" on the streets of Tokyo, and filming the reactions of impressed users.[21][14][9]
May
7th
2010 Stark Expo
The 2010 Stark Expo has its opening ceremony, and is due to then run for a year, followed by a closing ceremony. [9][14][22][23][6][7]
Tony Stark appears before the Senate Armed Services Committee's Weaponized Suit Defense Program Hearings. These are chaired by Pennsylvania Senator Stern, who urges him to give the Iron Man suit, built six months ago, to the military, and calls Lt. Col. James Rhodes and Hammer Industries CEO Justin Hammer to testify against him. Stark refuses to surrender the suit, pointing out that although North Korea and Iran are working to replicate the technology, they are years away from being able to do so. He also reveals Hammer Industries has had its share of failures, leading to the cancellation of Hammer Industries' contacts with the Department of Defense.[9][22][23][11][7]
James Rhodes tries to negotiate a compromise between Tony Stark and the Pentagon. While Rhodes and Stark are arguing, Stark challenges Rhodes to try one of his Iron Man suits. Rhodes accepts and takes the Mark II, arguing with Iron Man during the flight. When they arrive back at Stark's Mansion and Rhodes gets his armor off, he makes it clear that he does not let Stark put him in the position to choose between their friendship and his duty. Saying at his departure, that they both know where that would end up.[9][22][26]
Tony Stark updates his design log again, on "Day 189", recounting the opening of the Expo and saying that he believes he has sorted the delivery problem.[9][10][22][11] Stark then finishes the assembling of his Mark V armor, and leaves to board a plane to Monaco for the Grand Prix de Monaco Historique.[9][22][11][7]
23rd
Duel of Monaco: At the Circuit de Monaco, Stark replaces Team Stark's regular driver DiFilipo in Race G. Ivan Vanko attacks him between turns 16 and 17 by the harbor. Switching into a portable, lightweight Iron Man armor (Mark V) Stark defeats Vanko.[9][22][23][7]
On Tony Stark's birthday, he is inconsolable over his inability to solve his palladium poisoning dilemma and gets drunk, which leads to a confrontation with James Rhodes, who dons the Mark II Iron Man armor. The fight wrecks a portion of Stark's Malibumansion, and Rhodes leaves with the Mark II suit.[9][8][27][23][7]
Bruce Banner passes through U.S. customs, and there are reports of "atmospheric disturbances" in the Southwest region of the United States. Fury leaves S.H.I.E.L.D. Headquarters to meet Stark, carrying lithium to slow the palladium's effects, and orders Agent Jasper Sitwell to track Banner.[9][25][27]
Stark visits Potts at Stark Industries, where she mentions Hammer is hosting a presentation at the Stark Expo the next day. Returning home, Stark makes an intuitive breakthrough on how to fix his palladium problem through the creation of a new element theorized by his father and hidden in the layout of the Stark Expo.[9][8][23]
Vanko is killed in an explosion that destroys the Oracle Pavilion, while Hammer is arrested for breaking Vanko out of prison. Stark flies Pepper Potts to safety, they kiss and start a romantic relationship. Rhodey decides to keep the War Machine armor for himself.[9][8][11][7]
Jane Foster, Erik Selvig, and Darcy Lewis detect a possible Einstein-Rosen Bridge in the nearby desert and discover the powerless Thor at its epicenter. He provokes Lewis with his aggressive behavior, but they subdue him with a tazer and take him to a local hospital.[9][29][28]
In Puente Antiguo, a local man discovers Thor's hammer, Mjølnir, in a crater about 50 miles west of the town. Unable to lift it, he calls several other people to give it a try. Jane Foster helps Thor escape from the hospital where he is being held and takes him back to her workplace.[9][8][29][28]
Coulson arrives in New Mexico and discovers the site of Mjølnir.[23]S.H.I.E.L.D. quickly quarantines the area and erects a portable laboratory over the site to study the hammer. Clint Barton arrives later that day.[9][8][29][27][28]
Bruce Banner poses as a pizza delivery man to get access to Culver University's computer labs and research database. On the way, he is accidentally seen by Betty Ross, and she has him stay the night at her home. Ross' boyfriend Leonard Samson secretly informs the military of Banner's whereabouts.[9][8][20][25]
Battle at Culver University: At Culver University, Betty Ross walks Bruce Banner to the bus station in the early morning. As they are crossing the campus, they are attacked by the Military and Emil Blonsky, who seems to adapt well to the Bio Tech Enhancement upgrade, but is still beaten by the Hulk, getting nearly every bone in his body pulverized. Natasha Romanoff witnesses Banner's transformation and Blonsky's enhanced performance from afar.[9][8][20][25]
Banner taking care of Betty Ross
The Hulk escapes the Military with an unconscious Betty, hiding in a cave deep in the Smoky Mountain National Forest. News of the battle quickly spreads across cable news channels and the internet. Jack McGee, a student who witnessed and captured the fight on cell phone video, names the creature "an Incredible Hulk” in an interview with WHiH World News. His remarks are played repeatedly over the next several days.[9][8][20][25]
Tony Stark has a debrief with S.H.I.E.L.D. Director Nick Fury. He is offered an advisory position as a consultant for S.H.I.E.L.D. and the Avengers Initiative, which he accepts on condition that Stern honors him with a medal for his services. Three hours later, Stern begrudgingly gives Stark his medal.[9][8][23]
Duel at the Bifrost Bridge: Thor, Sif, and the Warriors Three return to Asgard, where Thor reveals Loki's plan to seize the throne. Unfortunately, in the ensuing battle between them, Thor is forced to destroy the Bifrost Bridge to prevent Loki from destroying Jotunheim and committing genocide against the Frost Giants. This action strands him in Asgard, unable to return to Earth. Loki falls into space and ends appearing in the Sanctuary.[9][8][29][28]
3rd
Nick Fury holds a meeting in Roswell, telling S.H.I.E.L.D. about the new refocusing of the agency towards extraterrestrial defense.[9][8]
Bruce Banner and Betty Ross go into hiding
Bruce Banner and Betty Ross hide out in a small town motel, as news of the previous day's battle continues to spread. Within 36 to 40 hours of sustaining his injuries, Emil Blonsky has fully recovered.[9][20][25]
4th
Banner and Betty Ross arrive in New York City, bypassing roadblocks at the Holland Tunnel by bribing a boat owner to take them across the Hudson River to lower Manhattan. They head uptown to meet with Mr. Blue, whose real name is Samuel Sterns. Sterns tries an experimental process to cure Banner, though it only succeeds in reversing the transformation, not ridding him of it completely.[9][8][20][25]
Duel of Harlem
Duel of Harlem: The military captures Banner, but Emil Blonsky forces Sterns to inject him with the blood products he developed from Banner's blood sample. The process mutates Blonsky into the Abomination, while Sterns is infected with Banner's blood through an open wound on his head, gaining his own mutation. Banner convinces Thaddeus Ross to let him try and stop the Abomination. The two creatures fight in Harlem, with Hulk defeating the Abomination and fleeing the scene immediately afterwards.[9][8][20][25]
Natasha Romanoff discovers the mutated Sterns in his laboratory, subdues him and takes him into custody.[9][27]
He is apparently on a mission to recruit Blonsky, but his behavior enrages Ross so much that he refuses to release Blonsky into S.H.I.E.L.D. custody.[9][33]
Coulson and Sitwell reunite and discuss the success in having Stark dissuade Ross from including Blonsky in the Avengers Initiative.[9][33]
A news broadcast talks about Iron Man, using footage from the Battle of Gulmira. In 2015, Ultron would access a news archive with the broadcast when scrolling through information to learn about the Avengers.[4]
August
12th
A HYDRA team rescues Akela Amador from her cell at the bottom of a copper mine. They perform surgery in her blind eye and implant her with a Backscatter X-Ray Eye Implant, used to control her and make her carry out missions as their operative.[36][37]
The Roxxon Norco spills a million gallons of crude off Pensacola. Ellis does very little to get involved as he takes over presidency, and no one involved ends up in court.[46][42][43]
References
↑ 1.001.011.021.031.041.051.061.071.081.091.101.111.12There are several comics set in the months between Iron Man and Iron Man 2. Iron Man 2: Phil Coulson: Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. is shown to be set on the day of "I am Iron Man", November 25, 2009. Iron Man 2: Black Widow: Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. is shown to be set in the several days preceding her first meeting Tony Stark in Iron Man 2, during May 2010. The remaining unplaced comics set between the films, in order of release, are Iron Man 2: Security Breach (released April 1, 2010), Iron Man: Will Online Evils Prevail? (released April 10, 2010), Iron Man 2: Nick Fury: Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. (released April 23, 2010), Iron Man 2: Public Identity (issues released mean of April 28, 2010, median of May 5, 2010), and Iron Man 2: Fist of Iron (released February 1, 2011). Iron Man 2: Public Identity is official canon, and appears to span about 6 days, but the main events on the penultimate day are actually referenced on the MCU timeline as being "3 months" after "I am Iron Man". November 25, 2009 + 3 months gives roughly February 22, 2010, so Iron Man 2: Public Identity spans from February 18, 2010 to February 23, 2010. It would make sense for the rest to be chronological. Iron Man 2: Security Breach, Iron Man: Will Online Evils Prevail?, and Iron Man 2: Nick Fury: Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. were released before Iron Man 2: Public Identity, so are distributed from November 26, 2009 to February 17, 2010. Iron Man 2: Fist of Iron was released after, so is placed halfway between February 24, 2010 and May 6, 2010, on April 1, 2010.
In Avengers: Age of Ultron, when Ultron scrolls through images, a "FEB/12/2010" photo is shown of the Mark I armour. The photo could have been taken any time after the Mark I was made, but since the Mark I was only completed in May, this means it cannot be later than May 2009.
In Avengers: Age of Ultron, when Ultron scrolls through images, an old "news archive" story about Iron Man is shown from "20.07.10", including footage of him in Gulmira. This means that the Battle of Gulmira, in November of its year, can be no later than November 2009, for a news report from July 2010 to feature footage from it.
The second half of Iron Man 2, the events of Thor, and the second half of The Incredible Hulk are all set in the same week, known as "Fury's Big Week", as detailed in the The Avengers Prelude: Fury's Big Week comic, on Marvel's timeline, and shown in the films. Iron Man 2 also cannot span more than a few weeks, because:
The Expo is said to only be a year long, and there is "362 days left" on the day of Pepper's hiring and "343 days left" on the day of the Battle at Stark Expo.
Tony jokes that Pepper has only been CEO for "a week" after the Expo fight. Although the "days left" just mentioned shows it has been 19 days, still, it cannot be any longer.
The Monaco incident, which is after Pepper's hiring, is shown on Marvel's timeline to still be 6 months after "I am Iron Man", when the senate meeting before her hiring is also said by Hammer to be "6 months" after the end of Iron Man and the Expo opening before that is shown to be "6 months later" (confirmed by Jon Favreau in DVD commentary to refer to the time since "I am Iron Man"). So, the Monaco incident is definitely within a month of the Expo opening.
The inspired canon The Avengers: Iron Man Mark VII comic shows that the ice problem test flight in Iron Man is on or after "Day 1", that the fight in Monaco is between "Day 189" and "Day 199", and that the Battle at Stark Expo in Fury's Big Week is before "Day 199", meaning that the end of Iron Man 2 is still just over 6 months maximum after.
The rate at which Tony's palladium poisoning is increasing means that the film cannot realistically span more than a few weeks anyway.
A 2010 setting is implied for Fury's Big Week by:
The Stark Expo 2010 website saying that the Expo - the first Expo since 1974, the same one shown in the film - begins on "May 7th 2010".
A letter on the Stark Expo 2010 website also saying that the Expo begins on "May 7th . 2010".
A computer in Iron Man 2 saying "05.06.10".
The Grand Prix de Monaco Historique appearing in Iron Man 2, which is a biannual event which was held in May 2010.
Blonsky being known to have been born on "March 1, 1971", as said in a deleted scene, and saying in The Incredible Hulk that he is "39".
Fury saying Steve slept for "almost 70 years" in Captain America: The First Avenger, Steve saying he slept for "70 years" in The Avengers, and then more specific with "65 years" in Spider-Man: Homecoming - overall implying he slept for about 66½-66¾ years. And, having gone into the ice in February 1945, this therefore implying he woke around late 2011, and The Avengers Prelude: Fury's Big Week shows that this is "one year later" after the end of Fury's Big Week.
Natasha saying to Bruce on May 2, 2012, "You've been more than a year without an incident. I don't think you wanna break that streak," when we know he had incidents in Harlem, then a month later in British Columbia (both in The Incredible Hulk), and those incidents were in June and July respectively, meaning they cannot be 2011.
The Iron Man 3 Prelude showing that 10 months before The Avengers, in July 2011, enough time had passed since Iron Man 2 that all of the damage at the Expo had been cleaned up, Stark Tower had been fully planned, the foundations had been laid, and the first few levels had already been constructed.
However, a 2011 setting for Fury's Big Week is implied by:
Fury saying on May 4, 2012 in The Avengers, "Last year, Earth had a visitor from another planet who had a grudge match that levelled a small town," implying the Battle of Puente Antiguo was last year.
The Thor: The Dark World Prelude comic showing Darcy, on May 4, 2012, saying to Jane that "it's been a year", implying it has been a year since Thor left.
Darcy saying in Thor: The Dark World, "He's gonna come back. Except, you know, last time he was gone for like, 2 years," seemingly referring to it being 2 years from him leaving Jane before he returned on November 11, 2013 (but potentially just meaning, "Last time he left you, it was 2 years before he returned to Earth," referring to The Avengers).
The 2011 song Walk by Foo Fighters playing in a bar which Thor and Selvig visit during Thor.
Fury's Big Week is 6 months after "I am Iron Man". This is shown from:
Justin Hammer saying in Iron Man 2, "We all know why we're here. In the last 6 months, Anthony Stark has created a sword with untold possibilities."
Marvel's timeline showing that both the Ambush in Rio de Janeiro (which is shown in The Incredible Hulk to be "17 days" before Banner arrived at Culver University on Day 3 of Fury's Big Week) and the Duel of Monaco (which is days before Fury's Big Week) were 6 months after "I am Iron Man".
Iron Man 2 beginning with "I am Iron Man" and showing a montage of Vanko working, then showing "6 months later", the Stark Expo opening. Jon Favreau confirmed on the DVD commentary that the Vanko montage covers the 6 months, with "6 months later" referring to the time since "I am Iron Man".
Pepper joking in Monaco that Christine Everhart slept with Tony "last year" (which was 9 months before "I am Iron Man").
The inspired canon The Avengers: Iron Man Mark VII comic showing about 197 days between the test flight with the icing problem and the Battle at Stark Expo.
So, Iron Man is set in February-November of 2008 or 2009, Fury's Big Week is set in May-June of 2010 or 2011, and Fury's Big Week is 6 months after "I am Iron Man". The best solution possible, to satisfy the most evidence with the most importance, is reasoned out as Iron Man being set from February-November 2009 and Fury's Big Week being set in May-June 2010. To see a full, detailed description, calculation, and explanation of the reasoning, see here.
↑ 10.010.110.2The The Avengers: Iron Man Mark VII comic shows that its "Day 189" is just before Tony leaves for the Grand Prix de Monaco Historique, and "Day 199" is a little while after the Battle at Stark Expo. With the Grand Prix dated to May 23, 2010 (see other references), this would imply that "Day 189" is May 22, 2010, fitting with "Day 199" being June 1, 2010, the day after the battle. This would then put "Day 1", shown to be the day of the test flight with the icing problem, on November 15, 2009, which lines up perfectly with the fact that Iron Man presents the party the following day as being November 16, 2009, and then "I am Iron Man" being November 25, 2009 (see other references). The comic does contain recounts of the Battle of Gulmira and the Duel of Los Angeles on "Day 23" and "Day 30" respectively, but unlike with the test flight and the Duel of Monaco, shown actually playing out, they only appear as recounts. Because of the strong evidence putting the films in their November and May placements, this should not affect the timeline, but instead just be considered as Tony recounting those events during December, allowing the timeline to work out perfectly.
↑ 12.012.1In The Writing on the Wall, it is said on the reasoned date of March 16, 2015 that Rebecca Stevens was said to have died "5 years ago." This would place her supposed death around April 21, 2010. It can be assumed that the trials began around a month before this, approximately March 19, 2010, and that the preparations on Project T.A.H.I.T.I. would have begun around 3 months prior to that, approximately December 18, 2009.
↑ 19.019.119.219.3In The Incredible Hulk, the scenes before Banner arriving at Culver University are set before Fury's Big Week begins. This scene is shown to be "17 days without incident" (since the Ambush in Rio de Janeiro). With Marvel's timeline showing that the day he arrives is Day 3, so May 31, 2010, 17 days prior would mean the Ambush in Rio de Janeiro is May 14, 2010, and him waking on "1 day without incident" on May 15th, with the other scenes between that and arriving at Culver University distributed between those dates. When Banner wakes after the ambush, before his counter resets to "1 day without incident", it is shown that he had gone "190 days without incident". This would mean his last incident before the Ambush in Rio de Janeiro on May 14, 2010 would have been on November 5, 2009, and so the date on which the film begins with Banner's metronome, shown to be "158 days without incident", is April 12, 2010.
↑ 22.0022.0122.0222.0322.0422.0522.0622.0722.0822.0922.1022.1122.1222.1322.1422.15In Iron Man 2, the scenes before Tony's birthday are set before Fury's Big Week begins. This scene is Day 1, May 29, 2010, with May 29th being Tony's birthday, as given on a file in a deleted scene from The Avengers, and the same file displayed at an event, and lining up with the other evidence.
The Stark Expo 2010 website had Stark Expo supposedly starting on May 7, 2010. This just about lines up with the May 29th date. On the day Stark promotes Pepper, it is shown clearly in the background that there is "362 days remaining" of the Expo. On the date of the Expo battle, there is clearly "343 days remaining", so there is 19 days between these dates. It can then be seen that it takes Tony 4 days to return home after the senate, 5 days after the Expo opens. This would mean there is an opening day, 365 days of normal Expo, then the closing day, plus counting inclusively (ie. on closing day it says "1 day remaining"), meaning there is "367 days remaining" on May 7th, and thus 5 days later on the 12th, "362 days remaining". This way, these two dates gel very nicely.
So, with the opening on May 7, 2010, Pepper's hiring on May 12, 2010, and Tony's birthday on May 29, 2010, somewhere between the May 12th and May 29th dates is Monaco. Monaco cannot be on May 1st/2nd like in real life, as it does not fit within these limits. But that is fine, as the Marvel Cinematic Universe is a different universe, so it can be different. It is still in the same ballpark as the real world. In an adaptation comic of Iron Man 2, in the same scene where Rhodey confronts Tony about Vanko having attacked him "yesterday", "Natalie" then comes downstairs to say Tony's guests are arriving, and they have the discussion about Tony asking what she would do if she knew it were her last birthday. This would put Monaco the day before his birthday. However, this scene actually contradicts the film, which depicts the Rhodey conversation and the "Natalie" conversation as separate scenes in separate rooms. It can be put down to the adaptation condensing the film (like the Iron Man one putting Coulson asking for a meeting on "the 24th" at Tony's returning press conference rather than the party months later), and ignore this. The The Avengers: Iron Man Mark VII comic implies that "Day 189" is the day before Monaco, putting Monaco on Day 190. It implies as well that "Day 199" is around 2 days after Day 3 of Fury's Big Week, putting that on Day 5. This would put Day 1 around the Mark VII Day 195, 5 days after Monaco, therefore putting Monaco around May 24, 2010. However, it would work better on the 23rd, because the Grand Prix de Monaco Historique was held on a Saturday-Sunday in the real world, so it would make sense for it to be a Saturday-Sunday in the MCU as well. May 23, 2010 was a Sunday. The second day of the Grand Prix de Monaco Historique, in the real world, is supposed to be 2 weeks before the main Monaco Grand Prix (in this case, 2 weeks before May 16, 2010 - May 2, 2010). There is still some logic if the Grand Prix de Monaco Historique second day were 1 week after the main Grand Prix as a sort of after-party, rather than a build-up, which works as May 23rd. Plus, if Monaco is the 23rd, this puts "Day 189" on May 22, 2010, which then puts "Day 199" on June 1, 2010, the day after the Battle at Stark Expo, still working, and puts "Day 1" on November 15, 2009, which works perfectly with the timeline of Iron Man (see other references).
↑In Thor: The Dark World, Darcy Lewis says to Jane, "Last time [Thor] was gone for, like, 2 years." The reasoned date for him going away is June 2, 2010, so the interpretation has to be taken as, "Last time Thor left you, Jane, he was gone for, like, 2 years until he came back to Earth," referring to The Avengers rather than Thor: The Dark World, being gone until May 3, 2012.
↑In The Incredible Hulk, when Banner is shown in British Columbia, it is shown that he has gone "31 days without incident" since the Duel of Harlem, which is dated to June 4, 2010, placing this scene on July 5, 2010.
↑In 0-8-4, it is stated on the reasoned date of September 13, 2013 that Reyes was promoted "3 years ago."
↑In Kandahar, Micro says on October 30, 2015 that he has been unable to properly do his job for "5 years". This would specifically suggest October 2010 (5 years before October 2015), if not generally (so approximately mid) 2010 (5 years before 2015). Putting more weight in specifically October 2010 than mid-2010, it can be calculated that he became frustrated with his job around September 20, 2010.
↑ 42.042.1Presidential elections in the Marvel Cinematic Universe are not the same as in the real world. While it is never outright stated that Obama was president in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, it is implied from Tony's poster, designed to resemble Obama's, in Iron Man 2, the Obama biography in Captain America: The Winter Soldier, and the repeated references to him in Luke Cage, that Obama was likely president at some point. In December 2012, Aldrich Killian refers to President Ellis and says, "After years dodging the President's ban," implying Ellis has been president for years. Killian is also angry at Ellis' lack of involvement in the Norco incident, "2 years ago." It can also be assumed that Ellis was president when Steve woke in October 2011, as it is shown in Captain America: The Winter Soldier that he is quoted as welcoming Steve back to the world. In April 2015, Grant Ward says in A Fractured House that if his brother Christian were allowed to take him, his trial should then "wrap up right before the midterms". A newspaper in Captain America: Civil War shows that it is an election year in 2016.
From all of this, it can be assumed that, at least as of 2008, elections in the Marvel Cinematic Universe are biannual instead of every 4 years. Therefore, Obama would have been elected in November 2008. In May 2010, during Obama's presidency, Tony has a poster resembling Obama's. Ellis would have been elected in November 2010, and dealt with the December 2010 Norco incident and its aftermath as he came into his presidency. He would then have been president when Steve woke in October 2011, and in late December 2012, during Iron Man 3, he would have been president for 2 years (just about fitting as "years"). Ellis would have been reelected in November 2014, and then the midterms would have been in November 2015, 7 months after Ward's statement. 2016 would then be the next election year, as shown in Captain America: Civil War.
↑In the Iron Man 3 Prelude comic, it is shown as beginning a while after Iron Man 2, with the damage from the Expo having been cleared up and Stark Tower having been fully planned, laid its foundations, and several levels into its construction. It then jumps to 2 months later, Mumbai, then 3 months later, Afghanistan, then 2 months later, Sudan, then 3 months later, Hong Kong, and this is shown to be the date of the Battle of New York, May 4, 2012. 3 months back from there would put Sudan around February 2012, 2 months further back would put Afghanistan around December 2011, 3 months further back puts Mumbai around September 2011, and a final 2 months back places the beginning in July 2011. This allows plenty of time, just over a year, for the Expo to be cleared completely and for the planning, foundations, and beginning of construction of Stark Tower. Several months prior to the beginning of the comic, work would have begun on the tower, around December 2011.
↑In Iron Man 3, at Christmas 2012, Killian says that the incident with the Norco was "2 years ago", placing it in late 2010. With the fact that Ellis was involved in the aftermath, and him only being elected around late 2010 (see other references), it places around late December 2010, as he came into his presidency, still 2 years before Iron Man 3.
