Marvel Studios has admitted that there is a major continuity issue with Spider-Man: Homecoming in DK Books’ updated MCU timeline.
The MCU timeline is vast and complex, like other massive multimedia franchises. And yes, there are some errors. In short, mistakes were made in 2017’s Spider-Man: Homecoming, one of the biggest.
The error relates to a specific time card that is now inaccurate and was placed near the beginning of the film. During the film’s first release, audiences quickly became interested in this continuity issue and the overall situation was somewhat frustrating for fans.
Spider-Man: Homecoming bug in the official MCU timeline fixed
The Marvel Cinematic Universe – An Official Timeline from Marvel Studios, a new book from editor Dorling Kindersley, corrects a mistake in the MCU chronology.
The opening flashback of Spider-Man: Homecoming shows Adrian Toomes and his team conducting a rescue operation to eliminate the alien technology that Loki and Thor’s evil brother Loki left behind during their fight. The Avengers Battle of New York is the name of this pivotal conflict.
And the book really presents things that way. Toomes’ flashback and the rest of the film take place in “spring 2012” and “fall 2016”, respectively.
Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige previously mentioned the time card in 2017, saying that he “didn’t mean to confuse anyone”:
After all that discussion we decided to publish a timeline at some point, although we’re not sure of the exact date. It wasn’t specifically meant to be confusing and I’m not sure I’d do it the same way again, but it comes down to location.
During the Avengers: Infinity War press conference, Joe Russo, one half of the directing duo, they discussed the mistake, calling it “very wrong” (via MCUExchange).
The sense of time in Homecoming became even more distorted after that. It’s been “eight years and not a word from the feds,” The Vulture flatly says in the film’s dialogue, noting that his illegal activities have gone unnoticed since the Battle of New York.
An attempt is made to explain this in the timeline book. TVA’s Miss Minutes appear in a small text box on page 174 to point out the discrepancy and blame the missing case file:
“Redline warning! Hello again! Although Adrian Toomes claims that the Battle of New York occurred eight years ago, it actually occurred only four years ago. We are really baffled by this battle; I think some analysts have lost the record of the case”.
If Miss Minutes can’t figure it out, no one else can either.
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Many viewers were also quick to mention the fact that Toomes is carrying a child’s crayon painting of Avengers vs. the Chitauri in that opening sequence, with the suggestion that it was made by his daughter Liz.
Liz is 17 years old in Spider-Man: Homecoming, but the caliber of the artwork is designed to give the impression that it was created by a young child. And if there really was an eight-year gap between The Avengers and Homecoming, then this would make sense. However, there is not.
There are two options here: either Liz Allen can’t draw to save her life, or Toomes has another younger son who would have been young enough to make a sketch like those four years earlier. One can only speculate.
Spider-Man: Homecoming from Marvel Studios is currently streaming on Disney+ and available for purchase anywhere movies are sold.