Major events of the Marvel Universe

For decades -in particular, since the 1960's- Marvel Comics has been telling noteworthy fictional stories. The following is a list of the major plotlines, detailing such things as first appearances of characters, character deaths (though those tend to be less permanent in superhero comics) and other important developments. Note that all of these events take place within a sliding timescale, which means that they are assumed to have taken place in a period of up to fifteen years before the current date, regardless of when they were actually published.

For a list of events before the "Modern Era" see Timeline of the Marvel Universe.

Events

1960s

Event	Year	Developments
Emergence of the Fantastic Four	11/1961	After a trip to space, Reed Richards, Sue Storm, Johnny Storm, and Ben Grimm develop fantastic powers.
Re-emergence of Namor	05/1962	the Sub-Mariner gets his memories back after a meeting with the human Torch.
Emergence of the Incredible Hulk	05/1962	After being bombarded by gamma rays in a nuclear explosion, Dr. Bruce Banner becomes a rampaging creature.
Emergence of Spider-Man	08/1962	Peter Parker is bitten by a radioactive spider and embraces a super-hero career.
Emergence of Thor	08/1962	The thunder god Thor awakens inside the body of mortal Donald Blake.
Emergence of Iron Man	03/1963	Tony Stark creates his first suit of Iron Man armor.
Emergence of Doctor Strange	07/1963	After years of mystical training, Stephen Strange becomes Earth's greatest defender against supernatural threats.
Emergence of the X-Men and Magneto	09/1963	Cyclops, Marvel Girl, Iceman, Beast, and Angel are brought together for the first time by Professor X. They go public while fighting mutant criminal Magneto for the first time.
Emergence of the Avengers	09/1963	Iron Man, Thor, Ant Man, the Wasp and Hulk assemble for the first time.
Emergence of Nick Fury and S.H.I.E.L.D.	09/1963	Colonel Nick Fury and his espionage agency get involved in super-human affairs for the fist time.
Re-emergence of Captain America	03/1964	Steve Rogers is awakened from suspended animation by the Sub-Mariner and found by the Avengers. He becomes a member of the team.
Emergence of Daredevil	04/1964	As a young boy, Matthew Murdock was blinded in a tragic accident, which also honed his senses to super-human levels. Now an adult, he embraces a super-hero career.
Emergence of Galactus and the Silver Surfer	03-05/1966	Galactus and his herald, the Silver Surfer, plan to destroy Earth. The Silver Surfer rebels against his master and, as punishment, remains a prisoner of earth's atmosphere.

1970s

Event	Year	Developments
Kree-Skrull War	10/1971 - 02/1972	The Avengers are involved in a millennia-old interstellar war.
Emergence of the Defenders	12/1971	After several meetings, Doctor Strange, the Silver Surfer, Namor and the Hulk forms a new super-hero team.
Death of Gwen Stacy and apparent death of the original Green Goblin	06-07/1973	During a fight with the Green Goblin, Gwen Stacy is killed. Later this night, the Green Goblin apparently kills himself.
Emergence of Wolverine	8/1974	Wolverine appears to attack the Hulk but is knocked out.
Giant-Size X-Men	1975	Professor X assembles a new team to rescue the original X-Men. First appearance of several major characters.
Phoenix Saga	1976 - 1977	The Phoenix is unleashed for the first time in the Marvel Universe, in the form of Jean Grey.
Secret Empire	197x	Captain America follows a conspiracy all the way to the White House.
The Korvac Saga	1978	The Avengers and the Guardians of the Galaxy track down a mysterious threat from the future.

1980s

Event	Year	Developments
Dark Phoenix Saga	1980	Jean Grey becomes the Dark Phoenix after being controlled by the Hellfire Club
Days of Future Past	1981	Kitty Pryde from a dystopic future travels back in time to prevent the event that created her timeline.
Contest of Champions	1982	The Grandmaster and Death manipulate the heroes of Earth in a game to decide the fate of The Collector.
Death of Captain Marvel	1982	The original Captain Marvel (Mar-Vell) falls victim to what the Kree call "the Blackend", or what is called Cancer on Earth.
Secret Wars	1984 - 1985	The Beyonder kidnaps Earth's heroes and villains to battle on a planet of his creation. Spider-Man finds his symbiote costume.
Secret Wars II	1985 - 1986	A contest of champions with the Beyonder
Mutant Massacre	1986	The Marauders kill most of the Morlocks
The Fall of the Mutants	1987	The X-Men are slain in Dallas during a cataclysmic battle against the Adversary.
Kraven's Last Hunt	1987	The final battle between Kraven the Hunter and Spider-Man.
Armor Wars	1988	Iron Man embarks on a mission to destroy armored suits that were created from his own stolen technology.
The Evolutionary War	1988	The High Evolutionary unleashes attacks all over the world to guide the way of human evolution.
Inferno	1988 - 1989	Demons from Limbo invade earth.
Atlantis Attacks	1989	Under the influence of Set the Serpent God, the Atlanteans launch a massive assault on the surface world.
Acts of Vengeance	1989 - 1990	Major villains unite to fight each others' enemies.

1990s

Event	Year	Developments
The X-Tinction Agenda	1990	The New Mutants and the X-men are kidnapped and taken to Genosha, which culminates in their escape; the Genoshan government is overthrown.
Armor Wars II	1990 - 1991	Iron Man continues his mission against those he believes stole his technology, but creates tensions between himself and those who trust him most in the process.
Infinity Gauntlet	1991	Thanos uses the power of the Infinity Gems to become Supreme Being.
Operation: Galactic Storm	1992	The Avengers become involved in a war between the Kree and the Shi'ar.
Infinity War	1992	Magus, Adam Warlock's "Evil Side", creates evil doppelgangers of Earth's heroes to gain ultimate power.
X-Cutioner's Song	1992	The Legacy Virus is created, and Stryfe goes up against combined X-teams.
Infinity Crusade	1993	Goddess, Adam Warlock's "Good Side", recruits an army of heroes to fight her holy war.
Maximum Carnage	1993	The Carnage Family massacres downtown New York only to have Spider-man and Venom in their way.
Fatal Attractions	1993	Magneto returns more powerful and determined than ever, ripping the adamantium from Wolverine's bones and enraging Professor X.
Siege of Darkness	1993	The Midnight Sons battles Lilith in her quest to take over Earth.
Phalanx Covenant	1994	The Phalanx race attacks earth.
Clone Saga	1994 - 1996	The clone of Spider-Man, who was long thought dead, returns. His creator, the Jackal also returns to wreak havoc in Spider-Man's personal life.
Age of Apocalypse	1995	Legion travels back in time to kill Magneto, but accidentally kills his own father, Charles Xavier, creating a dystopian alternative timeline in which Apocalypse rules the world.
Avengers: The Crossing	1995	One of the Avengers is brainwashed and turns into a murderer.
Onslaught	1996-1997	The Marvel heroes died while defeating the nigh-omnipotent being, Onslaught, and later revealed that they have been transported to an alternate universe that was created by Franklin Richards
Operation: Zero Tolerance	1997	In the aftermath of Onslaught the U.S. government begins to round up mutants.
Heroes Reborn	1997	The heroes from Heroes Reborn return to the regular Marvel Universe.
Contest of Champions II	1998	Earth's heroes are abducted and brainwashed with nanoprobes to participate in a fighting competition.
Avengers Forever	1998 - 2000	Avengers from different time periods are assembled to participate in the Destiny War, a conflict between Kang the Conqueror and his future self, Immortus.

2000s

Event	Year	Developments
Apocalypse: The Twelve	2000	Apocalypse emerges once more, along with a mysterious prophesy of 12 powerful mutants capable of destroying him.
Maximum Security	2000	Fed up with Earth's interference in intergalactic affairs, the starfaring alien community quarantines the Sol System and turns Earth into a prison for the universe's worst criminals.
The Kang Dynasty	2001-2002	Kang and his son Marcus declare war on present-day Earth, killing everyone in Washington DC and briefly taking over the planet.
Infinity Abyss	2002	Mad partial-clones of Thanos try to destroy the universe.
Avengers Disassembled	2004	The Scarlet Witch goes insane and kills or incapacitates the current Avenger-roster.
Secret War	2004 - 2005	Nick Fury starts a secret war against Latveria who he believes has been selling high-tech weaponry to super villains.
Spider-Man: The Other	2005	Spider-Man goes through a mysterious, life changing event after facing the super villain Morlun.
House of M	2005	The Scarlet Witch alters reality, creating a world in which mutants are in charge.
Decimation	2005 - 2006	In the aftermath of House of M the mutant population has greatly decreased.
Planet Hulk	2006	Hulk is exiled to a far-off planet of Sakaar by the mysterious Illuminati.
Annihilation	2006 - 2007	Silver Surfer, Super-Skrull, Nova, and Ronan face the Annihilation Wave.
Civil War	2006 - 2007	Heroes are divided when the U.S. government passes the Super-human Registration Act.
Civil War: The Initiative	2007	Government sponsored heroes led by Iron Man take control in the aftermath of the Civil War.
World War Hulk	2007	The Hulk returns to Earth to exact revenge on those who exiled him. As an old enemy forms the Gamma Corps to take him down, a handful of heroes who helped Hulk in the past consider joining his side.
Annihilation: Conquest	2007	Nova, Starlord, Wraith, & a new Quasar lead a group of cosmic heroes against a new threat to the universe.
Endangered Species	2007	The 198 remaining mutants must avoid the threat of genocide as Beast searches for a solution to M-Day.
Messiah Complex	2007	Following the events of Endangered Species, a savior of the Mutant Race is found, and both the X-Men and Mr Sinister are after it.
Secret Invasion	2008	An event that features an invasion by the Skrull race which has gone unnoticed, and the secret purpose behind it.