Where In The Marvel Cinematic Universe Is Avengers Campus?

The Marvel Cinematic Universe is about to launch Phase 4 with the release of Black Widow. The overall franchise includes a long list of movies, several TV shows, an upcoming slate of films, and even a series of streaming shows that will stream exclusively on Disney+. Where does Avengers Campus fit into that timeline, though?

The upcoming theme park extension at Disney California Adventure will bring the heroes of the MCU to life in a new way, with a Spider-Man ride, an Ant-Man restaurant, and several other experiences for guests. However, the new land will also feature the chance to meet superheroes like Captain America and Iron Man. In case you somehow missed Avengers: Endgame in 2019, that seems pretty difficult, given that Iron Man sacrificed himself to defeat Thanos and Captain America is now a very old man that has retired from his time as an Avenger.

Thankfully, during a media preview of Avengers Campus, the land's creative team cleared up exactly how this is possible. The short answer is Avengers Campus isn't set in the primary MCU timeline.

"I would say if you're a Marvel fan, we all know it's a vast and infinite multiverse and gives you a lot of opportunities to have a lot of fun with a lot of characters," Marvel Studios vice president, franchise creative and marketing Dave Bushore explained in a group interview.

Expanding on that, Walt Disney Imagineering staff writer Jillian Pagan credits the events of Avengers: Endgame for making the land's place in the MCU possible. "As we see in Avengers: Endgame, where they go back to 2012 and everything about the universe is the same up until that point, and then they divide and start spinning off into multiple timelines," she said. "We see ourselves as having that same shared history with what we've seen in the films. And then, clearly, there was just that point in time where they've split off and now have created, in one timeline, these new campuses for us to assemble alongside them and are still alive and well and we can assemble with them. So it gives us, admittedly, maybe a little bit of a cheat, but I don't think it's any more of a cheat than what the comics and the films have already introduced in terms of being like, 'Oh, we killed off that character. Let's bring them back.'"

Ultimately, it lets Avengers Campus have the best of both worlds. “It lets us have our narrative cake of leaning into all of the awesomeness that we've seen in the films that we know guests want to play in and step into that world, but eat it too,” Drake continued. “And here, you want to go meet Iron Man? Congratulations, he's alive in this timeline.”

For more about Avengers Campus, take a look at our comprehensive coverage:

• What is the Avengers Campus Spider-Man ride called?
• How does the Spider-Man ride at Avengers Campus work?
• Is Avengers Campus set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe?
• Avengers Campus has 2 exclusive Funko Pops
• Black Widow movie has a huge influence on Marvel's Avengers Campus
• Every MCU character you can meet at Marvel's Avengers Campus
• How does that Avengers Campus Spider-Man robot work?
• Will Tom Holland play Spider-Man at Avengers Campus?
• The coolest food Avengers Campus has to offer

Avengers Campus at Disneyland Resort's California Adventure is scheduled to open on July 18.