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The Marvel Universe is the fictional shared setting where most of the comic stories published by Marvel Comics take place.
Though the concept of a shared universe was not new or unique to comics in 1961, writer/editor Stan Lee, together with several artists including Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko, created a series of titles where events in one book would have repercussions in another title and serialized stories would show characters grow and change. Headline characters in one title would make cameo or guest appearances in other books. Eventually many of the leading heroes assembled into a team known as The Avengers.
Over time, a few Marvel Comics writers lobbied Marvel editors to incorporate the idea of a multiverse; this plot device allows one to create several fictional universes which normally do not overlap. What happens on Earth in the main Marvel Universe would normally have no effect on what happens on a parallel earth in another Marvel-created universe. However, storywriters would have the creative ability to write stories in which people from one such universe would visit this alternate universe. When characters from one universe meet characters from another universe that they normally do not interact with, this is termed a crossover.
Several Marvel Comics writers wanted to do a crossover with DC Comics's Justice League of America (JLA), the superhero team featuring Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, Green Lantern and others. However, at this time inter-company crossovers were not being done. As such, writer Mark Gruenwald wrote a series of stories about the Squadron Supreme, a group of superheroes on an alternate Earth (not in the main Marvel Universe) that effectively were the Justice League. There were very close analogues to all the main DC Comics superheroes, but since they were given different names and costumes (yet astonishingly similar backstories) Marvel Comics could maintain plausible deniability. This was one of the industry's biggest in-jokes. However, the writers of the storylines containing the Squadron Supreme did not take the characters as a joke, and treated them with great respect; they effectively allowed Marvel writers to write JLA stories. In 1986 Marvel published a Squadron Supreme 12 issue maxi-series that was groundbreaking for its time, and is considered a predecessor to similar comics such as Watchmen and Kingdom Come.
In 1982 Marvel published the mini-series Contest of Champions where all of the major heroes in existence at the time were gathered together to deal with one threat. The Marvel Universe was also notable for setting its central titles in New York City. Care was taken to portray the city and the world as realistically as possible with the presence of superhumans affecting the common citizens in various ways.
In 1986, in honor of Marvel Comics' 25th anniversary, then editor-in-chief Jim Shooter launched the largely-unsuccessful New Universe line of comics.
Over the years as the number of titles published increased and the volume of past stories accumulated it became increasingly difficult to maintain internal consistency. In order to continue publishing stories of its most popular characters, maintaining the status quo became necessary. Change and growth for characters was replaced with the illusion of change. Unlike its main rival DC Comics Marvel has never engaged in a drastic reboot of their continuity. Minor attempts have been made in recent years to produce stories more accessible for neophyte readers such as the Heroes Reborn titles (occurring in a pocket universe where many of the major Marvel heroes were exiled).
A greater attempt has been made with the Ultimate titles; this series of titles is in a universe unrelated to the main Marvel continuity, and essentially is starting the entire Marvel Universe over again, from scratch. Ultimate comics now exist for the X-Men, the Avengers, Spider-Man, and the Fantastic Four. Sales of these titles are strong, and indications are that Marvel will continue to expand the line, effectively creating two Marvel Universes existing concurrently. (Some rumors exist that if sales continue to increase and more titles are added, Marvel may consider making the Ultimate universe its main universe.)
In 2002 a study was done of the interactions between characters in the Marvel Universe (Alberich, R., Miro-Julia, J. & Rosselló, F. Marvel Universe looks almost like a real social network. ) which revealed that the Marvel Universe shares some non-random features with the social networks of collaborating scientists or co-starring movie actors. This pattern developed without deliberate coordination among the various writers over the years. The most socially networked character in the Marvel Universe is Captain America.
During the early 1980s, Marvel Comics published a series called "The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe" and this handbook contained detailed biographies of virtually every character in the Marvel Universe along with detailed descriptions of their abilities as well as ratings to give fans an idea of how they ranked compared to other heroes. The abilities measured included: Intelligence, Strength, Speed, Stamina, Agility, Reflexes, and Fighting Ability. They rank as followed:
Intelligence: Ability to think 1 - Non-Sentient: instinctual behavior only 2 - Learning Impaired: major mental deficiencies 3 - Below Normal: minor mental deficiencies 4 - Normal: possessing an intelligence quotient that is approximately average 5 - Above Normal: possessing a significantly higher than average IQ 6 - Gifted: possessing a significantly higher than average IQ and creative talents 7 - Genius: possessing an extremely high IQ and creative talents 8 - Extraordinary Genius: possessing genius in multiple intellectual areas 9 - Superhuman: possessing genius in virtually all intellectual areas 10 - Immeasurable: alien, omniscient
Strength: Ability to lift weight above one's head with arms fully extended 1 - Below Normal: cannot lift one's own body weight 2 - Normal: able to lift one's own body weight 3 - Athlete: able to lift from one's own body weight up to double one's own body weight 4 - Peak Human: able to lift double one's own body weight to 800 pound range 5 - Enhanced Human: able to lift in the 800 pound to 2 ton range 6 - Superhuman Class 10: able to lift in the 2 to 10 ton range 7 - Superhuman Class 25: able to lift in the 10 to 25 ton range 8 - Superhuman Class 50: able to lift in the 25 to 50 ton range 9 - Superhuman Class 75: able to lift in the 50 to 75 ton range 10 - Superhuman Class 90: able to lift in the 75 to 90 ton range 11 - Superhuman Class 100: able to lift in the 90 to 100 ton range 12 - Incalculable: able to lift in excess of 100 tons
Speed: Ability to move over land by running 1 - Below Normal: cannot attain 3-5 miles per hour 2 - Normal: peak range: 6-10 miles per hour 3 - Athlete: peak range: 11-20 miles per hour 4 - Peak Human: peak range: 21-35 miles per hour 5 - Enhanced Human: peak range: 36-65 miles per hour 6 - Superhuman: peak range: 111-115 miles per hour 7 - Subsonic: peak range: 250-500 miles per hour 8 - Speed of Sound: able to reach Mach 1: 770 miles per hour at sea level 9 - Supersonic: peak range: Mach 2 to Mach 4.6: .22-1 miles per second 10 - Orbital Velocity: peak range: Mach 18.7 to Mach 23.3: 1-5 miles per second; when a runner reaches this speed he is no longer in contact with the ground and thus not running
Flight Speed: Ability to move through open air or space by flying 1 - Hover only 2 - Directed Motion Hovering: peak range: 10-30 miles per hour 3 - Natural Winged Flight Limit: peak range: 150-160 miles per hour 4 - Artificial Winged Flight: peak limit: 160-200 miles per hour 5 - Subsonic: peak range: 250-500 miles per hour 6 - Speed of Sound: able to reach Mach 1: 770 miles per hour; .22 miles per second 7 - Supersonic: peak range: Mach 2 to Mach 4.6: .22-1 miles per second 8 - Orbital Velocity: peak range: Mach 18.7 to Mach 23.3: 1-5 miles per second 9 - Escape Velocity: Mach 32.7: 7 miles per second 10 - Sub-light Speed: peak range: 80% - 99.65% light speed: 150,000 to 185,620 miles per second 11 - Light Speed: 186,000 miles per second, cannot be attained by physical beings within Earth's atmosphere 12 - Warp Speed: able to enter and traverse through warp space by transcending light speed, cannot be attained by physical beings within Earth's atmosphere
Water Speed: Ability to move through water by swimming (NOTE: 1 knot=1.151 miles per hour) 1 - Normal: peak range: 3-5 knots 2 - Athlete: peak range: 7-12 knots 3 - Peak Human: peak range: 12-15 knots 4 - Enhanced Human: peak range: 20-25 knots 5 - Superhuman: peak range: 50-60 knots 6 - Maximum: around 700 knots, detrimental environmental effects will occur, causing water to convert to plasma, etc
Stamina: Ability to sustain peak exertion before fatigue impairs performance 1 - Below Normal: unable to sustain for 1 minute 2 - Normal: able to sustain for 1 minute 3 - Athlete: able to sustain for several minutes 4 - Peak Human: able to sustain for up to an hour 5 - Enhanced Human: able to sustain for several hours 6 - Superhuman: able to sustain for up to a day 7 - Metahuman: able to sustain for several days 8 - Demi-godlike: able to sustain for weeks 9 - Godlike: able to sustain almost indefinitely 10 - Immeasurable: never tire due to self-generating energy
Durability: Ability to resist or recover from bodily injury or disease 1 - Below Normal 2 - Normal: average resilience 3 - Athlete: conditioned metabolism enabling efficient healing 4 - Peak Human: conditioned metabolism enabling extraordinarily efficient healing 5 - Enhanced Human: skin, bone, and muscle augmented to make it stronger and harder than human; impervious to injury to a certain extent 6 - Enhanced Human Regenerative: skin, bone, and muscle retains human durability but body is able to heal near-lethal injuries by regenerating cells to a limited extent 7 - Superhuman: skin, bone, and muscle augmented to make it stronger and harder than human; impervious to injury to an extraordinary extent 8 - Superhuman Regenerative: able to regenerate injured tissue and brain cells to an extraordinary degree; but not able to regenerate missing limbs or organs 9 - Metahuman: able to withstand extreme temperatures and pressures, and virtually all toxins, corrosives, punctures, and concussions without sustaining injury 10 - Metahuman Regenerative: able to regenerate injured or missing brain cells, tissue, limbs or organs 11 - Demi-godlike: able to withstand all injury short of a direct nuclear explosion 12 - Demi-godlike Regenerative: able to heal all injury short of a direct nuclear explosion 13 - Godlike: able to reconstitute body after total molecular disintegration 14 - Totally Indestructible: absolutely cannot be injured
Agility: Ability to move the body with flexibility and coordination 1 - Below Normal 2 - Normal 3 - Athlete 4 - Peak Human 5 - Enhanced Human: beyond the natural limits of the human body 6 - Superhuman: significantly beyond the natural limits of the human body 7 - Metahuman: extraordinarily beyond the natural limits of the human body
Reflexes: Reaction time 1 - Below Normal 2 - Normal 3 - Athlete 4 - Peak Human 5 - Enhanced Human: beyond the natural limits of the human body 6 - Superhuman: virtually instantaneous 7 - Metahuman: instantaneous
Fighting Ability: Knowledge of fighting skills and techniques 1 - Below Normal: Weak, Sickly 2 - Normal: Possesses no combat training 3 - Athlete: Possesses some combat experience, but no formal training. 4 - Athlete: Possesses considerable experience in hand to hand combat. 5 - Peak Human: Mastery of one form of hand to hand combat, martial artist. 6 - Peak Human: Mastery of multiple forms of hand to hand combat. 7 - Peak Human: Mastery of all known forms of hand to hand combat.
Certain places, some of which exist in real-life and some of which are fictional, figure prominently in the Marvel Universe:
The action of most Marvel Comics titles takes place in a continuity known as Earth 616. Note that in Marvel Comics, the concept of a continuity is not the same as "dimension" or "universe"; for example, characters like Mephisto and Dormammu hail from alternate dimensions and the Celestials from another universe but they all nevertheless belong to Earth 616. There are, however, other continuities:
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