What Is Earth-616 in Marvel & Why Is It the Main Universe?

After the Time Variance Authority and the Sacred Timeline dropped in the Loki series, reality itself stopped being a constant. It revealed that there are many timelines and many versions of every character. Then, all the different universes unraveled and collided in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.

How do you know which timelines are which? How do they keep track of all the different versions floating around without getting a headache?

Earth-616

In Doctor Strange 2, a variant of Dr. Christine Palmer told Strange that the Illuminati had a numbering system to keep tabs on all known dimensions in the multiverse. She claimed Strange came from Earth-616. Essentially, all the Marvel Cinematic Universe would also come from Earth-616, making it the Sacred Timeline from the Loki series. Earth-616 is like our world—only with better technology, medical advances, and super-powered people.

Marvel Comic book fans have known Earth-616 for many years. Since the 1960s Marvel used the designation for their main comic universe. During a story arc of Captain Britain, the titular character found out there were infinite versions of himself, a Captain Britain for the many realities that existed.

Why 616? Creators Alan Moore and David Thorpe have different stories about how they chose that specific number. Moore stated it was just a random number, while Thorpe claimed it to be a play off of 666 but minus 50. Wherever the number came from, it stuck.

This complicates things.

Interestingly, this is not the first time Earth-616 popped up in the MCU. During Spider-Man’s first conversation with Mysterio in Spider-Man: Far From Home, Mysterio states they are in Earth-616. However, this was supposed to be a clue that Mysterio lied to Nick Fury and Peter Parker. Previously, Marvel officially stated that they labeled the MCU as Earth-199999.

As a fan of both the MCU and the comics, I can tell you the two are not in the same universe. From plotlines to character personalities, the original comics and the films vary greatly. Was it a mistake in Doctor Strange? Was it just a nod to people who knew the meaning behind the number? It seems like moving forward, the MCU needs its own universe designation to avoid confusion with the original material. But I guess Earth-616B doesn’t have the same ring to it.

(feature image: Marvel)