‘Ms. Marvel’ Star Weighs In on the Hottest Debate: Earth-616 or Earth-199999?
Iman Vellani is a big fan of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, which makes sense given she’s bringing our Kamala Khan to life. The character, who famously loves the Avengers (but Captain Marvel most of all) is the fangirl superhero of the Marvel comics world, and she’s making her onscreen debut in the upcoming Ms. Marvel show for Disney+.
But being such a fan of the Marvel Cinematic Universe means that Vellani has some opinions on the franchise as a whole, especially when it comes to what Earth the MCU is set on. In the world of the comics, Earth-616 was the main timeline and where we would go back to as the core universe. So, having the main MCU universe be “Earth-616” means that the versions of these characters are, in turn, the core timeline (which is important for things like the X-Men franchise from Fox and the other Spider-Man actors).
Iman Vellani, however, doesn’t care what Marvel Studios head Kevin Feige has to say about the timeline; she’s not team “616” about it. When asked about the different Earths in the Marvel world, the star had quite a lot to say about her thoughts on the difference between Earth-616 and Earth-199999. “I’d like to say, that’s 616. I don’t believe that the MCU is 616. As much as Kevin Feige can make us think that it’s 616, it is 199999,” Vellani said on the red carpet premiere for Ms. Marvel in Los Angeles, and made it very clear that she doesn’t care what Feige tries to sell her about it.
What is Earth-199999?
This was a designation given to the Marvel Cinematic Universe the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A to Z, Vol. 5, released way back in 2008. Now, in the actual Marvel Cinematic Universe, they have stated that they are Earth-616 thanks to movies like Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. That’s just saying (to me at least) that it is our “core” timeline now that the movies are getting their own multiverse. It means, for example, that the Iron Man we’ve come to know in the movies is the Iron Man of Marvel’s onscreen franchise, so to speak, not that this Earth-616 is replacing the comics’ Earth-616.
I suppose it is still helpful to label it was Earth-199999 in the grand scheme of things when talking about all things Marvel comics (from movies and television to the actual comics), and the comics may do so if they ever touch on the movie universe in their own multiversal shenanigans, but I don’t think that it is that big of an issue, personally. Because if you claim that it is Earth-616, then it just erases the constant “OKAY BUT THIS ISN’T EARTH-616” conversations that could pop up.
Still, I love Vellani’s complete dedication to her love of the Marvel world and her pushing back against her boss and making it clear that, to her, the MCU is still Earth-199999.
(featured image: Tristan Fewings/Getty Images)
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