Marvel has recently released the trailer of its upcoming animated movie – Spiderman: Across the Spiderverse. One of the dialogues from the clip has confused fans about the status of the MCU in the Marvel Universe. In one of the shots, Spiderman 2099 references the events of Tom Holland’s Spiderman: No Way Home as being from Earth-199999. However, it was already established in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness that MCU happens on Earth-616. Let’s look into what all fuss is about.

The Confusion

Before we dive into the reason and explanations for this confusion, let us look into the timeline of events that have shaped it.

• Erik Selvig in Thor: The Dark World talks about parallel realities on a board in a mental institution. The fans saw the number ‘616’ written on the board. However, it was confirmed to be just an easter egg by the writers.
• Jake Gyllanhal’s Mysterio (in Spiderman: far From Home) first time referenced the current MCU as being Earth-616 and he said he was from an alternate reality (Earth-833)
• . However, his claim was later proved to be just a farse, hence the figure used by him could just be a sheer coincidence.
• Later in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, Dr. Palmer from an alternate reality declares that the current MCU was indeed called Earth-616 and that her own was Earth-838.
• According to the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A to Z, Vol. 5, the current MCU is Earth-199999. The book even establishes that Tobey Maguire’s Spiderman reality is called Earth-96283, and Andrew Garfield’s Spiderman reality is called Earth-120703.
• Finally now, in the trailer of Spiderman: Across the Spiderverse, Spiderman 2099 called the MCU as being from Earth-199999.

The Differences

Official Marvel textbooks state that Earth 616 is the Earth of the original and main Marvel continuity. It is the Earth of the Fantastic Four, Thor, the Avengers, the X-Men, and Spider-man. All the comics from Marvel and its events take place in this dimension. However, Earth 199999 is the world of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). Earth-199999 is more scientifically oriented than Earth-616.

They both differ significantly. For example, whereas the gods from the original comics have genuinely supernatural powers, in Earth-199999, the Asgardians’ powers seem to be from exotic and advanced alien technology. Vision in 616 is created by Hank Pym, while in 199999, he is created by Tony Stark.

Possible Explanations

• In the comics, Captain Britain Corps decides to map the entire Multiverse. He then begins calling each of them by particular numbers, thus the names Earth-616 and others came into being. So, according to Marvel comics, Earth-616 is the prime universe and all of the character and events from comics takes place in it.
• In Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, the Illuminati of Earth-838 chose to call the MCU Earth-616 according to their convenience. So, either all of this is just an example of bad writing, or the writers really, really love to include this easter egg in their projects.
• Spiderman 2099 of Spiderman: Across the Spiderverse is just using his own terminology in designating the various Spiderman realities (which co-incidentally is Earth-199999) and does not know their official designations (as that given by Earth-838’s Illuminati).

For the time being, it can be fairly stated that the current MCU is Earth-199999 according to the official material sources of Marvel Studios. Earth-616 is where the characters and events of Marvel comics happen.  Hopefully, upcoming projects of the MCU might make it more clear of the official designation of MCU in the Marvel Universe.