Earth 616

In the fictional Marvel Comics multiverse, Earth-616 is the primary continuity in which most Marvel Comics titles take place.

Origins of the term

The designation "Earth-616" has its origins in Captain Britain comics from the early 1980s and can be attributed to both Dave Thorpe and Alan Moore. The term was first used in "Rough Justice", a story credited to both Alan Moore and Alan Davis published in July 1983 by Marvel UK in the seventh issue of the anthology comic '' The Daredevils'' (and was later reprinted in the ''Captain Britain'' trade paperback). Due to this, it is often credited to Moore, though Davis said in 2007 that the term had been internally established earlier by Thorpe, who was the previous writer for ''Captain Britain'', as part of the "Captain Britain folklore". He said that it came from a variation on the number of the beast, picked because Thorpe disliked the modern superhero genre and expressed this in various ways in his stories, including recording his opinion of the Marvel Universe with the 616 designation. As a coincidence, 616 was discovered as a variant of 666 both with the Codex Ephraemi Rescriptus and Papyrus 115 in 2005.

In a 2019 interview with Rich Johnston, Thorpe confirmed that the number was derived from subtracting 50 from 666, but that the reference to the number of the beast was because the designation was intended for the "Crooked World" of the Jaspers' Warp storyline. However, when Moore wrote the story for ''The Daredevils'', the Crooked World was designated , and was used by Saturnyne to differentiate Brian Braddock, the Captain Britain of the regular Marvel Comics universe, from the other members of the Captain Britain Corps, each of which inhabit different universes.

After its use in ''The Daredevils'', the designation was later used by the American branch of Marvel Comics in the ''Excalibur'' title, which frequently referred to Captain Britain's early UK-published adventures. This comic was written by Chris Claremont, who had created Captain Britain, and pencilled by Alan Davis, the artist on the UK-published series. Davis later had a run as both writer and artist on the book.

References to Earth-616

Any Marvel comic book since ''Motion Picture Funnies Weekly'' #1 that is not explicitly designated an alternate universe or timeline is assumed to take place within the Earth-616 continuity. It is the "status quo" that all other universes diverge from and iterate on. Earth-616 is referred to by name numerous times over the decades, primarily in Marvel UK titles, in ''Excalibur,'' or in Marvel reference texts such as the guide to ''Alternate Universes'' (2005). In addition, there are a number of other references to Earth-616:

* In ''Marvel 1602'' #6 (March 2004), Uatu the Watcher refers to the universe as Earth-616.
* In ''Marvel Knights 4'' #15 (April 2005), Earth-616 is mentioned.
* In ''Uncanny X-Men'' #462 (September 2005), an alteration in reality of Earth-616 causes trans-temporal devastation, and Saturnyne attempts to destroy that particular temporal continuity to "cauterize the wound".
* In ''Iron Man: Fatal Frontier'' #10, Doctor Doom mentions that they are in either Earth-616 or in Earth-615.
* In all the issues of '' Deadpool Kills Deadpool'' (July 2013), the story centers around the timeline of the Earth-616 Deadpool rather that any of the alternate universe versions.
* In ''Secret Wars'' (2015) #1, the universe where the main story line takes place is referred to as Earth-616.

The term has also appeared in '' Exiles'' (in, among others, the House of M tie-in issues) and is in regular use by the writers of Marvel's ''Official Handbook''s for the simplicity of the term.

There has been at least one attempt within Marvel canon to change the designation of Earth-616. In the final story arc of '' X-Man'' (issues #71–74), writer Steven Grant began to refer to the planet as "Earth-611" due to the destruction of several other Earths (which were all apparently "higher on the list" of the Multiverse than the Marvel Earth) by a godlike entity. This change, an allusion to the events of DC's ''Crisis on Infinite Earths'', was not adopted by other writers.

In other media

Marvel Cinematic Universe

* In the film '' Thor: The Dark World'' (2013), Erik Selvig is portrayed as being somewhat mentally unstable and in his time at a mental hospital he draws a number of diagrams and equations on a blackboard. Near the center of all of this, the words "616 universe" can be seen underlined.
* In the second season of '' Iron Fist'' (2018), Misty Knight is driving with Colleen Wing when they hear a police radio broadcast alerting all units to "multiple fatalities at a nearby nightclub" and a "code 616". Misty explains that 616 is the police code for a "possible suspect with abilities".
* In the film '' Avengers: Endgame'' (2019), Ant-Man's van was being held in a storage area labeled "616".
* In the film '' Spider-Man: Far From Home'' (2019), Mysterio claims that the main Marvel Cinematic Universe continuity exists on "Earth-616", despite every line the character says comes from a fictional writer named Guterman.
* In the film ''Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness'' (2022), Christine Palmer of Earth-838 informs Doctor Strange that the Illuminati named his universe "Earth-616".
* In the film ''Deadpool & Wolverine'' (2024), Wade Wilson of Earth-10005 travels to Earth-616 and attempts to join the Avengers, but is turned away by Happy Hogan.

Other films

* In the film '' Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse'' (2018), Earth-616 is seen in a monitor along with other Earths, while Peter B. Parker arrives on Earth-1610 (the home universe of Miles Morales) when the interdimensional machine starts malfunctioning.
* The sequel, '' Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse'' (2023), designates Peter B. Parker as from "Earth-616B".

Editorial reaction

Former Marvel Editor in Chief Joe Quesada and Executive Editor Tom Brevoort have each stated their dislike for the term Earth-616.

References

External links

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{{Marvel Multiverse

Fiction about Earth
Fictional dimensions
Fictional elements introduced in 1939
Fictional universes
Marvel Comics dimensions