The Official Stupid Question Thread: Marvel Edition - Part 3

[Lord]

In the Marvel Universe how much time has passed since Fantastic Four #1?

 

[Manic]

I think about 15 years, more or less. It varies depending on what ages writers want to portray Johnny Storm or Franklin Richards as. Back when Franklin was 12, it was about 15 years ago. Now that Franklin appears to be around the same age as his 3 year old sister, it's closer to 10 years ago.

 

[runawayboulder]

Marvel uses a floating timeline (sometimes called a floating timescale) so events that occurred are updated in time and place only. Like instead of Iron Man being conceived during the Vietnam War, it was updated to the Gulf War then Afghanistan. Same goes for guys like Frank Castle or Ben Grimm being a WWII pilot.

Manic says 15 years, my opinion is that it's closer to more like 10 but I suppose you can't go wrong to a 10-15 year range. You figure Peter Parker became Spider-Man when he was 15, then the modern day Spidey is 25-30....a perfect age for him.

 

[Mad Ones]

So characters are allowed to age, just at a much slower pace? What happens when characters start getting too old? Will we ever have a 40 year old spiderman?

 

[Lord]

So characters are allowed to age, just at a much slower pace? What happens when characters start getting too old? Will we ever have a 40 year old spiderman?

They will probably revert things like with One More Day, it seems to me that the Marvel Universe is in a kind of floating timeline since the 70s or 80s and i doubt things will age much from now.

 

[Manic]

I think at some point, Marvel will just decide which ages they want most of their heroes at, then keep them there whilst allowing younger characters to age until they also reach their ideal point. For example, I can see them allowing the Richards children to reach their mid-teens (Franklin) and preteens (Val) before finally stopping them, but Reed and Susan won't age be a day older than they are now.

 

[Mad Ones]

When are the original X-men in Bendis' X-men being taken from due to the floating timeline? The 80s? I wonder if that will affect how they are characterized.

 

[runawayboulder]

When are the original X-men in Bendis' X-men being taken from due to the floating timeline? The 80s? I wonder if that will affect how they are characterized.

And this is all being handled by Bendis which could result in chaos. That's why I'm wholly against it and plan on ignoring it. Hopefully the damage to continuity is minimal and there's no resulting time paradox that will force to a Marvel writer 5 years from now take drastic measures to fix.

 

[Havok83]

When are the original X-men in Bendis' X-men being taken from due to the floating timeline? The 80s? I wonder if that will affect how they are characterized.

The original X-men as a unit didnt exit in the 80s except for when they reunited as adults in X-factor. Bendis' X-men are plucked out of the 60s era of stories

And this is all being handled by Bendis which could result in chaos. That's why I'm wholly against it and plan on ignoring it. Hopefully the damage to continuity is minimal and there's no resulting time paradox that will force to a Marvel writer 5 years from now take drastic measures to fix.

It'll probably lead into Marvel's "Crisis" style wide line crossover event next year due to everything being affected as a result of the original X-men being plucked out of their timeline

 

[Mad Ones]

I meant what time period are they being brought from in the marvel universe. I know the original x-men were written in the 60s, but that's not when they're being taken from, unless the original X-men are in there 70s right now.

 

[Manic]

I meant what time period are they being brought from in the marvel universe. I know the original x-men were written in the 60s, but that's not when they're being taken from, unless the original X-men are in there 70s right now.

They'd probably be coming from the late 90's or early 2000's. You know, right around the turn of the century.

I can't wait to see Angel's spiked hair, Marvel Girl's bell bottoms & platform boots, Iceman's Gameboy Color, Beast's minidisc player, and Cyclops' bright yellow skiing coat worn in the dead of summer.

 

[KangConquers]

In the Marvel Universe how much time has passed since Fantastic Four #1?

Little things like Tony Stark recently claiming to be 35, and Cyclops claiming to be 28, lead me to believe that the answer is closer to 10 than 15 years, if not exactly 10.

 

[Havok83]

They'd probably be coming from the late 90's or early 2000's. You know, right around the turn of the century.

I can't wait to see Angel's spiked hair, Marvel Girl's bell bottoms & platform boots, Iceman's Gameboy Color, Beast's minidisc player, and Cyclops' bright yellow skiing coat worn in the dead of summer.

I wouldnt be surpised if they go and make First Class canon

 

[runawayboulder]

Little things like Tony Stark recently claiming to be 35, and Cyclops claiming to be 28, lead me to believe that the answer is closer to 10 than 15 years, if not exactly 10.

Since we're throwing around ages, here's my thoughts on who's what age:

Steve Rogers - 70+ (frozen in the body of man in his mid 20's)
Peter Parker - 25
Tony Stark - 35
Reed Richards - 33 to 35
Sue Storm - 30
Johnny Storm - 23
Ben Grimm - 37
Matt Murdock - 28 to 30
Clint Barton - 33
Scott Summers - 28 to 30
Bobby Drake - 23
Charles Xavier - 45
Magneto - 50 to 55
Dr Strange - 40
Frank Castle - 40
Bruce Banner - 30 to 35
Wolverine - 100+

 

[Havok83]

Since we're throwing around ages, here's my thoughts on who's what age:

Peter Parker - 25
Johnny Storm - 23
Bobby Drake - 23

Scott Summers - 28 to 30

Dr Strange - 40

Really? The first 3 are roughly the same age, give or take a year or 2. They are closer to late 20s/early 30s. Drake as 23 doesnt even make sense he went to college and graduated with a degree ages ago. Not to mention the New Mutants are early to mid 20s and he's not younger than them. As for Scott, there is not a 5 year age difference between he and Bobby. More like 2. Speaking of which I also dont believe there is a 7 year age difference between Johnny and Sue

Granted Im not versed in Strange's history, but he always looked and read like an older man to me. At least 50

As far as aging goes, it was alot faster back then. When the original X-men began, they were all teenagers ranging from 15 (Bobby) to 18/19 (Hank). That only lasted early on as they were portrayed older as young adults midway through Uncanny's original run. For reference, Jean Grey was written to be 24 when she died in DPS, meaningroughly 8 years had passed since the X-men had formed. Of course since the 80s, Marvel slowed down on this greatly so time wasnt passing as quickly within the books. If she were alive now, I would say she'd be roughly 31-32 with Bobby at 29/30 and Hank at 34/35

 

[runawayboulder]

Really? The first 3 are roughly the same age, give or take a year or 2. They are closer to late 20s/early 30s. Drake as 23 doesnt even make sense he went to college and graduated with a degree ages ago. Not to mention the New Mutants are early to mid 20s and he's not younger than them. As for Scott, there is not a 5 year age difference between he and Bobby. More like 2. Speaking of which I also dont believe there is a 7 year age difference between Johnny and Sue

Granted Im not versed in Strange's history, but he always looked and read like an older man to me. At least 50

I'm not saying it's the letter of the law, these are the ages that I envision the characters which is a perk of the floating timescale.

I tried to keep Peter/Johnny/Bobby in the same age bracket like I tried to make Frank Castle the oldest of all the street level characters (DD/Spidey). I always looked at Iceman as being much younger than the rest of his classmates at the time. I figure he was just 13 when Scott/Warren/Jean/Hank were all 16-20.

 

[Havok83]

I'm not saying it's the letter of the law, these are the ages that I envision the characters which is a perk of the floating timescale.

I tried to keep Peter/Johnny/Bobby in the same age bracket like I tried to make Frank Castle the oldest of all the street level characters (DD/Spidey). I always looked at Iceman as being much younger than the rest of his classmates at the time. I figure he was just 13 when Scott/Warren/Jean/Hank were all 16-20.

(Uncanny) X-men 32, Bobby celebrates his 18th birthday. iI wouldnt say the others were quite yet 21-25 by that point

 

[runawayboulder]

(Uncanny) X-men 32, Bobby celebrates his 18th birthday. iI wouldnt say the others were quite yet 22-26 by that point

That happened in 1967, before writers were cautious about this stuff. That issue means you have to cram over 50 plus years of stories into 8 years and it could get sticky.

 

[Havok83]

That happened in 1967, before writers were cautious about this stuff. That issue means you have to cram over 50 plus years of stories into 8 years and it could get sticky.

So you think the rest of the X-men were written to be 21-25 in that issue?

 

[runawayboulder]

I dunno, I never read that particular issue.

 

[pr0xyt0xin]

So characters are allowed to age, just at a much slower pace? What happens when characters start getting too old? Will we ever have a 40 year old spiderman?

Old Spider-Man isn't necessarily a story about Spider-Man anymore. Unless they are focusing on his age. You could instead consider "middle-aged Spider-Man" a story about his daughter Spider-Girl.

Much like, old bruce wayne is either TDKReturns or Batman Beyond.

Obviously its convoluted. I prefer not to think about it :P

 

[BillPardy]

Marvel uses a floating timeline (sometimes called a floating timescale) so events that occurred are updated in time and place only. Like instead of Iron Man being conceived during the Vietnam War, it was updated to the Gulf War then Afghanistan. Same goes for guys like Frank Castle or Ben Grimm being a WWII pilot.

Manic says 15 years, my opinion is that it's closer to more like 10 but I suppose you can't go wrong to a 10-15 year range. You figure Peter Parker became Spider-Man when he was 15, then the modern day Spidey is 25-30....a perfect age for him.

They didn't retcon Frank's Vietnam tours did they?

 

[runawayboulder]

They didn't retcon Frank's Vietnam tours did they?

Kinda sorta.

In the recent series by Greg Rucka (issue 4 to be exact), Frank is shown fighting with other Marines in an environment that clearly looks like an urban Iraq or Afghanistan instead of a jungle in Vietnam. It's never stated exactly where, it just says "war" and that he did 4 tours of duty. The intro page of every comic just says he's a war vet.

 

[Varient]

I think at some point, Marvel will just decide which ages they want most of their heroes at, then keep them there whilst allowing younger characters to age until they also reach their ideal point. For example, I can see them allowing the Richards children to reach their mid-teens (Franklin) and preteens (Val) before finally stopping them, but Reed and Susan won't age be a day older than they are now.

Powerpack would be a great example.

 

[Manic]

Since we're throwing around ages, here's my thoughts on who's what age:

Steve Rogers - 70+ (frozen in the body of man in his mid 20's)

Matt Murdock - 28 to 30

Charles Xavier - 45
Magneto - 50 to 55

While yes technically, Steve would be over 70, it's more accurate to say he's 90+. He was frozen back in the early 1940's, which was 70 years ago. He was likely around 20 at the time, so...


I don't believe for one second Matt Murdock is only 28-30. The man is a lawyer with years of experience, even in Marvel time. The time it takes to finish law school and prepare & pass the bar exam alone would place him around 28 if he was a fresh rookie.

Xavier and Magneto's ages and backstories have never been changed by Marvel's sliding timescale. Charles Xavier's backstory still has him a Korean War veteran, and Magneto's is still that he was an adult Holocaust survivor. That's make them around 80+ and 90+ respectively. However, they have in-universe reasons for only being in their 40's physically: Lilandra cloned Charles a younger body so they could get frisky, and Magneto has had his body de-aged a few decades.