I believe the Iron man 2 timetable may be off a bit. The current timetable shows Tony arriving home 2 days after the Stark Expo opens. According to this screen shots its clearly 3 days and is a Monday; and perhaps even Feb 9th or Sept 2nd since its likely near 9pm.
http://www.mediafire.com/view/75bt3tbp7wo3ig4/iron%20man%202%20-%20youtube%20after%20senate.png http://www.mediafire.com/view/22c01w4duumtt81/iron%20man%202%20-%20362%20days%20left%20(sometime%20after%20senate).png And beyond that Vanko's death appears to be on Monday December 24. ie "Monday Issue 24 December". It also appears that Tony queried the search on 5/6/10.
http://www.mediafire.com/view/ylc4chpjot427qo/Vanko%20dies.png Are we certain that the events occur in May 2011? If so how? Is that derived from a direct on screen reference everywhere? Perhaps its timetable is more extended that we originally thought. Its been a while since I read Fury's Big week so I cant remember at what point Iron Man 2 ties into it. Thanks.
Very interesting.
The dates I got for Iron Man 2 had to do with the fact the Grand Prix de Monaco occurs in May, which occurs about 1/3 of the way through IM2. The year placement was derived from the fact it overlaps with Thor and Incredible Hulk, and all of which were confirmed as occurring a year previously to Avengers (Fury mentions that in the scene where they all start arguing, just before Hulk goes nuts). Now, that could require moving everything back a year, but that would then have the date shown in CA-TWS (Oct 2013) not make sense.
Essentially, it's one of those things that just has to be viewed as a retcon regarding the timeline. Even the official MCU timeline has Iron Man occurring 64 years after Cap gets frozen in the Antarctic, placing Iron Man 1 in 2009... but that directly conflicts with the date seen onscreen in IM1 (on Tony's computer screen) establishing it as occurring in May, 2008.
Point is, the filmmakers likely don't pay anywhere near as much attention to the timeline as we do. They tend to set them "in the present", at least in regards to the present time of the film's release in theaters. Thus Iron Man 1 was set in 2008, then Iron Man 2 was set in 2010... even though the opening tag at the beginning of IM2 shows it happens only 6 months later. It's a fluid approach, apparently.
http://marvelcinematicuniverse.wikia.com/wiki/Timeline?file=Marvel-Movie-Universe.jpeg
The other thing to keep in mind is that Iron Man 1 begins in Jan/Feb, and ends in late May, 2008, based on the date seen on Tony's computer in IM1. If IM2 occurs 6 months later, that would place it in late November or early December, 2008, which wouldn't line up with the dates shown onscreen in those screen grabs you posted. Essentially, like I said, the filmmakers just don't pay as close attention to the timeline as we do. They tend to use props that reflect a date around the time is planned for release to make it current for its viewing audience in the theater, but that often doesn't align with references to time passing in the onscreen references (IM2's opening of "6 months later") etc.
It's also important to keep in mind that when IM2 was released, they obviously intended it to occur around the same time as TIH (since the scene at the end with Tony and Fury shows the scenes from TIH's battle at the university), but likely not with Thor (though Coulson leaving for New Mexico in IM2 kind of indicates that was the plan all along).
But the Fury's Big Week comic nailed it all down much more concretely, and I used that to establish how they overlap/intersect.
Granted, it does come into conflict with the dates shown onscreen in IM2 that you posted, but it's either that or the date in IM1 (which is more blatant and noticeable) has to be ignored. I just chose the IM1 date from the start (though admittedly never noticed the dates in IM2 that you posted).
Have to give you credit there, very good eye. Just keep in mind it won't ever be perfect, since, like I said, the filmmakers and prop makers aren't paying as close attention as we are. Plus, admittedly, it's easier for us to analyze the films in hindsight, as opposed to lining everything up perfectly to the day while making the films. While I'm a continuity junkie, I'd prefer they focus on making great films first and foremost.
I think the present day setting thing works well, for the most part, as in setting the films around the time they release, give or take 6 months (as was the case with CA-TWS in regards to its Oct 2013 date but the film releasing in April, 2014).
Whenever it makes sense to use the onscreen dates I always use those, but sometimes that doesn't work in contrast with the other films. A perfect example is IM2, as well as AoS 1x16's "March" date on the wall of the nursing home. CA-TWS established that happening in October, 2013, so bad to go with that.
There's a lot of give and take and compromise and making up explanations to make sense of it all when it comes to this thing.
That said, I appreciate the hell out of you doing your homework and analyzing and asking questions. It only serves to make the timeline more accurate.
That said, I will look into that CA-TFA date issue you mentioned.
