Is the MCU's Earth-616 the same as Marvel Comics Earth-616? Details explored

It is still a big question of sorts whether the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) is Earth-616, the same as Marvel Comics' version. Before moving ahead with the details, let's just consider this—that number is just so stupid. We didn't say that; Marvel's longest-serving editor, Tom Brevort, did. His exact words?

"I can tell you for sure that those of us actually working on the books virtually never use the term."

That essentially confirms Earth-616 never existed in the first place. For the MCU version? That is more of a fan-designated term rather than a professional one.

Joe Quesada, who has served as the chief creative officer for Marvel, too, has something to say that'll clear more of it.

"I never use it, I hate the term pure and simple and agree with Tom's assessment of it. I can't remember ever hearing it in the office and only really see it used online for the most part."

Considering that, the term Earth-616 never officially existed, be it in Marvel Comics or the MCU. But there is, in fact, an Earth both share; it's the Prime Earth. But there's one more thing: Earth-616 did exist, which we will understand in the later part of this story. So, let's take a deeper dive to understand more about it.

"616" as we know in the MCU and the Marvel comics is actually the Prime Universe

Set aside the fact that it's not official. We cannot deny that fans have come to believe in this universe's existence. And why shouldn't they? It has popped up throughout the years so many times that anyone will come to the conclusion that this is, in fact, a real thing.

But let us clear all that out here. Many think Earth-616 in the MCU was considered the "sacred timeline" after Loki Season 1. Prior references also clear that out. The very obvious is when Erik Selvig's equations on a blackboard in Thor: The Dark World (2013) have this term written "616 universe."

Another one came in recently, where Christine Palmer of a different timeline in MCU's Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022) labeled "our" universe "616." Who is she to label "us" anyway? So we'll ignore that.

Then there's Mysterio in Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019), who called "our" world Earth-616. But all of it was a lie written in a fictional script developed by a Stark Industries employee who hated Tony Stark.

Marvel comics are not strangers to the term. The 2015 version of Secret Wars uses it. From what we know, Avengers: Secret Wars is being inspired by this comic book story only. Even Uatu the Watcher refers to the universe as Earth-616 in Marvel-1602 #6 (March 2004).

This debate is something that's not going to settle any time soon if we consider that the MCU Earth was labeled Earth-199999 in the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A-Z, Vol. 5. So let's find a middle ground, which we already have, and call it Prime Earth, or as The Maker describes it, Prime Universe.

How did 616 even come into being?

It was David Thorpe who was developing the pages of Captain Britain during the 80s when he came up with Earth 616. But we saw a similar version of the character in the MCU's What If...? as Captain Carter.

When Thorpe was asked about this idea, he simply gave the following answer:

"Well, for years, I'd [gotten] emails from fans who say, “Why did you come up with 616?” And to be honest, I gave them each a different story. But, obviously, it's got something to do with 666, the number of the beast: 666 minus 50. A nice, round number away from the scariest one."

He also explained that Earth-616 was actually the worst-performing of all the Earths. To that, he says,

"It's kind of ironic that this universe became the mainstream Marvel Universe, because that was the exact opposite of the intention at the time. But it's cool."

So Prime Earth, Prime Universe, Sacred Timeline, or whatever name you want to call it, that's your Earth-616.