The MCU has done a very good job of bringing movie fans a shared cinematic universe of superheroes since the release of Iron Man in 2008. This franchise of movies has slowly become one of the biggest series in movie history, and that is mostly due to the studios' ability to tie in an overarching narrative to all the films. The first overarching story that took place during the first ten years in the MCU was the Infinity Saga, and this journey of Thanos trying to gather and use the Infinity Stones culminated in 2019 with Avengers: Endgame. Many movies have premiered since then, as well as TV shows, and the head of Marvel has also decided to name this new collection of movies the Multiverse Saga.

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Rather than open the MCU up to the multiverse directly, though, the writers and producers have explored several different ways this new threat could emerge as of this current writing. While the multiverse is a simple concept in comics, some of these multiverse openings have left some viewers scratching their heads, as six different methods of multiverse travel have been established so far.

6 The Quantum Tunnel

Used To Bring The Infinity Stones To The Future

• Avengers: Endgame

The main plot of the fourth Avengers movie, Avengers: Endgame, saw the original group of superheroes working to reverse Thanos' snap, which wiped out half of life in the universe. Their solution was to use a Quantum Tunnel to travel through time and gather the Infinity Stones from the past before Thanos could use them. This was a fun and logical way to finish the story surrounding the Infinity Stones, but it also left the door open to the multiverse.

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In a conversation with The Ancient One in the past, Bruce Banner receives a lesson on how their actions will affect the multiverse. The sorcerer supreme explains that by acting in the past, The Avengers aren't changing the future, but merely creating a new timeline that will run adjacent to their own. As a result, the superhero team creates several new timelines during their heist by removing the stones from their place in that universe. The end of the movie does attempt to fix this mistake by having Captain America return the stones, but these new timelines still exist in the multiverse.

5 The TVA

A Group That Controls Time & Timelines

• Loki

Loki is the first Disney+ show to address the notion of a multiverse in the main MCU timeline. After Loki steals the Tesseract/Space Stone In Avengers: Endgame, he is quickly abducted by a team of soldiers and arrested. These soldiers are part of an organization called the TVA, and it is their job to destroy any new timelines in the universe that occur by mistake and maintain one sacred timeline and continuity.

The first season of Loki explores who the TVA are and where they come from, and it seemed that this organization would be the main method that the series would use to travel the multiverse. This notion was furthered when Kang/He Who Remains was introduced in the final episode of season one.

4 Kang

Countless Versions Of Kang Exist Throughout The Multiverse

• Loki and Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania

Much like Thanos in the Infinity Saga, Marvel seemed to be pushing Kang as the next big villain of the Multiverse Saga. This villain showed up at the end of season one of Loki as a man called He Who Remains. The episode dives into why he created the TVA and how he can travel the multiverse. Kang began as a scientist who wanted to prove the existence of multiversal travel, but his variants in other universes were intent on ruling these new realities and becoming conquerors. As a result, He Who Remains created one sacred timeline to keep these evil alterations at bay.

As with the TVA, it seemed that Kang would end up being the main antagonist in this multiversal war. However, the post-credit scene in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania revealed that there are millions of versions of Kang that all have their own methods of traversing the multiverse. Sadly, real-world complications with the actor who plays Kang have made his role in the saga uncertain, so it is unclear if these other methods of traversing the multiverse will be explored.

3 Doctor Strange's Magic

A Poorly Performed Spell Summoned Several Multiverse Threats

• Spider-Man: No Way Home

Since the end of season one of Loki concluded with his variant, Sylvie, opening up the multiverse by killing He Who Remains, many MCU fans assumed the events of Spider-Man: No Way Home would be a direct result of these actions. The trailers and marketing materials for the movie showed that other Spider-Man villains from other universes would be appearing in the film, and rumors were wild that both Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield would be reprising their roles as Spider-Men. While all this came true, the way it happened wasn't how fans expected it.

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Instead of these characters from other franchises appearing as the result of the events seen in Loki, they all break through the multiverse because of a spell cast by Doctor Strange. This spell was cast as a mistake and is rectified by the end of the movie. However, this method of breaking the multiverse seems to be something the MCU is only interested in using once.

2 America Chavez

Can Travel To Different Realities Using Star-Shaped Portals

• Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness

The second Doctor Strange movie in the MCU is another film in this saga that promises big things to come regarding the multiverse. The trailers showed some familiar characters from other Marvel franchises, and the title of the movie suggested that the titular hero would be going on an adventure through the multiverse. As such, fans expected the events of Loki and Spider-Man: No Way Home to have an impact on the events of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.

However, the reason for the multiversal travel displayed in this movie is revealed to be because of the powerset of a new character, America Chavez. In the film, America is on the run from Wanda Maximoff, as she has magic abilities that allow her to travel between universes. The origin of these powers is left vague, and the character ends the movie practicing more magical abilities alongside other sorcerers in the MCU. As of writing, it is unclear when fans will see Chavez again or if her innate multiverse travel ability will have an effect on events in the future.

1 Breaking The Jump Points

Connecting The MCU To The X-Men Franchise

• The Marvels

The hexagonal network shown in space was first debuted in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2. They are established as a series of jump points to allow people to travel across space, and they have been a consistent method of space travel in the MCU ever since. The Marvels then decided to make these jump points a main part of its narrative.

The movie sees the titular team trying to stop a villainous Kree from using these jump points to transport vital elements from other planets, and the end of the movie shows a network of jump points shattering. Fortunately, Monica Rambeau is able to use her powers to repair the network, but it leaves her stranded on the other side. The post-credit scene reveals that Monica is now alive in a new reality, one where the mutants exist. Since one of the people who greets Monica in this reality is a variant of her mother, it seems that the MCU may explore this universe again. Also, the jump points in the main universe are now established as a boundary between timelines.

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