With 32 films and over 20 TV shows so far, the Marvel Cinematic Universe is one of the most expansive (and successful) franchises ever conceived. But when you have so many stories and characters crossing paths throughout an interconnected series of movies and shows, there are bound to be some timeline mistakes, especially when some of these productions involve time traveling and parallel universes. However, several years before Marvel Studios even introduced the concept of the multiverse to the MCU, they made quite the timeline blunder in “Spider-Man: Homecoming,” the first solo feature outing for Tom Holland as the new webslinger after his debut in “Captain America: Civil War.”

The opening of “Spider-Man: Homecoming” takes place in the aftermath of the Battle of New York from “The Avengers,” which took place in 2012, the same year the movie was released. In this flashback sequence, Adrian Toomes (Michael Keaton in a terrific performance) has his salvage operation of the debris and destruction around NYC interrupted and overtaken by the Department of Damage Control, which is being overseen by Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) himself. This leads Toomes to turn to a life of crime facilitated by the sale of weapons powered by alien energy taken from salvaged Chitauri technology.

When this sequence flashes forward, the on-screen text says “8 Years Later,” which would bring us to the year 2020. Even Toomes references the events of “Avengers” as something that happened eight years ago. However, that created a bit of a discrepancy with previous events in the MCU. You see, “Captain America: Civil War” takes place in 2016, the same year it was released, and “Spider-Man: Homecoming” includes the sequence from “Civil War” when Peter Parker is recruited to help Iron Man in his fight against Captain America over the Sokovia Accords. That means the events of “Homecoming” would also have to take place in 2016, despite the film being released in 2017. Fans have long wondered just how such a blatant error happened, and Marvel Studios has finally addressed it.

Blame the Time Variance Authority

This week, DK Publishing released “Marvel Studios: The Marvel Cinematic Universe: An Official Timeline,” which features an official canon chronicle of everything that has happened in the MCU so far. The book finally gives a firm window as to when the events of “Spider-Man: Homecoming” actually took place, placing everything that happens after the “Civil War” recruitment in the fall of 2016. But that’s not all. The MCU timeline book actually addresses this mistake, and it kinda provides an explanation as to how this happened.

In this new book, the Time Variance Authority’s animated computer assistant Miss Minutes — who has turned out to be more diabolical than she seemed after debuting in the “Loki” series on Disney+ – appears throughout the book to address factual errors with regards to the timeline. Whenever Miss Minutes appears, she points out a mistake as a “Redline Alert” or a “TVA Alert,” where she briefly discusses a continuity error on the timeline or blames the TVA for something.

For example, a TVA alert in the 2012 timeline points out a mistake where Thor is heard saying that he only just recently came to Earth for the first time, referencing the events of “Thor” before “Avengers.” However, “Eternals” has a moment where Kingo alludes to a young Thor following him around on Earth. Miss Minutes explains it away by saying, “Thor was simply sayin’ it was the first time coming to Earth in his current adventures. Not worth putting Analysts on this one!” While I’m not sure that really explains away this mistake, the fact that Marvel is addressing these little missteps is still entertaining.

‘I reckon an Analyst misplaced the case file’

That brings us to the “Spider-Man: Homecoming” error, which Miss Minutes addresses thusly:

“Hi again! Adrian Toomes says the Battle of New York was eight years ago, but that event was only four years prior. This one’s a real head scratcher for us — I reckon an Analyst misplaced the case file.”

Again, not a very satisfying explanation for such a key error, but at the very least, Marvel has finally adjusted this screw-up. I must say, it’s rather interesting that the mere existence of the Time Variance Authority in “Loki” allows Marvel Studios to simply wave away any timeline issues by blaming a mistake in the TVA. After all, they were the ones responsible for preserving the Sacred Timeline, so any mistakes there might be in continuity can be blamed on them not doing their job.

In reality, someone at Marvel Studios messed up, and now they have to answer a bunch of nitpicking questions from nerds like us. Honestly, the punishment fits the crime.

“Marvel Studios: The Marvel Cinematic Universe: An Official Timeline” is available to purchase now.