Where does Guardians of the Galaxy fit into the MCU timeline?
The film starts in 1988, this much we know.
When Yondu points out that he made sure his crew didn't eat Peter, Quill remarks that "For Twenty years you've been throwing that back in my face!"
If we're to take this literally, it means the film is set in 2008: the same time as the events of Iron Man are unfolding on Earth...
The Collector doesn't appear to be in possession of the Aether from Thor: the Dark World, so we're probably supposed to believe this film happened before the events of that...
...BUT, although uncredited, his assistant Carina is still alive in T:TDW, played by the same actress (Ophelia Lovibond). Does this mean the events of GotG happened after T:TDW? if this is the case, does the collector still possess the Aether?
None of the MCU timelines seem to include GotG, so I'm struggling to place it chronologically..
Best Answer
As you say, the film starts in 1988:
Then, right after the Marvel logo:
So, it takes place in 2014.
Marvel has also published a prequel comic, that establishes that GotG takes place after The Collector receives the Aether.
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Answer 2
In this all-too-detailed layout, the events in GotG begin to happen on August 1, 2014. This is just a short time after the events of T:TDW and CA:TWS.
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