The MCU Has 7 Different Multiverse Explanations & None Of Them Connect

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Warning! This article contains spoilers for The Marvels and Loki Season 2
Summary

The Marvel Cinematic Universe is struggling to define and unify the concept of the multiverse, hindering the overall cohesion of the franchise.
Different MCU projects have presented their own versions of the multiverse, but they often contradict each other and lack consistent terminology and visual designs.
The MCU needs to develop a stronger multiverse with interconnected narratives and compelling alternate realities in order to make audiences care about the wider scope of the multiverse before Avengers 5 and 6.

The Marvel Cinematic Universe is now over halfway through the Multiverse Saga, yet the blockbuster franchise is struggling to define what the multiverse is, how it works, and why it matters. The concept of the multiverse may be the focus of the MCU Phases 4, 5, and 6, but it was introduced a bit earlier. In Avengers: Endgame the Ancient One explains that altering the past leads to split timelines, and an alternate version of Thanos travels to the mainline MCU for the movie's final fight. This set precedent for a new idea in the MCU, but it's still far less clear than it should be several years later.
In the years since - complete with 10 MCU movies and 10 TV shows to date - different projects have presented their version of the multiverse. Frustratingly, though, precious few of these movies and shows build on each other, instead re-introducing and re-defining what's already a complicated concept. If the MCU plans to deliver a satisfying conclusion to its latest saga with Avengers: The Kang Dynasty and Secret Wars, the multiverse needs to homogenize quickly.

Related Every Upcoming Marvel Movie: Full MCU Phase 5 & 6 List (& Beyond) Between Marvel Studios and Sony Pictures Entertainment, here is every upcoming Marvel movie release date and what we know about the projects so far.
The MCU Keeps Starting From Scratch With The Multiverse Close After Avengers: Endgame featured the MCU's most powerful Avengers traveling through time to re-collect the Infinity Stones, making the multiverse - and its greatest villain - the narrative focal point of the next saga makes complete sense. However, whereas the Infinity Saga laid out fairly clear definitions for the Infinity Stones by Phase 2, the MCU still hasn't settled on common terminology, stories, or visual designs for the multiverse over halfway through Phase 5 (and the saga as a whole). This lack of cohesion has held back the MCU Phases 4 & 5 from feeling like much of a true shared universe.
MCU Projects Involving Different Versions Of The Multiverse
Release Year
Avengers: Endgame/Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 3
2019/2023
Spider-Man: No Way Home
2021
What If...?
2021
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness
2022
Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania
2023
The Marvels
2023
Loki Seasons 1 & 2
2021/2023
While not every MCU project involving the multiverse outright contradicts each other, most have started from narrative scratch, re-explaining how the MCU multiverse works, some unique twists or catches, and delivering a completely different method and visual style for what accessing looks like. The multiverse is already an inherently complicated concept to explore on a grand, multi-movie/series scale, and it's made all the more confusing when, for example, The Marvels' tear in space/time between realities threatens both universes in a completely different way than the incursions of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.
Furthermore, despite the look, rules, and dangers of each multiverse coming across differently, the MCU has also hitherto failed to re-visit or build audience empathy with any specific alternate timelines. Though there have been seven different versions of the multiverse presented so far (across even more projects), there's been no attempt to flesh out and explore any particular alternate realities. Doing so would create a more robust narrative through-line as the MCU builds towards Avengers: The Kang Dynasty.
Also complicating the Multiverse Saga is that audiences have been asked to parse the difference between timelines, multiverses, and dimensions without any strong definition of what separates them. Avengers: Endgame established that time traveling and altering the past creates a new branch in the timeline, but is that branch another reality? Does each reality have sets branching timelines? Furthermore, why is Loki able to affect the future without creating a branch when he time-slips in Loki season 2? What about the Dark Dimension or Noor Dimension? Does each reality have one, or are they apart from the concept of a multiverse?
Why The MCU Multiverse Needs To Feel More Connected Close If the multiverse is in danger, audiences need a reason to care for realities outside of the MCU's Earth-616. If the MCU's Avengers: Secret Wars is to follow the Marvel Comics story of the same name to even a small degree, different realities in the multiverse will find themselves crashing into each other with devastating incursions. However, as it stands, the MCU has presented little reason to care much for any other realities beyond general human empathy. With so many universes having been visited, it's a shame that none have been returned to, as it skips the opportunity to develop extra-dimensional characters and cultures worth saving.
Moreover, this consistency would help the MCU Phases 4 though 6 feel more like thought-out, interconnected narratives that actively build on each other. In lieu of that, consistent terminology needs to be developed. Incursions seem important, but the term hasn't been used outside of the Doctor Strange franchise aside from brief mentions. The Sacred Timeline is unique to Loki. The Marvels doesn't use the terms timeline, dimension, universe, or multiverse, and instead simply says "another reality." While some may have the background knowledge or dedication to parse how all these ideas intersect, it's asking a lot from casual audiences.
How The MCU Can Build A Stronger Multiverse Before Avengers 5 & 6

The good news is that there's still time to build a more cohesive multiverse - though a limited number of projects can pull it off. The ending of The Marvels seems to be the most significant narrative hook yet for exploring another reality in detail, as Monica Rambeau finds herself stranded there. With the exciting reveal of another X-Men character - Beast - it may be that this world will be revisited as the X-Men are introduced in full before their movie debut. The Loki season 2 finale also seems to create a multiverse through-line to connect future projects. Doing so will raise the stakes as their reality is inevitably put in danger.
Also, the MCU can more formally fold other pre-established multiverse branches into the main narrative, putting worlds like the Maguire Spider-Man universe in trouble. Presumably, Deadpool 3's narrative will provide an update on what's happening with the Fox X-Men universe, which could also collide with the MCU as incursions spread. With the popularity of these franchises, using their settings seems to be an easy way for the Marvel Cinematic Universe to make people care as the multiverse faces more trouble in the coming years. Failing to do so risks making Avengers: The Kang Dynasty and Secret Wars ring hollow.
Key Release Dates