The Time Variance Authority (TVA) is an agency outside of time – unassigned to any reality – taking a more bureaucratic approach to monitoring the Marvel Universe and minimising temporal interference. They’re definitely one of the most meta aspects of Marvel continuity.
TVA employee Mr Mobius (aka Mobius M Mobius) is actually designed to look like writer and editor Mark Gruenwald, a staple at Marvel for many years and avid keeper of continuity who played a key role in creating the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe!
The TVA have only made sporadic appearances since they first appeared – some stranger than others – but this is their complete comic book history, though they tend to only play a background role. I normally list each guide in chronological order, which I’ve done according to how their appearances affect the Marvel Universe (primarily in relation to the mainstream Marvel reality in the comics, designated Earth-616). As the TVA operates outside of time, it’s impossible to know how events occur for them in terms of a timeline. Trying to keep these descriptions short is near impossible when you’re dealing with time travel stuff, but you can see an expanded version of the majority of these stories over at The Appendix To The Handbook Of The Marvel Universe which proved to be an invaluable source for creating this entry.
By the time of the TVA’s 2024 appearances, key characters such as Mobius M Mobius and Ouroborus take on their Marvel Cinematic Universe appearances and characteristics. In theory, there should be only one TVA in existence, so it makes sense that the characters would be the same. However, I’m not a fan of this move and am treating the reworked character designs as new characters.
Chronology: All appearances of the Time Variance Authority from this period are (in theory) included in chronological order, laying out his timeline rather than just the order the issues were released.
Must Reads: Story arcs in bold in the Core List or marked with a ✔ in the Full Reading Order are must-read stories from this time period, along with any key related stories and often-forgotten tales that are worth a look.
Anthology Issues: When an issue contains multiple stories, the relevant story is denoted with square brackets. For example, [2/5] refers to the second story of the five stories in that issue, so you don’t need to read the other four.
Spoilers: The issue/story overviews may include spoilers, so be warned!
Did we miss something? Let us know!
Want to keep it simple? Here’s the core reading order without story descriptions, page-by-page breakdowns – just the stories:
- Thor #245
- Power Man and Iron Fist #79
- Thor #371-372
- Fantastic Four #338-341
- Fantastic Four Annual #24 [2/4]
- Sensational She-Hulk (1989) #24
- Fantastic Four #352-354
- What If? (1989) #35, 37-39
- Avengers Annual #22 [2/2]
- Deathlok (1991) #31-34
- Fantastic Four Annual #27 [1/2]
- Fantastic Four Annual #27 [2/2]
- Marvel Fanfare (1996) #1
- Unlimited Access #2
- Avengers Forever (1998) #9
- 4 (2004) #15-18
- She-Hulk (2005) #1-5
- Marvel Adventures: Fantastic Four #23
- Astonishing Spider-Man & Wolverine #2, 5-6
- Avenging Spider-Man #17
- Wolverine and the X-Men (2011) #29
- Deadpool & Cable: Split Second #1-6
- Despicable Deadpool #287-288
- You Are Deadpool #3, 5
- Cable & Deadpool Annual (2018) #1
- Deadpool: Samurai #18, 20, 22, 24-25 (Viz Media)
- Fantastic Four (2018) #35 [1/3]
- Fantastic Four: Reckoning War Alpha #1
- Fantastic Four (2018) #45
- Marvel Voices Infinity Comic (2022) #45-49
- Web of Spider-Man (2024) #1 [5/9]
- Spider-Gwen: The Ghost Spider (2024) #1
- Venom War: Deadpool #3
- TVA (2025) #1-5
- Spider-Gwen: The Ghost Spider (2024) #10, 14
- Spider-Gwen: The Ghost Spider (2024) #15 [1/2]
| Must Reads | Title, Synopsis & First Appearances |
| Thor #245 (1976) In an effort to undo the destruction of the Earth at the hands of the Time-Twisters, Thor of Earth-616 travels to the end of time and meets He Who Remains – the only being to witness their creation; Jane Foster talks He Who Remains into destroying the Time-Twisters. 1st appearance: He Who Remains, Protectroids, Citadel at the End of Time, Earth-7635/50th Century, Earth-761243/Home of the Time Twisters, Earth-794282/End of Time | |
| Power Man and Iron Fist #79 (1982) Having relocated to present day Earth-616, time traveller JA Gamble writes a popular broadway play called ‘Day of the Dredlox’; Gamble draws the rogue Time Variance Authority time cleaning robots, the Incinerators, into battle with Power Man, Iron Fist and Bob Diamond who destroy them before Gamble disappears. 1st appearance: Dredlox, Professor Justin Alphonse Gamble | |
| ✔ | Thor #371-372 (1986) The Time Variance Authority (TVA) send Justice Peace from the future of Earth-869371 back in time to present day Earth-616 to capture a Zaniac and end World War VII in his timeline; Thor helps Justice Peace with his mission; off-panel, the TVA investigate a warp in time caused by Galactus of Earth-8810, accidentally creating of a Time Bubble. 1st appearance: Justice Peace, Thug Catcher/Andrew Thatcher (Earth-823019), Time Variance Authority, Zaniac (Earth-823019), Hopsickle |
| ✔ | Fantastic Four #338-341 (1990) The TVA employ Death’s Head to investigate activity around the Time Bubble; when Death’s Head is expelled from the timeline following damage to his vehicle, the TVA can only observe while the Fantastic Four restore the sanity of Galactus of Earth-8810 – the source of the chronal disturbance – using the Ultimate Nullifier; the Fantastic Four head for Earth-616 but end up on Earth-9061. 1st appearance: Galactus (Earth-8810), Earth-9061 |
| Must Reads | Title, Synopsis & First Appearances | Event/ Crossover |
| ✔ | Fantastic Four #343-346 (1990) The Fantastic Four’s activities on Earth-9061 and the time-displaced Dinosaur Island cause the TVA to quarantine them to their own time. 1st appearance: Chronomonitors, Fantastic Four (Earth-9061), Alicia Masters (Earth-9061), Mobius M. Mobius, Dan Quayle (Earth-9061), Stalinbot/Josef Stalin (Earth-9061) | |
| Fantastic Four Annual #24 [2/4] (1991) The TVA learn Galactus of Earth-616 had tried to kill Korvac of Earth-691 with the Ultimate Nullifier, which is what really caused him to undo the deaths of the Avengers and appear to commit suicide (during THE KORVAC SAGA, 1977-1978); this was a major worry for the TVA who had concerns over the amount of paperwork it would cause; in the present day, the Guardians of the Galaxy of Earth-691 join forces with the Fantastic Four when they discover Korvac’s consciousness is jumping through time into the bodies of his ancestors; after freeing Korvac’s descendent Jaboa Murphy from Korvac’s control, a TVA representative arrives and orders Mister Fantastic to hand over his time machine to avoid unauthorised journeys through time. 1st appearance: Jaboa Murphy | THE KORVAC QUEST | |
| Sensational She-Hulk #24 (1991) Death’s Head reveals he quit the TVA and stole one of their time-cycles to return to the year 2020 on Earth-8410. | ||
| ✔ | Fantastic Four #352-354 (1991) The Fantastic Four clash with Doctor Doom – with Mister Fantastic and Doom making numerous jumps through time as they battle – which attracts the attention of the Time Variance Authority; the TVA send Justice Peace to apprehend them; Mr Mobius grants the rest of the Fantastic Four a tour of the TVA offices; Mister Fantastic destroys the TVA’s file on Earth-616, no longer registering it on their files. 1st appearance: Minutemen, Null-Time Zone | |
| ✔ | What If? #35, 37-39 (1992) The TVA register a Timequake as Immortus‘ plots to accumulate huge amounts of temporal energy, creatinga quantum temporal wave; when Immortus kills the Time Keepers, the TVA call on Uatu the Watcher for advice and send a number of agents (including multiversal versions of Doctor Doom, Spider-Man, Thor and Wolverine) to alter Immortus’ past, only for them to fail; the TVA eventually send the Fantastic Four of Earth-8212 to implant a means of preventing Immortus from ammassing that amount of power, long before he became Immortus or even Rama-Tut; it’s revealed that He Who Remains was/would become the last ever director of the Time Variance Authority and that he created the Time-Keepers as a replacement for the Time-Twisters (although a reverse version of that reality at the end of time also exists). 1st appearance: Franklin Richards (Earth-772) | |
| Avengers Annual #22 [2/2] (1993) It’s revealed that Professor Justin Alphonse Gamble was a former member of the TVA who stole a time machine; an Incinerator robot snuck aboard Gamble’s ship and duplicated itself; Terminatrix and the Anachronauts board GA Gamble’s time machine and help him eject the Incinerators. | ||
| Deathlok #31-34 (1994) The TVA employ Godwulf to capture the time-travelling Timestream and stop him from taking over Earth-7484; when Godwulf fails, Justice Peace is sent to recapture him; Siege and Deathlok of Earth-616 help Godwulf capture Timestream so the TVA don’t nullify all realities affected by Timestream’s actions. | ||
| ✔ | Fantastic Four Annual #27 [1/2] (1994) Mobius M Mobius’ boss, Mr Alternity, learns the Earth-616 file has been lost and orders him to replace it; Mobius sends the Peacekeepers to capture the Human Torch, Invisible Woman and the Thing of Earth-616 (following the apparent demise of Mister Fantastic during RISE OF DOOM!, 1993); the FF and Ant-Man help Mobius negotiate a job offer with Kang which he then uses to stay at the TVA and get a promotion; Mobius promises to leave the Fantastic Four alone from now on. 1st appearance: Justice Love, Mr Alternity, Mr Tesseract | |
| Fantastic Four Annual #27 [2/2] (1994) Mr Tesseract takes Mr Mobius’ old job and has to deal with the paperwork caused by a fight between the Molecule Man and the Beyonder. | ||
| Marvel Fanfare #1 (1996) The TVA send Justice Peace to retrieve Deathlok the Demolisher (Earth-7484) when he arrives on present day Earth-616, looking to kill the Red Skull before he can initiate Operation: Purge (the plan that resulted in Earth’s heroes being banished from Earth-7848 in Deathlok’s past); Captain America and the Falcon help Justice Peace subdue Deathlok and return him to his own time, rather than terminate him. | ||
| Unlimited Access #2 (1998) The reality-hopping Access is tracked by Mobius M Mobius as he jumps through a number of realities until Mobius loses him. | UNLIMITED ACCESS | |
| Avengers Forever #9-10 (1999) Kang reveals he unleashed extra-temporal entity Alioth into the TVA’s Null-Time Zone after growing tired of his alliance with them. |
| Must Reads | Title, Synopsis & First Appearances | Event/ Crossover |
| ✔ | 4 #15-18 (2005) The TVA contact the Fantastic Four to ask for their help in finding eight minutes of lost time; Mister Fantastic discovers Ramades, the son of Kang, is responsible; the Fantastic Four use the lost time as a weapon against Ramades, ending his attempt to alter reality and rule Earth. 1st appearance: Ramades | |
| ✔ | She-Hulk #1-5 (2005-2006) The Time Variance Authority assist She-Hulk by setting up an impartial jury to decide the fate of Charles Czarkowski – a man who shot the man who would kill him a year into the future; all jurors died a year earlier to aid in their impartiality, one juror was Hawkeye who She-Hulk tried to warn about his impending death (during AVENGERS DISASSEMBLED, 2004-2005); She-Hulk wins the case, saving herself from being removed from existence and convincing the TVA to allow her to take the Two-Gun Kid out of their custody and into hers. 1st appearance: Mr Orobourous, Mr Paradox | |
| ✔ | Marvel Adventures: Fantastic Four #23 (2007) A TVA Chronomonitor travels to Ancient Egypt on Earth-20051, disguised as Rama-Tut and ruling his own kingdom; on a journey through time, the Fantastic Four of Earth-20051 battle ‘Rama-Tut’ before he’s apprehended by the TVA and the FF’s memories of the incident are erased. 1st appearance: Rama-Tut (Earth-20051) | |
| ✔ | Astonishing Spider-Man & Wolverine #2, 5-6 (2010-2011) The TVA deploy the Minutemen to stop the users of the Time Diamonds from messing up continuity, including Spider-Man, Wolverine, Sara Bailey, the Czar, Orb, Big Murder and Mojo. | |
| ✔ | Avenging Spider-Man #17 (2013) Death’s Head is hired by the Time Variance Authority to stop the Future Foundation from building a device created by Bentley-23 that is destined to tear a hole in the fabric of space-time; Death’s Head encounters Spider-Man (Otto Octavius); the TVA hire another Death’s Head from a later point in his timeline to complete the secondary part of the mission. 1st appearance: Mr Oborus | |
| Wolverine and the X-Men #29 (2013) On Earth-13729, an alternate future, the X-Men have set up a vault on Space Station X which contains time-travel technology; the X-Men are only allowed to access and use it if it’s been agreed by the TVA. | ||
| Deadpool & Cable: Split Second #1-6 (2016, Infinite Comic) Cable and Deadpool are caught up in a time-travel adventure in an effort to prevent scientist Carl Weathers from being assassinated; Weathers becomes affiliated with the Time Variance Authority. 1st appearance: Loop/Wade Winston Wilson, Split Second/Daryll Weathers, Temporal Adjudicator/Carl Weathers | ||
| ✔ | Despicable Deadpool #287-288 (2017) Stryfe hires Deadpool to kill Cable; the Time Variance Authority arrest Cable, mistaking him for Stryfe, unwittingly saved Cable’s life from Deadpool’s deathblow; Deadpool catches up with Cable in the TVA’s offices, freeing him in an effort to complete his contract. 1st appearance: Officer Salcido | MARVEL LEGACY |
| You Are Deadpool #3, 5 (2018) Deadpool runs into TVA agent Justice Peace. | ||
| ✔ | Cable & Deadpool Annual #1 (2018) Professor JA Gamble manipulates Deadpool into fighting the Incinerators for him, attracting the attention of the Time Variance Authority. |
| Must Reads | Title, Synopsis & First Appearances | Event/ Crossover |
| Deadpool: Samurai #18, 20, 22, 24-25 (2024-2026, Viz Media) Deadpool of Earth-346 jumps through time to feudal Japan, clashing with Loki and attracting the attention of the Time Variance Authority. | ||
| Fantastic Four #35 [1/3] (2021) Kang, Immortus, Rama Tut, the Scarlet Centurion and Scion target the Fantastic Four of Earth-616, Earth-21145 and Earth-30981 as well as the Future Foundation of Earth-71557! The TVA pick up the pieces. 1st appearance: Fantastic Four (Earth-21145 – Human Torch/Johnny Storm, Invisible Woman/Susan Storm, Mister Fantastic/Reed Richards, Thing/Ben Grimm), Fantastic Four (Earth-30981 – Human Torch/Johnny Storm, Invisible Woman/Susan Storm, Mister Fantastic/Reed Richards, Thing/Ben Grimm), Future Foundation (Earth-71557 – Dragon Man, Human Torch/Johnny Storm, Invisible Woman/Susan Storm, Mister Fantastic/Reed Richards, Alex Power, Spider-Man/Peter Parker, Franklin Richards, Valeria Richards, Thing/Ben Grimm), Joanna Jeffers, Sarcophobots, Thunderbolts (Earth-30981 – Atlas/Erik Josten, Citizen V/Helmut Zemo, Mach-1/Abner Jenkins, Meteorite/Karla Sofen, Songbird/Melissa Gold), Ark of History, Earth-21145, , Earth-30981, Earth-71557, Neverspace, the Great Book, the Prize New identity: Mister Fantastic/Reed Richards as Scion | ||
| Fantastic Four: Reckoning War Alpha #1 (2022) Fantastic Four #45 (2022) Justice Peace and Justice Love briefly join the fight against the Badoon when they invade Earth-616; the TVA opt not to arrest She-Hulk. 1st appearance: Titan, Reckoning (Rapture, Reject, Ruin, Wrath), Barrens, New Moord | RECKONING WAR | |
| Marvel Voices Infinity Comic #45-49 (2023) The TVA are duped into believing Negasonic Teenage Warhead will end all of existence within 51 minutes. 1st appearance: Megasonic Endless Godhead/Eloise Phimister (Earth-23346), Yuki Ohara (full, named), Ra’a’a’a | ||
| ✔ | Web of Spider-Man #1 [5/9] (2024) Spider-Gwen: The Ghost Spider #1 (2024) Ouroborus of the TVA warns Ghost-Spider (Gwen Stacy) of Earth-65 not to use her powers while she’s on Earth-616. 1st appearance: Mobius M Mobius II/Don, Ouroborus/AD Doug, TemPads Note: The TVA start to resemble the version shown in the Marvel Cinematic Universe from this point onwards. | HAUNTED |
| ✔ | Venom War: Deadpool #3 (2025) The TVA arrest Jimmy Hudson Jr of Earth-1610 when he’s infected with the Poison of Earth-17952 and battles Deadpool on Earth-616. | VENOM WAR |
| ✔ | TVA #1-5 (2025) The Time Variance Authority recruits heroes from destroyed timelines – including Ghost-Spider, of Earth-65, Jimmy Hudson Jr of Earth-1610, Captain Carter of Earth-82111 and Gambit of Earth-25244 – to seek out the killer in their organisation. 1st appearance: B-15/Verity Willis, Doc Clock, Gambit/Remy LeBeau (Earth-25244), Sylvie Laufeydottir, Maggie, Miss Minutes, Rogue (Earth-25244), Scarlet Witch/Wanda Maximoff (Earth-42872), Sir Seconds, Earth-93 New identity: Dreamqueen as Ingrid | |
| ✔ | Spider-Gwen: The Ghost Spider #10 (2025) Spider-Gwen: The Ghost Spider #14 (2025) Spider-Gwen: The Ghost Spider #15 [1/2] (2025) TVA agent Ghost-Spider challenges King Loki of Earth-14412 for control of the Cosmic Cube with help from Captain Carter of Earth-82111 and Gambit of Earth-25244. 1st appearance: Monster Loki/Loki Laufeyson (Earth-52840) |
Other reading orders featuring the Time Variance Authority:
- DEATH’S HEAD, 1987-Present – Freelance Peacekeeping Agent
Notable variations of the Time Variance Authority:
| Title, Issue & Synopsis | Event / Crossover |
| Secret Warps: Weapon Hex Annual #1 (2019) Secret Warps: Ghost Panther Annual #1 (2019) Secret Warps: Arachknight Annual #1 (2019) Secret Warps: Iron Hammer Annual #1 (2019) WARP WORLD, EARTH-616 – In the amalgamated Warp World, the Time Flight Authority (a warped version of the Time Variance Authority and the Alpha Flight Initiative) hail from the future; representative Captain Peace (a warped Captain Marvel/Carol Danvers and Justice Peace) warns the Defenders of the impact of their battle on the year 2099; the warped heroes and Captain Peace take on Madame Hel, Red Dormammu and Stane Odinson to save reality. | SECRET WARPS |
| Collected Edition Title | Collects… |
| Marvel Knights: 4 vol.3: Divine Time | 4 #15-18 |
| She-Hulk vol.3: Time Trials | She-Hulk #1-5 |
| TVA: For All Time, Always | TVA #1-5 |
| Collected Edition Title | Includes… |
| Thor by Walter Simonson Omnibus Thor by Walter Simonson vol.4 Thor Visionaries: Walt Simonson vol.4 | Thor #371-372 |
| Death’s Head: Freelance Peacekeeping Agent | Fantastic Four #338 |
| Fantastic Four Epic Collection: Into The Timestream (vol.20) Fantastic Four Visionaries: Walter Simonson vol.1 | Fantastic Four #338-341 |
| Doctor Doom: The Book of Doom Omnibus | Fantastic Four #352 |
| Fantastic Four Epic Collection: The New Fantastic Four (vol.21) Fantastic Four Visionaries: Walter Simonson vol.3 | Fantastic Four #352-354 |
| What If? Into the Multiverse Omnibus vol.1 | What If? #35, 37-39 |
| Fantastic Four Epic Collection: Nobody Gets Out Alive (vo.23) Fantastic Four Visionaries: George Pérez vol.2 Marvel Masterworks: The Fantastic Four vol.20 | Fantastic Four Annual #27 |
She-Hulk by Dan Slott OmnibusShe-Hulk by Dan Slott: The Complete Collection vol.1 | She-Hulk #1-5 |
| Marvel Adventures Fantastic Four Digest vol.5 Marvel Adventures Two-In-One vol.1 | Marvel Adventures: Fantastic Four #23 |
| Astonishing Spider-Man and Wolverine Wolverine Goes to Hell Omnibus Wolverine by Jason Aaron: The Complete Collection vol.3 | Astonishing Spider-Man & Wolverine #2, 5-6 |
| Superior Spider-Man Companion Superior Spider-Man Return Omnibus Superior Spider-Man Team-Up: Superiority Complex | Avenging Spider-Man #17 |
| Marvel Legacy | Despicable Deadpool #287 |
| Despicable Deadpool OHC Despicable Deadpool vol.1: Deadpool Kills Cable | Despicable Deadpool #287-288 |
| Spider-Gwen: The Ghost-Spider vol.1: Haunted | Spider-Gwen: The Ghost Spider #1 Web of Spider-Man #1 |
| Venom War Omnibus Venom War: Wolverine/Deadpool | Venom War: Deadpool #3 |
| Spider-Gwen: The Ghost-Spider vol.2: Unravelled | Spider-Gwen: The Ghost Spider #10 |
| Spider-Gwen: The Ghost-Spider vol.3: Uncharted | Spider-Gwen: The Ghost Spider #14-15 |
Reading Order © Omniverse Comics Guide 2026
Leave a Reply