How Much Time Passes in ‘Avengers: Infinity War’?

Avengers: Infinity War is a big movie in pretty much every respect, including runtime. It’s the longest of any Marvel movie, which makes sense considering it also has the most heroes in it too. It’s a big movie that spans three continents and even more outer space locations.
But there’s one question that my detail-focused brain kept wondering: how much time actually passes in this larger-than-large blockbuster? The characters are so spread out across so many different time zones (and however you would measure interplanetary time!), it can be hard to follow. When I factored in all the information provided in Infinity War as well as Ant-Man and the Wasp, I had even more questions. So, I set out to find an answer.
I rewatched the movie again (oh, the things I do for work!) and took notes of timestamps (surprisingly a lot!). I then realized that I would be answering a whole lot more questions than my initial one, questions like “Where is Wakanda?” and “How fast is a Quinjet?” and “Was Captain America really worried about Vision?” The deeper I dug into this mystery, the more I learned about mach speeds, nightlife in Edinburgh, and even Nick Fury’s post-S.H.I.E.L.D. travel habits.
Below, I present the totally definitive yet completely unofficial timeline of Avengers: Infinity War. And for an even deeper dive into how this timeline pieces together, keep on scrolling.

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DAY 1: Monday, July 23, 2018

At first I just assumed that Infinity War took place on the day it was released, which is usually a safe assumption with Marvel movies (at least until recently–that’s a whole other post). Then I noticed that at the 37:45 mark, you can make out a very blurry date on the news report Vision and Scarlet Witch are watching.

It is very hard to make out, but it looks to me like it says “TUESDAY JUL 2X.” That means it has to be July 24, 2018. I admit this timestamp is a bit of a magic eye, but y’know what? My article, my eyes, my date! Fortunately, the rest of the timestamps are all as unsubtle as Star-Lord. So since this newscast takes place after midnight in Scotland (you’ll see why below), that places the start of the movie on Monday, July 23.
The movie starts out in space. I bring this up to point out that I’m not going to talk about the outer space half of the movie! Who even knows how time is measured in Asgard, or on a dead planet like Titan, or on whatever is going on on Vormir? Do you think the Red Skull really keeps track of time while he’s being all ethereal? Probably not! So I’m not either.

5:21 p.m. GMT / 1:21 p.m. New York: Tony Stark pulls out his flip phone to call Captain America just as Thanos’ Black Order attacks. You can actually see the time on the phone, and it makes sense considering that Doctor Strange and Wong are heading out to get lunch and Spider-Man is on a bus back to Queens after a field trip to the Museum of Modern Art. Also I wondered if Stark’s flip phone was set to Pacific or Eastern time since Stark is bicoastal. Since it’s shown that Tony and Pepper are jogging in Central Park, I’m going with Eastern

[EDITED TO ADD: Yeah, Stark’s phone says “Wednesday” but the newscast in Scotland you see below says “Tuesday.” How can it be Wednesday in New York City and Tuesday in Scotland? The No-Prize explanation is Stark hates flip phones (he mutters to himself “flip phone” when he pulls it out) and never took the time to set the right date. Sure! Also also, why is Peter Parker on a school field trip in July? It’s a summer elective thing that obviously Peter and Ned would totally sign up to do. Another No-Prize answer!]

5:42 p.m. GMT / 1:42 p.m. New York: After the Black Order’s attack, Bruce Banner picks up Tony Stark’s flip phone and you can see the time clearly. The entire NYC battle takes about 10 minutes of screentime, but 21 minutes have passed in-universe.

8:36 p.m. GMT / 9:36 p.m. Edinburgh: Sunset in Edinburgh, Scotland, which is important because the next scenes on Earth take place at night.

DAY 2: Tuesday, July 24, 2018

c. 1:00 a.m. GMT / c. 2 a.m. Edinburgh: Vision feels a disturbance in the Mind Stone, and then two Black Order members attack Vision and Scarlet Witch. We know it’s late because the couple are in bed when the scene starts, and the streets are empty when the fight breaks out. My co-worker Meghan O’Keefe said 2 a.m. seems about right for this scene. It is weird that it takes place four hours after the huge battle in NYC, but it’s not far-fetched to assume Wanda and Viz wouldn’t have the TV on in their hotel.

c. 1:15 a.m. GMT / c. 2:15 a.m. Edinburgh: Captain America, Black Widow, and Falcon defend Vision and Scarlet Witch from the Black Order. I’d estimate that they pack up and leave Edinburgh for the New Avengers Facility shortly after that.

9:42 a.m. GMT / 5:42 a.m. Esopus: Sunrise in Esopus, New York. Why Esopus? Because that’s where the Avengers compound’s exterior shot is. We do know that the HQ is in New York state and by the Hudson, so, sure! Also it has to be after sunrise because you can see sunlight behind Rhodey during his call with General Ross at 54:21.

That’s an early call but you just know General Ross never sleeps.

c. 10 a.m. GMT/ 6:00 a.m. Esopus: Captain America’s team arrives at the New Avengers Facility. This is where time gets a little weird because there’s no official answer about how fast Quinjets can fly. They’ve been shown reaching escape velocity in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., which puts them at 25K MPH–which is frankly insane. The fastest jet recorded flies at Mach VI, which is about a fifth that speed. Even that seems insane considering how big the Quinjets are, even with super sci-fi Stark/S.H.I.E.L.D. tech. I figure they can’t just zip around at Mach VI or faster all the time, and since Team Cap doesn’t yet know just how bad things are (so far all they know is that Vision was attacked), maybe they fly at Mach I (767 MPH) for now?
Anyway, the distance from Edinburgh to Esopus is 3,538 miles, which is a travel time of 4 hours and 36 minutes at Mach I. That leaves a few hours of wiggle room. Maybe they stopped off at Team Cap’s undisclosed hideout to pick up Wanda’s super suit? Sure. I’m going with that.

Also I have to point out that Bruce Banner somehow got from Greenwich Village in NYC to upstate New York a day earlier. That’s a two-hour car ride. Maybe there’s an Avengers tour shuttle bus he hopped on?

c. 11:30 a.m. GMT / 7:30 a.m. Esopus: Captain America and the Avengers leave the New Avengers Facility for Wakanda. We don’t have a timestamp for this, but it seems like Bruce Banner and the reunited Avengers have spent some time mulling over their Vision problem. Also they probably gotta eat! I bet Steve Rogers is very big on making sure his team gets nutritious meals.

c. 1:00 p.m. GMT / 4:00 p.m. Wakanda: The Avengers’ Quinjet lands in Wakanda. Where is Wakanda? Marvel movie lore places it between Uganda and Kenya, in a region known as the Ilemi Triangle. That gives me a time zone and a location to use, which means Wakanda is around 6,964 miles from the New Avengers Facility. Now that the Avengers have heard about Thanos from Bruce and know the universe is on the line, I’m going to say they pushed the Quinjet to the limit and flew at Mach VI, arriving in Wakanda after 90 minutes.

1:06 p.m. GMT / 6:06 a.m. San Francisco: Sunrise in San Francisco, California. This will become important in a bit. Also, spoiler warning for Ant-Man and the Wasp.

c. 1:30 p.m. GMT / c. 4:30 p.m. Wakanda: Almost immediately after the Avengers land, the Black Order attacks Wakanda. I even think a half hour of “downtime” (as if there’s such a thing in this movie!) is a stretch.

c. 2:00 p.m. GMT / c. 7:00 a.m. San Francisco: As seen in the mid-credits scene in Ant-Man and the Wasp, the Ant-Men and the Wasps meet up to gather Quantum Realm particles for Ghost. At first this seems like a crazy early time for them to meet, right? But judging by how exact Hank and Hope had to be during their mission to extract Janet, it seems like the Quantum Realm operates on its own time table. If their readings say 7 a.m., then they gotta gather at 7 a.m. Also they gotta do the job right then, even though the news is no doubt freaking out about the attacks in NYC and Edinburgh.

c. 2:18 p.m. GMT / c. 5:18 p.m. Wakanda: After about 48 minutes of hellish battle, Thanos teleports to Wakanda from Titan via the Space Stone.

2:24 p.m. GMT / 5:24 p.m. Wakanda: Thanos snaps his fingers.

2:24 p.m. GMT / 10:24 a.m. Atlanta: We know that’s the exact time he snapped his fingers because the post-credits scene gives us a timestamp in Nick Fury’s car.

At that moment, people start disappearing all over the universe. Of course I had to figure out which time zone Fury and Maria Hill were in. Fortunately at the 2:28:19 mark, you can see the exterior of Atlanta’s Rialto Center for the Arts. This location isn’t identified as Atlanta in the film, probably since all the Marvel movies are shot on soundstages near Atlanta and the city could double as any big city. But still, it makes sense with the timeline and it’s about time some southern cities got some MCU attention! I declare this canonically Atlanta!

2:24 p.m. GMT / 7:24 a.m. San Francisco: Hank Pym, Hope van Dyne, and Janet van Dyne crumble into dust during Ant-Man and the Wasp’s mid-credits scene, stranding Scott Lang in the Quantum Realm.

3:40 p.m. GMT / 6:40 p.m. Wakanda: The sun sets in Wakanda, an important detail since the sun is still up when Infinity War ends.
While I’m sure there are things in here that could be fudged (like maybe that’s not natural light in that Avengers HQ scene), the movie helpfully includes time stamps at the beginning (Stark’s flip phone) and end (Fury’s car clock). It seems pretty darn conclusive that all of Avengers: Infinity War takes place in just 21 hours and 3 minutes. And as far as I’m concerned, that’s canon.

Where to watch Avengers: Infinity War