There’s a lot more than meets the eye where the Marvel universe is concerned. Most mainstream adaptations will make one believe that the universes are self-contained, but that’s far from the case. In fact, all the interpretations of the characters exist in universes that have their own numberings.
Naturally, this has meant that some universes are more interesting than others, while in other cases the different realities are so out there that they become worthy of note. On occasion, particular realities exist in one universe but are considered their own worlds. That said, the following should be the first ones to be checked out by fans who want to increase their knowledge of the Marvel multiverse.
10 Earth-616
Out of all the realities available in the multiverse, Earth-616 is undoubtedly the most important. The reason for this is extremely easy, as it’s the main universe in all of Marvel. So much so, that it was designated as the Prime Earth.
Everything fans have seen in adaptive works have used the Earth-616 universe as the basis, seeing as the mainstream continuity of the comics are all the events of this reality. So, if anybody wants to know where to even begin with Marvel, the Earth-616 continuity is the way to go.
9 Counter-Earth
Franklin Richards, the son of Mister Fantastic and Invisible Woman, is a mutant powerful enough to even face the likes of Celestials. He’s responsible for creating a pocket universe, which came about because he wanted to avert the death of the heroes who were dying while facing Onslaught.
This Earth became a new dimension where the heroes lived in altered histories of their main universe where they were presumed dead. Eventually, Doctor Doom removed this Earth from the pocket universe and placed it in Earth-616’s alternate orbit.
8 Earth-1610
This reality first debuted in Ultimate Spider-Man #1, which is the Earth that Miles Morales came out of. It’s filled with a bunch of cool characters that serve as modernized incarnations of established superheroes. The Ultimate Marvel universe took such a life of its own that it began clashing with the Earth-616.
Eventually, this universe’s characters ended up transitioning to Prime Earth and vice versa. While the Ultimate Marvel universe might be dormant, it did present very different takes on well-known superheroes. Not to mention how this universe brought Miles Morales into the mix.
7 Earth-90214
This universe downplays the need for powers to instead present elements of the noir genre and pulp fiction themes. It goes way off course from what fans are aware of the characters, with stuff like the X-Men being a group of sociopathic criminals and Spider-Man having dark mystical abilities.
Everything in Earth-90214 -- also known as Marvel Noir -- has ties to the thematic qualities seen in the 1930s. It also takes liberties with the backstories of superheroes, such as the Punisher in this universe being Frank Castle Jr and James Logan being a private investigator.
6 Earth-928
This continuity takes place in the far future during the year 2099. It was, at one point, confirmed that this universe was actually the future of the Earth-616 itself. However, numerous inconsistencies meant that it’s still designated as its own reality, thereby making it one of the possible, but not definite, Earth-616 futures.
The unique take here is that everything is futuristic, which involves more powerful villains for the heroes and a world that was ripe with corruption and corporate pollution. There are many superheroes that belong to this universe like Spider-Man, X-Men, Hulk, among others.
5 Earth-92131
There was a time when Marvel animated shows were available in abundance. While the series in-universe didn’t mention it, the actual name of this reality is Earth-92131. This universe mainly circulated around the adventures of Spider-Man and the X-Men.
What’s interesting about it is that Spider-Man was aware of all the other realities, as he came across dozens of other Spider-Men when the realities collided. To check out this universe, one needs to watch the Spider-Man and X-Men animated shows first.
4 The Soul Gem
A version of this universe was seen at the end of Avengers: Infinity War. The concept was derived from the Soul Gem in the comics, although it’s plausible that the film’s and the comic book’s Soul Gem world might be the same ones.
It can be accessed using the Soul Gem and is meant to be the final resting place for all souls. The universe is overseen by the Soul-Eater Devondra, although the rules to entering this place are also based on using the Soul Infinity Gem by more adept wielders of the gem.
3 Earth-2149
This is one universe that sounds like a true apocalypse, seeing as the world is turned into a horrid place where everyone is turned into zombies. The superheroes are no exception, with nobody being immune to the outbreak and the turn into the undead unavoidable.
Still, it’s pretty intriguing to see how the characters ended up even in their zombified state and Earth-2149 brings this aspect in abundance. The catch is that a character can be functional once again if they’re separated from the food source, making them somewhat lucid.
2 Earth-8311
Comic book worlds tend to become very outlandish the more they’re explored, and it’s hard not to be perplexed by this universe where all the beings are anthropomorphic animals. It’s also called the Larval universe, where basically everything is a parody.
The main character from this universe has been Peter Porker, one of the many versions of Spider-Man, who was once a spider that was bitten by May Porker and turned into the Spider-Ham. The intention of this universe is to be on the lighter side of things, with no real threats and stakes involved but a good load of laughs.
1 Earth-199999
It’s more than likely that this universe is easily familiar to any Marvel fan. The fact is that the numbering of the Marvel Cinematic Universe is Earth-199999. Despite it seeming as if the film universe is separate, it actually does fall into the multiverse.
Everything that happens here -- from the events of the Infinity Saga, the decisions the characters make, the time-traveling aspects, among others -- fits right into the multiverse and places the MCU alongside the other parallel universe. With this new perspective, watching the movies is given an additional context since the events tie into a larger scale.