Master Timeline: 2001-2010

2001–2010: The War on Terror, Genetic Awakening, & Public Heroes

2001:
- September 11 Attacks: Terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon drastically reshape global security policy. The United States initiates the War on Terror, while S.H.I.E.L.D. and General Ross accelerate covert surveillance on enhanced and mutant populations worldwide.
- Ten Rings Reactivation: Following the murder of his wife Jiang Li by the Iron Gang, Xu Wenwu reactivates the Ten Rings syndicate and begins training young Shang-Chi as an assassin.
- Danny Rand Air Crash: The Rand family plane crashes in the Himalayas following sabotage by Harold Meachum; young Danny Rand is rescued by monks and brought to K'un-Lun.
- Peter Parker (Spider-Man) is born.
- Xavier Institute Enrollment: Scott Summers and Jean Grey enroll at the Xavier Institute (X-Men: Evolution era begins). The core adolescent team—Scott, Jean, Kurt Wagner (Nightcrawler), Kitty Pryde (Shadowcat), and Evan Daniels (Spyke, Storm's nephew)—trains under Xavier and Storm.
- Kurt Wagner discovers Mystique is his biological birth mother. Reluctantly choosing Xavier's guidance over her, Nightcrawler secures his place with the X-Men.
- The Brotherhood of Mutants (Toad, Avalanche, Blob, Quicksilver), secretly led by Magneto behind Mystique, clashes with the X-Men over new recruits.
- Scott discovers his significantly older brother, Alex Summers (Havok, born 1970), survived their childhood plane crash. Magneto abducts both to Asteroid M to power his genetic evolution machine. Scott and Alex emerge with white hair and enhanced control over their energy blasts before destroying Asteroid M.
2002:
- The New Mutants Arrive: The Xavier Institute expands, taking in a junior class including Iceman (Bobby Drake), Cannonball, Sunspot, Jubilee, Wolfsbane, Multiple Man, Magma, and Boom-Boom. Hank McCoy (Beast) succumbs to his mutation and officially joins the faculty.
- Forge's Invention: Teen inventor Forge creates a device to amplify Nightcrawler’s teleportation range, briefly opening a rift to a dimension of dark creatures before the X-Men seal it.
- Mystique poses as high school student Risty Wilde, infiltrates the mansion, and steals Cerebro files.
- Mesmero opens the first of three ancient seals to free Apocalypse.
- The Prototype Sentinel Clash: Magneto recruits Sabretooth, Gambit, Pyro, and a teenage Piotr Rasputin (Colossus) as his Acolytes. Bolivar Trask operates through shadowy defense contractors to test a massive Sentinel prototype. Wanda Maximoff tracks down Magneto and uses the prototype wreckage to crush him. Mystique disguised as Xavier destroys the mansion, but Scott, Jean, and the students survive in the danger room bunkers.
2003:
- Anti-mutant sentiment begins rising covertly. The X-Men locate the real Xavier, defeat Mystique, rebuild the mansion, and return to high school. Scott and Jean forge a deeper personal relationship.
- Wanda's Mind-Wipe: Quicksilver saves Magneto at the last second; Magneto uses Mastermind to rewrite Wanda's memories, forcing her loyalty.
- Spyke and the Morlocks: Spyke's uncontrollable bone growth forces him to leave Bayville High and join the sewer-dwelling Morlocks to protect them.
- Mesmero manipulates Magneto into opening the second seal to Apocalypse's tomb. He uses Mystique to open the final seal, turning her into petrified stone in front of Nightcrawler. Apocalypse awakens, effortlessly defeating the combined forces of the X-Men, Magneto, the Acolytes, and the Brotherhood.
- Lauren Strucker is born to Reed and Caitlin Strucker.
2004:
- Maya Lopez (Echo) is born.
- Apocalypse apparently slays Magneto (who secretly survives in isolation), while Nightcrawler accidentally knocks Mystique's petrified statue off a cliff while attempting to save her. Alex Summers perishes during the campaign against Apocalypse, leaving a profound impact on Scott.
- Gambit operates in Louisiana to help free his father; Spyke and the Morlocks defend mutants above ground.
- The Four Horsemen: Apocalypse captures and transforms Professor X, Storm, Magneto, and Mystique into his Four Horsemen, placing them in four global domes designed to rewrite human DNA worldwide.
- The X-Men, Brotherhood, and Acolytes unite to defeat the Horsemen and permanently re-entomb Apocalypse. Xavier catches a vision of his students reunited as full-fledged adult X-Men.
- Colossus officially cuts ties with Magneto's remnant factions, enrolling at the Xavier Institute as a permanent resident and senior student.
- Russell Collins (Firefist) is born.
2005:
- At Culver University, Dr. Bruce Banner attempts to recreate the WWII Super-Soldier Serum using blood samples provided by Nick Fury. Banner tests the formula on himself, triggering an uncontrollable transformation into the Hulk. Banner goes on the run immediately following the disaster.
- Kaecilius arrives at Kamar-Taj to begin studying the Mystic Arts under the Ancient One.
- Scott and Jean graduate from high school and step into full-time leadership training roles at the Xavier Institute.
2006:
- The Xavier Institute expands operations as a formal academy for young mutants worldwide.
- Trask Industries is publicly shut down following lingering fallout from the 2002 Sentinel prototype leak, but Bolivar Trask continues operating in the shadows through rogue military contractors.
2007: Magneto reorganizes the Brotherhood of Mutants underground, gathering resources and technology across Europe and North America.
2008:
- Nick Fury is officially appointed Director of S.H.I.E.L.D., succeeding Alexander Pierce.
- Weapons magnate Tony Stark is ambushed and captured in Afghanistan by the Ten Rings terrorist cell acting on behalf of Obadiah Stane.
- Stark constructs the Mark I armor to escape, shuts down Stark Industries' weapons manufacturing, and creates the Mark II and III suits.
2009:
- The Liberty Island Incident (Rogue & Logan Entrance):
  - Runaway teenager Marie D'Ancanto (Rogue) manifests her powers in Mississippi and flees to Northern Canada, where she meets the isolated, amnesiac mercenary Logan.
  - Ambushed by Sabretooth, Rogue and Logan are rescued by Cyclops and Storm, who bring them to Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters.
  - Magneto targets Rogue, intending to use her absorption powers to run his mutation-inducing radiation machine at the Statue of Liberty without sacrificing his own life.
  - Cyclops, Jean Grey, Storm, and Logan battle the Brotherhood (Mystique, Sabretooth, Toad) on Ellis Island and Liberty Island. Logan rescues Rogue, stopping the machine and establishing the X-Men as public heroes while Magneto is imprisoned in a plastic cell.
- Scott Summers (Cyclops) and Jean Grey are fully established as adult field leaders and senior staff on the X-Men team alongside Ororo Munroe (Storm) and Colossus.
- Obadiah Stane steals Stark’s miniaturized Arc Reactor to power his Iron Monger suit. Stark defeats Stane at Stark Industries HQ and publicly reveals his identity: "I am Iron Man."
- S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent Clint Barton is dispatched to recruit Russian operative Natasha Romanoff, defecting her from the Red Room.
- Andy Strucker is born to Reed and Caitlin Strucker.
2010:
- Following the Liberty Island crisis, Logan leaves the mansion for Northern Canada seeking definitive answers about his past while the X-Men maintain stability.
- Living in exile in Brazil, Dr. Bruce Banner continues working on a cure for his gamma exposure while training to keep his heart rate below 200 BPM.
- Anton Vanko dies in Moscow; Ivan Vanko begins building a miniature Arc Reactor and energetic whips to seek revenge against Tony Stark.
- Aldrich Killian’s A.I.M. begins clandestine human trials for the Extremis virus.
- Darren Cross forces Hank Pym out of Pym Technologies, taking over as CEO and commencing secretive work to replicate Pym Particles.
- Facing severe debt, Derek Bishop accepts financial backing from Wilson Fisk (Kingpin).