The Difference Between The MCU's Snap, Blip And Decimation Explained

The end of Avengers: Infinity War saw Thanos kill half of the universe, but what exactly to call that event — as well as the resulting "MCU Blip" — has proven to be a source of confusion for some fans, especially those who don't follow every single entry to the MCU. While not necessarily an unexpected event in the abstract - since it was adapted from a legendary Marvel Comics arc - Thanos' finger snap in the ending of Infinity War nonetheless left audiences across the world shaken. With one quick movement of his hand, enabled by the immense power of the Infinity Stones, Thanos the Mad Titan was able to accomplish his horrifying goal of reducing life by 50 percent.

One of the major results of this move was the onscreen deaths of some of the MCU's most beloved characters, including Spider-Man, Groot, Bucky Barnes, and Black Panther. This left the six original Avengers members, plus a handful of other surviving heroes, to band together and pull off Avengers: Endgame's time heist designed to bring all those lost back. Along the way, a different, more ruthless Thanos came into the picture, putting the other half of Earth's life in jeopardy. The side of good ultimately won the day of course, albeit at the expense of Iron Man's life. Thanos' initial catastrophic purge remains a landmark MCU event though, for obvious reasons. The aftermath of Thanos' finger snap and the Blip has since been a major plot point in several MCU Phase 4 projects, such as The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, Hawkeye, Black Widow, Ms. Marvel, and She-Hulk. Here's how to understand the MCU Phase 4's post-Thanos terminology.

The Difference Between The MCU's Snap, Blip, And Decimation

Tom Holland as Peter Parker in Spider-Man Far From Home

Aptly, the most common name used to refer to the event in which Thanos' finger snap with the Infinity Gauntlet erased half of life in the universe is "The Snap." This is what fans came to call it, and has largely stuck after its wide adoption online following Avengers: Infinity War. However, it's important to note that Marvel Studios never officially dubbed the event "The Snap" - fans did. Marvel certainly could've just gone with that naming in-universe, but for whatever reason chose not to, although fans can obviously continue to call the event whatever they choose. Meanwhile, things get more confusing when it comes to terms like the MCU Blip and "The Decimation," the origin of which is a bit stranger.

While Thanos' finger snap refers to an obvious event, the Decimation comes from an MCU tie-in book called The Cosmic Quest Volume Two: Aftermath, published between Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame. The Marvel Comics event Decimation was an officially licensed piece of merchandise, so most assumed "Decimation" was now the official moniker. That all would've been fine, were it not for Spider-Man: Far from Home, in which characters refer to what happened as "The Blip." Since then the term Decimation has been largely scrapped, and has been replaced by the MCU's Blip.

Finally, to clear everything up, MCU boss Kevin Feige later said publicly that Marvel Studios had decided to call when Thanos used the Infinity Stones "The Snap," and call when Hulk used them to bring everyone back "The Blip." That said, the Disney+ show WandaVision later referred to what Thanos did as the Blip. For now, it's safe to stick by Feige's terms to distinguish between Thanos' finger "Snap" and Hulk's MCU Blip. As for why characters within the MCU chose "Blip," it's likely due to the fact that to those who disappeared, no time passed, even though it had been five years to those left behind. Therefore, to them, the whole period was simply a blip in time, almost like turning a light switch off and then on again.

New Phrases The MCU Needs You To Know

Doctor Strange 2 Incursions Multiverse Threat Problem SR

In the aftermath of Avengers: Infinity War, Thanos' finger snap, and the MCU Blip, the Marvel Cinematic Universe is now in the middle of the Multiverse Saga, which introduces two more key terms to keep in mind: Multiverse and Incursion. The Multiverse is the collective term for the various alternate universes that exist within the MCU. What's important to remember about the concept of the Multiverse in the MCU is that it is technically infinite, which means there's really no telling how many alternate realities are out there - as seen in Loki, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, and Marvel's What If...? series.

This could also mean that infinite variants of the Avengers and other MCU characters exist somewhere in the Multiverse, like the variants of Loki, Scarlet Witch, and Doctor Strange who already appeared in MCU Phase 4 ("variant" is the MCU's term for an alternate version of a hero, e.g. Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield's Spider-Men). The Multiverse is what paves the way for Marvel's future plans, which are headed toward more interactions between these various universes. In fact, the term Incursion refers to the violent collision of two-or-more different universes or realities. Though it's unclear how Incursions happen in the MCU, MCU Phase 4's Incursions were triggered by events like dreamwalking — traveling between universes — using the Darkhold, or the careless use of Scarlet Witch's reality-altering powers. What's clear is that Incursions can result in the destruction of entire universes, a threat that can trigger the introduction of long-anticipated Marvel Comics characters into the MCU.

Indeed, the MCU set the bar high after the events of Avengers: Infinity War and Endgame. To replace Thanos, the MCU is properly introducing Kang the Conqueror in MCU Phase 5's Ant-Man 3 to serve as Marvel's new overarching villain (Jonathan Majors has played variants of Kang up until this point). Unlike Thanos, Kang's ambitions are far too grand to be contained to a single universe, but audiences are yet to find out Kang's plans for the Multiverse. However, Kang's plans are no doubt directly related to the reason Marvel Comics fans are so excited by setups to the upcoming Avengers: Secret Wars. Secret Wars draws its title from several existing comics, all of which feature variants of characters and Marvel Comics canons merged into one time and place. Given the infinite possibilities, it's difficult to predict the exact direction of the MCU's Multiverse, but what's certain is that more Incursions are coming in MCU Phase 5 and 6. Blip and Snap were the words to know in Phase 4, but now it's variant, multiverse, and incursion the MCU requires you to have an understanding of.

Next: Ant-Man 3's Villain Could Be A Survivor From The LAST Multiverse War