Time Variance Authority

Time Variance Authority
Publication information
Publisher	Marvel Comics
First appearance	Thor vol. 1 #372 (October 1986)
Created by	Walt Simonson Sal Buscema
In-story information
Type of organization	Bureaucracy/Criminal (depending on continuity)
Leader(s)	Mr. Alternity
Agent(s)	Mobius M. Mobius Professor Justin Alphonse Gamble Mr. Orobourous Mr. Paradox Mr. Tesseract Minutemen

The Time Variance Authority (TVA) is a fictional organization, a group of timeline monitors appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics.

The Time Variance Authority also appears in the Marvel Cinematic Universe TV series Loki.

Publication history

The Time Variance Authority (TVA) first appeared in Thor #372 (1986). Created by Walt Simonson and Sal Buscema, the TVA originally paid homage to long-time Marvel writer/editor and continuity expert Mark Gruenwald: the TVA staff were all clones of Gruenwald. (The classification system for alternate realities — the Marvel multiverse — was devised, in part, by Gruenwald).

Antecedents

Squadron Sinister/Squadron Supreme

Writer Roy Thomas and Sal's brother, artist John Buscema, had previously explored the concept of a Marvel multiverse with Marvel's evil Justice League correlates, called the Squadron Sinister, in Avengers #69 (1969). Thomas later introduced a heroic version of the Squadron Sinister named the Squadron Supreme, which first appeared in Avengers #85–86 (February–March 1971), and which was co-created with John Buscema.

In 1985–1986, Mark Gruenwald wrote a deconstructionist multiverse storyline featuring the Squadron Supreme in a self-titled twelve-issue limited series.

Captain Britain and the Dimensional Development Court

The concept of a timeline monitoring organization had previously been explored in a Captain Britain story arc originally published in the Marvel UK series The Daredevils #6-8 (1983). Written by Alan Moore and Alan Davis, Captain Britain is brought outside of time to the Supreme Omniversal Tribunal in Eden Place to testify before Lord Mandragon, Majestrix of the Dimensional Development Court, on behalf of the former majestrix, Opal Luna Saturnyne. Saturnyne is accused of failing to protect the multiverse from the creation of a deviant version of Earth-238.

Prior to Captain Britain's testimony, Mandragon declares that the Earth-238 universe must be "removed" from the multiverse before it destroys the continuums of the other universes. Saturnyn's legal counsel, a faceless being referred to as Lord Chancellor, objects, as the destruction of the Earth-238 universe will destroy material evidence of Saturnyne's innocence. Lord Mandragon overrules the defense's objection, citing Ominversal Writ clause 723-801-(d). He then proceeds to remove the dangerous deviant timestream using crystal technology.

It is revealed during the trial that the prime Earth that exists in Marvel Comics is Earth-616. (Because of this story, Alan Moore is usually credited with naming the mainstream Marvel Universe "Earth-616." However, Alan Davis has said that it was invented by Dave Thorpe, the previous writer of the UK-published Captain Britain stories.)

TVA as homage to Gruenwald and Captain Britain

While Captain Britain's 1983 story arc does not mention the Time Variance Authority, the Dimensional Development Court contains elements that were plainly retconned by Walt Simonson and Sal Buscema and in subsequent incarnations (such as the TVA employees — chronomonitors — functioning and appearing in new universes in the same manner as the Captain Britain Corps). According to Mark Gruenwald's widow Catherine, Gruenwald's 1985 Squadron Supreme limited series was the work about which he was the proudest. Any homage to him in the creation of the Time Variance Authority was likely reflective of that fact.

Fictional background

The TVA claims responsibility for monitoring the multiverse and can prune timelines if they are deemed too dangerous to exist. They also take action to prevent other beings from altering the past or future. They were first seen allowing Justice Peace, a lawman from the future, to travel to the 20th century in order to stop the killer Zaniac. Peace is able to succeed in his mission thanks to the assistance of Thor.

Despite their claims, the TVA's influence over time is not absolute. The scope of their influence is bordered by Alioth in the distant past as well as Kang the Conqueror, the Delubric Consortium, and Revelation at different eras throughout the timescape. There have also been numerous incidents of time travel or reality tampering where the TVA has failed to interfere.

At the End of Time, the last Director of the TVA creates the Time Keepers, the last three beings who exist in the remaining timeline in the universe. The process also ends up creating the Time Twisters, a trio of beings who imperiled all realities until stopped by Thor and other members of the Avengers.

The TVA are next seen utilizing the law-firm that She-Hulk works for on several instances and laws. Jurors for cases are plucked from time soon before they actually die, minimizing the effects on the time stream. This also establishes the tendencies for time-travelers to go through genetic scrambling, also to minimize the effect on the time-stream. Notably, the scrambling tends to cause similar appearances among various males who undergo the process. A defendant who is found guilty in one of these trials is executed with a weapon called the Retroactive Cannon, or Ret Can, which erases the victim, deleting their existence from the universe by undoing their birth and entire history. She-Hulk herself was handed this harsh sentence, but it was overturned as a reward when she helped defeat the villain Clockwise. (This weapon is an obvious reference to a retroactive continuity, or "retcon", a practice used by storytellers to add previously unknown material to an event or remove previously established material from an event in a previous story.)

Employees

Lower-ranked TVA employees, called chronomonitors, are literally faceless. They are created artificially, using "quantum technology". The moment a new reality appears, a new faceless agent is created to monitor it, along with the necessary equipment (a personal computer-like device, plus a desk and a chair) to do so.

Cloned managers resemble Mark Gruenwald — and, later, Tom DeFalco — both longtime Marvel Comics writers. The most frequent recurring manager is Mobius M. Mobius, a Gruenwald clone.

On occasion, the TVA hires mercenaries for use in the more dangerous missions, such as Justice Peace and Death's Head. These mercenaries often lose limbs, which the TVA replaces with clunky robotic parts. Another example of their seemingly anachronistic technology is a time machine shaped like an old locomotive. Professor Justin Alphonse Gamble, a pastiche of the Doctor, is a renegade from the TVA.

Known staff members

• Mr. Alternity – upper management
• First Secretary
• Professor Justin Alphonse Gamble – former employee, resigned and stole one of the time capsules
• Justice Mills – member who appears briefly in a flashback.
• He Who Remains – last survivor of the Time Variance Authority, present at the end of time.
• Mobius M. Mobius – bureaucrat and middle management, attempted to discipline the Fantastic Four for violations of the TVA's laws
• Mr. Orobouros – future clone of Mr. Paradox, ceased to exist when Clockwise used the Retro-Active Cannon on Paradox
• Mr. Paradox – ceased to exist when Clockwise blasted him with the Retro-Active Cannon
• Mr. Tesseract (Junior Management) – subordinate to Mobius, he was assigned to reconstruct the lost data from Earth-616
• Time Zone Manager
• Time Variance Authority Police Department – accompanied Justice Peace in effort to capture Godwulf
• Justice Peace – former freelance agent; he was punished for infractions of time travel; currently a member of the Federal Police and Special Services Units that are based in Brooklynopolis
• Justice Might, Justice Truth, and Justice Liberty – Three officers who aided Mobius in recapturing the Fantastic Four while they were running loose inside the Null-Time Zone
• Justice Love – agent and Justice Peace's partner; she appears to have legal training.
• Justice Goodwill – court officer, ceased to exist when Clockwise blasted him with the Retro-Active Cannon
• Time-Keepers - A group of beings created by He Who Remains to protect time
• Minutemen – armored agents of the TVA who are assigned to guard the TVA's facilities from the Null-Time Zone and extract the disruptive entities that come from the other time periods. Each of its members is a clone, cyborg, or robot.

In other media

The logo of the Time Variance Authority as depicted in Loki (TV series)

The Time Variance Authority (TVA) appears in the live-action Marvel Cinematic Universe / Disney+ series Loki (2021), with Mobius M. Mobius portrayed by Owen Wilson and exclusive members Hunter B-15 portrayed by Wunmi Mosaku, Hunter C-20 portrayed by Sasha Lane, and receptionist Casey portrayed by Eugene Cordero. In addition, Ravonna Renslayer (portrayed by Gugu Mbatha-Raw) serves as a judge within the TVA and the organization has an animated anthropomorphic clock (time-keeper) mascot named Miss Minutes (voiced by Tara Strong) who instructs new TVA agents. This version of the organization is a criminal organization consisting of time variants who were pulled from across time, had their memories erased, and led to believe that they and the TVA were created by the Time-Keepers.

See also

• The End of Eternity
• Time Lord
• Chronology protection conjecture
• Exiles (Marvel Comics)
• "Trials and Tribble-ations" – an episode of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine which depicts an organization called the Department of Temporal Investigations that performs a similar function of policing time
• Linear Men – an organization in the DC Comics universe that performs a similar function
• El ministerio del tiempo – a Spanish fantasy television series depicting the eponymous time-protection organization

External links

• Time Variance Authority at Marvel Appendix