The Marvel Cinematic Universe is set within Earth-616, similar to Marvel Comics continuity, confirms Marvel Studios producer Nate Moore.

Marvel Studios producer Nate Moore confirms that the MCU is set in the 616 Universe. In the simplest of terms, the "616 Universe" is the main Marvel universe, as it pertains to the comics. It's where the majority of stories, characters, and events all reside within the same timeline. However, throughout the years, Marvel has experimented with alternate realities and multiverses, which essentially create a new universe outside of the main 616 Universe. Marvel has experimented with different timelines/universes with lines like the Ultimates and the Spider-Verse but has remained centered on the 616 Universe for all of their main books. It's a controversial term in the comics world, as it's more of a fan designation than a professional one, but can be a helpful moniker as things diverge into alternate timelines/realities in the comics, and now, in the MCU films.

In Spider-Man: Far From Home the term "Earth, Dimension 616" was first mentioned by Mysterio, although it was later revealed he was a phony. However, the moniker remains true, especially as the term "multiverse" is now making its way into the current timeline, which all began in Avengers: Endgame, with more introductions into alternate realities and multiverses with Spider-Man: Far From Home, as well as Marvel's Disney+ shows like Loki and What If...?, and will continue with Spider-Man: No Way Home in a big way, which appears to be cracking open the timelines and multiverse in a way fans haven't seen thus far.

In an appearance on the Ringer-Verse podcast, Marvel producer Nate Moore made it clear that the main MCU universe is the traditional 616 Universe. While talking about the untimely passing of Black Panther's Chadwick Boseman and whether or not the studio would recast his role as T'Challa, Moore says that audiences "will not see T'Challa in the MCU 616 Universe," which can be taken in a number of ways. He elaborates that the issue the filmmakers had was figuring out how to proceed without T'Challa, who has been a staple character in the MCU since his introduction, and continuing the main narrative story in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. Here's what Moore had to say:

"You will not see T'Challa in the MCU 616 Universe. We couldn't do it. I will say that when Chad [Boseman] passed, it was a real conversation that we had with [Ryan] Coogler about 'what do we do'? And, it was a fast conversation. It wasn't weeks, it was minutes of 'we have to figure out how to move this franchise on without that character'. I think we all feel that so much of T'Challa in the MCU, not in comics, is tied to Chadwick's performance, is what he brought to that role both on and offscreen, I would argue."

Boseman had already supplied his voice for the character of T'Challa for the Marvel/Disney+ show What If...?, playing an alternate version of the character, who ends up being abducted as a child by Yondu's subordinates, thinking he was Peter Quill. T'Challa ends up becoming Star-Lord in this timeline, which audiences saw play out in the series with the character recurring in the show all the way up to the end, essentially creating another variant version of the character in an alternate timeline. Whether this version of T'Challa will return in What If...? season 2 is unknown, but it shows that the character can still exist in some form or another, even if he no longer exists in the main 616 Universe.

Marvel Comics creators rarely acknowledge the Earth-616 Universe or pay much heed to it, as the only other variant timelines from the publisher include the Ultimates and the Spider-Verse. The Ultimates line has since converged with the 616 timeline, which essentially brought characters like Wolverine back to life, while folding Ultimates-created characters like Miles Morales into the main universe, and created a new universe that no longer actually carries the 616 name. The MCU has toyed with both of those universes in creating their films, pulling the Samuel L. Jackson likeness of Nick Fury from the Ultimates line, as well as multiple other aspects, and mixing them up to form the MCU. So, while Moore cites the MCU 616 Universe, it's actually more like its own universe altogether outside of the comics, as it operates by its own set of rules and creative choices, culling material from the books and altering it as needed, be it for storytelling, budget, or time purposes, seeing as the mediums are both very different. As the multiverse continues to roll out in the MCU it will be interesting to see just how much the rules apply over time and how much they bend or break to fit creative needs, such as the case with Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.

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Source: Ringer-Verse Podcast