Decades Before The MCU, Judge Dredd Pioneered This Unique Approach To Continuity

Published Sep 9, 2026, 4:36 PM EDT Jared is a writer, editor, and Communications Studies graduate who loves popular nerd culture (almost anything to do with Marvel, DC, Star Wars, or The Lord of the Rings) and the interactive storytelling medium. Jared's first console was the PS1, wherein he fell for Spider-Man, Spyro the Dragon, and Crash Bandicoot. Judge Dredd fans who’ve been reading almost half a century’s worth of the violent law enforcer’s stories have been treated to real-time storytelling where they’ve witnessed exquisite worldbuilding and character development unimpeded by sliding timescales. This route isn’t for the faint of heart, seeing as it’s much more convenient if you’re able to slow time to a crawl so that nobody becomes too old, and as much time can be spent in one era of comic book lore as you’d like. However, Judge Dredd stories, as rife with sci-fi tropes as they are, are told in real-time. This is not the case for Marvel (or DC, for that matter), and sadly so. But even though the MCU goes by real time, Judge Dredd did so first. The MCU Didn’t Invent Fluid Continuity, But It’s Stuck To It (More Or Less) The Marvel Cinematic Universe was successful in releasing movies that were set within the same year; for example, Iron Man was set in and released in 2008, and The Avengers was set in and released in 2012. The MCU then hit a snag when half the universe was “blipped” and reappeared five years later, as those affected were technically the same age as they were before they blipped, while everyone else’s lives and time itself went on at a natural pace. To be fair, not every new entry will coincide with real time, as some MCU movies or TV shows may take place in the past (largely, at least), like Captain America: The First Avenger, Black Widow, or Eternals. Moreover, it would be virtually impossible for some MCU characters to be expected to keep up with real-time storytelling advancement, as this would mean that Peter Parker’s high school tenure needed to be depicted in four consecutive movies, all releasing a year after one another, beginning with Peter in his freshman year during Captain America: Civil War. Thankfully, the blip, along with movies that had staggered releases subsequent to Avengers: Endgame, solved that problem, and our own real timeline has since nearly caught back up to the MCU’s, relatively speaking. Judge Dredd Hasn’t Been Afraid To Grow Old, Unlike Spider-Man Judge Dredd stories have run the gamut, first depicting the titular street judge as young and having a certain distinction in his worldview, and later on depicting him as a much older man who’s been given the grace of time in order to reflect on who he is and how he’s affected the dystopian sci-fi world he inhabits. Effectively, one year in real life is one year in-universe. Today, Judge Dredd is technically in his 80s, with technicalities arising due to his unique biology as a clone and multiple rejuvenation processes making it slightly difficult to discern precisely what age he should actually be. Of course, an 80-something-year-old judge is still far superior in every way to any ordinary, youthful human. 49 real-time years have passed since he first appeared in 2000 AD in 1977—the year 2099 in-universe—and therefore, Judge Dredd stories are now canonically taking place in the year 2148. The MCU hasn’t yet had several decades of continuity errors to untangle in real time, and Marvel comic book lore is hardly ever terribly consistent between runs or series anyway. Nonetheless, Judge Dredd’s commitment to an authentic passage of time is far easier to parse. Marvel Comics employs a sliding timescale that basically ensures that time may pass as slowly or as quickly as storytellers wish, and it’s because of this device that the Earth-616 Peter Parker hasn’t grown old. It’d admittedly be a bit depressing if every iconic Marvel character who first appeared in the 1960s was in their 60s, but for Peter to still be in his late-20s or early-30s after 64 years seems fairly absurd, especially considering how controversial Spider-Man’s history of retcons is. Judge Dredd First Film Judge Dredd Cast Sylvester Stallone, Armand Assante, Diane Lane, Rob Schneider, Max Von Sydow, Karl Urban, Olivia Thirlby, Lena Headey Created by John Wagner, Carlos Ezquerra Latest Film Dredd Movie(s) Judge Dredd, Dredd Character(s) Judge Dredd, Rico, Judge Hershey, Chief Justice Fargo, Judge Anderson, Ma-Ma Madrigal, Judge Cal, Judge Death The Judge Dredd franchise is based on the dystopian law enforcement character Judge Dredd, who originated from the British comic series 2000 AD in 1977. Created by John Wagner and Carlos Ezquerra, Judge Dredd serves as both judge and executioner in the futuristic and crime-ridden Mega-City One. The franchise blends science fiction with dark satire, critiquing totalitarianism and authoritarian justice systems. Over time, Judge Dredd has evolved into a multimedia franchise that includes comics, films, and video games, with two major film adaptations: Judge Dredd (1995) starring Sylvester Stallone and Dredd (2012) starring Karl Urban.