The other day I was thinking that it would be cool to have a new major Marvel story arc with Ultron as the antagonist. Then I remembered there was some mention of the "Ultron War" in one of the issues of the latest run of Avengers. When I got to this page in Avengers #5 however, it dawned on me. This timeline from the looks of it seems to be giving us clues as to what the Marvel U has in store for us down the road. I've listed these cryptic words and messages, as written on the timeline, in chronological order below. 
 

Yeah, I hope the 16)Return of the King thing is T'Challa returning to Wakanda-with vibranium in tow.

Whoa, good thinking. I remember seeing that panel, but I didn't pay too much attention to it. But then, the first few items have already happened - it's fun to think that maybe the Marvel U was giving fans a chance to see what they're planning in the upcoming year(s?).  
Is Man Without Fear a hint at the conclusion to Fear Itself?  
Things to ponder... 

I think Man Without Fear refers to Shadowland. What really sticks out to me is #30. Human Torch Reborn anyone?

30) could be The Phoenix. 

Ultron War! Yes!

19 implies Hope Summers and Dr. Doom : o
 
At least I think it does.

" The other day I was thinking that it would be cool to have a new major Marvel story arc with Ultron as the antagonist. Then I remembered there was some mention of the "Ultron War" in one of the issues of the latest run of Avengers. When I got to this page in Avengers #5 however, it dawned on me. This timeline from the looks of it seems to be giving us clues as to what the Marvel U has in store for us down the road. I've listed these cryptic words and messages, as written on the timeline, in chronological order below. 
 

  1) Siege                                                                           16) Return of the King
  2) Captain America Reborn (What did Cap see?)           17) Night Falls?
  3) Nine Worlds in Disarray                                               18) Iron Lad (Re)turns?
  4) Heroic Age Begins!                                                      19) All Hope Lies in Doom!
  5) THREE!                                                                        20) The Drumm of Revenge
  6) Hope returns?                                                               21) H:\ Stark Resilient
  7) Spider on the Horizon                                                   22) SCHIZM!
  8) Man Without Fear                                                         23) Where is Wanda?
  9) Throwbacks!                                                                 24) Galactus Seed
10) Chaos!                                                                          25) Fear Without Man
11) Five Lights                                                                    26) What's in the Rings?!?!
12) Who is Worthy? (9.9.9.)                                                27) STEVE'S VISION!13) Master of Kung Fu                                                        28) Ultron War14) Nova Antiquus                                                              29) Yesterday's X-Men15) Academy Traitor!                                                          30) Born to Burn!    What do you guys make of these messages? Do any of them stick out to you? Any of them sound familiar or interesting? What are your thoughts? "

I remember when this first came out. Interesting how we are progressing down. I'm thinking the "Yesterday's X-Men will have something to do with the Avengers vs. X-Men arc coming up. Heres why, wasn't it rumored that this arc will deal somehow with mass resurrections? For other events we have obviously seen Schism, Galactus refer to his seed in Fantastic Four 600, etc. Fun stuff

Here's my own interpretation of the list of event

06) Hope Returnx - referring, of course, to the "Messiah War" X-crossover

07) Spider on the Horizon - reference to "Big Time"

08) Man Without Fear - the return of Matt Murdock after the events of "Shadowland"

09) Throwbacks - ... ok, this is one that I cant' figure out. The only thing that comes to mind is the return of old comics, characters and costumes

10) Chaos! - the "Chaos War" event, featuring the return of many dead characters, especially Alpha Flight

11) Five Lights - the formation of Hope Summers' team

12) Who is Worthy? - the catchphrase from "Fear Itself"

13) Master of Kung Fu - return of Shang Chi to active character status

14) Nova Antiquus - I cant be sure about this one, but I'd suspect that this is a mysterious reference to the "S.H.I.E.L.D." storyline, featuring Michaelangelo, Da Vinci & Nathaniel Richards

15) Academy Traitor - "Avengers Academy" storyline, with Reptil replacing his younger counterpart some time before the revelation

16) Return of the King - I also believed that this referred to the return of Black Bolt

17) Night Falls? - this is another one that I honestly can't figure out

18) Iron Lad (Re)turns? - as seen in "Avengers: The Children's Crusade"

19) All Hope Lies in Doom! - I believe this refers to Doctor Doom joining the FF

20) The Drumm of Revenge - to the best of my knowledge, this has not happened yet; would likely refer to the return of the spirit of Jericho Drumm's brother

21) H:\ Stark Resilient - this could refer to just about anything involving Iron Man

22) SCHIZM! - serlf-evident

23) Where is Wanda?- likely referral to the ongoing "A vs. X" crossover

24) Galactus Seed - I believe this refers to a future event where the "Galactus Seed" makes a reappearance

25) Fear Without Man - the rebirth of Nightmare or a storyline involving the Lords of Fear

26) What's in the Rings?!?! - Two options: something involving the Mandarin or an alien invasion event involving Saturn

27) STEVE'S VISION! - no clue as yet

28) Ultron War - major event coming soon

29) Yesterday's X-Men - the end of the "Schism" period?

30) Born to Burn!

There is also a final line that can be found near the bottom right corner of the spread: "Scorched Earth?" - that might refer to a possible outcome of the Ultron War.

This thread is even more awesome looking at the Marvel U timeline then and now.

"Yesterday's X-Men" I suppose would refer to Bendis' All-New X-men...I can't believe they had it planned out that far ahead!

Additionally, "Steve's Vision" and some of the hints given in Fraction's Invincible Iron Man would all seem to have been building up to this event... I guess they either had the event plotted out three years-plus in advance, or they had originally scheduled it for earlier and other stories were made a priority which led to its being postponed. Either way, I kind of like the long, slow burn leading up to this, as opposed to an out-of-nowhere event like Fear Itself, where the threat just kind of appeared out of the ether.

@stephaniebrite said:

Whoa, good thinking. I remember seeing that panel, but I didn't pay too much attention to it. But then, the first few items have already happened - it's fun to think that maybe the Marvel U was giving fans a chance to see what they're planning in the upcoming year(s?). Is Man Without Fear a hint at the conclusion to Fear Itself? Things to ponder...

@Iron_Lad said:

I think Man Without Fear refers to Shadowland. What really sticks out to me is #30. Human Torch Reborn anyone?

Man without fear obviously is Daredevil.