The Multiverse Saga will come to a head when Avengers: Secret Wars rolls into theaters on May 1, 2026. The highly-anticipated film is shrouded in mystery, but Marvel chief Kevin Feige has left a trail of breadcrumbs for us to follow, beginning with his screenwriting pick. Join us now as we explore the possibilities of everything from the main story to the heroes who will fill the Avengers ranks.
When Feige first unveiled Secret Wars at last summer’s San Diego Comic-Con, the Avengers film was announced with a release date of Nov. 7, 2025. However, Variety shared on June 13 that it will now release on May 7, 2027. In the wake of the Blade reboot’s behind-the-scenes struggles, Secret Wars was one of three major films Marvel pushed back on the calendar. Along with SW, Deadpool 3 and Fantastic Four have seen their theatrical premieres shifted as well.
What we know so far
If nothing else, Secret Wars is a fitting title.
At this stage, very little about what will be the sixth Avengers movie has been made public. The title was only revealed this summer when Feige unveiled The Multiverse Saga, which would end with Avengers: Secret Wars, thus wrapping up the MCU’s Phase Six in 2026. Of course, no release date is set in stone, and one that’s over three years away is subject to change. For the moment, that is Marvel’s target premiere date.
Outside the title, we also know who will be plotting the story: Michael Waldron.
Recently, Feige announced that a lead screenwriter had been hired for Secret Wars. Just days ago, Waldron, who penned the script for Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness and served as showrunner for Loki, was given the nod for SW. That still leaves the director’s chair unfilled, and Marvel Studios has been struggling in that department lately.
If prior events are any indication, finding a suitable director may be more of a challenge than getting a screenwriter. After directing 2016’s Doctor Strange, Scott Derrickson was originally tapped to helm MOM, but he walked away due to the ominous umbrella statement of “creative differences.” Next, Fantastic Four lost its first director when Jon Watts opted out of that project, making way for Matt Shakman. Most recently, Bassam Tariq stepped away from the Blade reboot, though Marvel says that is due to scheduling conflicts as he will remain on the film as a producer.
Months before Secret Wars hits theaters, audiences will get what should be the lead-in film, Avengers: The Kang Dynasty, which will premiere in 2025. Daniel Destin Cretton has been given the director’s chair for that film following the success of his other MCU film, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. With The Kang Dynasty having found its director, it shouldn’t be long before Marvel announces who will pilot Secret Wars. Hopefully, it won’t be another revolving door situation.
Years of anticipation
Up until July’s San Diego Comic-Con panel, the rumors of a Secret Wars movie had been percolating for years.
The first notion that an SW adaptation was coming to the MCU came just after the release of the last Avengers movie, Endgame. Joe and Anthony Russo—the directorial minds behind several Marvel megahits including both Endgame and Infinity War as well as the two previous Captain America entries, The Winter Soldier and Civil War—had said the fourth Avengers film would be their last in the MCU. However, they added that if the opportunity to direct, say, Secret Wars were on the table, that might be a conversation worth having.
From there, comic fans began theorizing on ways Secret Wars could come together on the big screen. Meanwhile, Feige and the rest of Marvel kept quiet on the subject. Then came a bombshell straight from the creator of the original 1980s Secret Wars comics, Jim Shooter. During a Megacon Orlando panel in 2021, he revealed that a Marvel representative had been in touch with him about the rights to Secret Wars, which oddly enough had remained with Shooter. That led the former writer and Marvel editor in chief to speculate that an SW movie was in the works.
With all the gossip and rumors floating across the internet, fans were crossing their fingers for word on a Secret Wars film. When Feige made the big announcement at SDCC, the people did rejoice, and understandably so.
What can we expect to see in Secret Wars?
Officially, all we know about Secret Wars is who will write it and when it will hit theaters. Past that, the floodgates are open to a wide range of theories. Given the endless possibilities of the Multiverse, anything could happen.
With so many question marks surrounding Secret Wars, what can we expect from the movie? For one thing, it is almost certainly going to be an action-comedy, considering Waldron’s previous MCU entries. Let’s just cross our fingers that the bad decisions that abounded in MOM were Sam Raimi’s and not Waldron’s.
The most likely scenario is that the plot will somehow revolve around Kang the Conqueror. At SDCC’s panel, Feige said that The Multiverse Saga would feature the time-traveling, interdimensional villain as its centerpiece. Since SW will close out Phase Six and The Multiverse Saga, we can safely assume that Kang will be the final boss of Avengers 6. What else the plot will entail is an entirely different hypothesis, and it could potentially lead to a rebooted MCU.
The Waldron news provides a large clue regarding the SW plot. Much has been written about what direction the story could go and whether or not Feige will take any plot points from the comics.
The original 1984 story was intended to market a new Marvel toy line. After focus groups pinged at the words “secret” and “wars,” Shooter crafted a simple plot revolving around a godlike being, The Beyonder, who transported an array of heroes and villains (most of whom just so happened to be in the action figure line) to Battleworld in a giant good-versus-evil showdown for no real reason. It functioned as a metaphor for kids bringing all their toys to the sandbox and having them wage war on one another.
When the Secret Wars concept was dusted off in 2015, one of the plot points was an incursion event between Earths of alternate dimensions. The result was all the character variants and alternate realities that had been created over the years thrust into yet another metaphorical sandbox. Guess who helped introduce the concepts of variants and incursions to the MCU? Michael Waldron. In fact, it’s reasonable to assume that he was already helping to plot the events of Secret Wars before Loki aired and prior to him writing MOM.
The potential new Avengers cast
One of the looming questions is about the cast. With Avengers in the title, it implies that, shocker, we’ll see Earth’s Mightiest Heroes return to the screen. Since the original Avengers lineup brought their story to a close in Endgame, we won’t see the first incarnation of the team (although anything can happen when the Multiverse and time travel are involved). That leaves the door open for an entirely new squad ready to take up the fight against Kang. Who are the most likely candidates for the job?
It’s believed that three characters will serve as cornerstones for the future MCU: Daredevil, Echo, and Shang-Chi. Although Echo doesn’t have superpowers at the moment, in the comics, she is the current host of the god-level cosmic entity The Phoenix Force, and that could be a predictor of things to come for her in the MCU.
Feige had said that Doctor Strange would be the anchor of The Multiverse Saga. Another thing to remember is that he also expressed how “tremendously important” Loki would be to the future of the MCU. Given that Marvel handed writing duties to the Loki showrunner and MOM screenwriter, it would seem those pieces are coming together. That puts both Doctor Strange and Loki (and possibly Sylvie) as almost guaranteed Avengers by the time Secret Wars rolls around. After Clea’s reveal in the MOM post-credits scene, she’s a likely contender as well.
Another character likely to cement her standing in a new Avengers squad is Shuri. The latest Wakanda Forever trailer reveals that Shuri follows her comic roots and takes up the Black Panther mantle. That could mean the BP sequel will be her showcase with the end goal of establishing her as on par with T’Challa as a superhero. It would then lay the foundation for Shuri to be an integral part of the Avengers by Phase Six.
The three remaining original Avengers will somehow play into the mix as well…if they survive until the end of Phase Six, that is. I suspect that by the conclusion of Secret Wars, we could see the end of the line for Hulk, Thor, and Hawkeye. At this point, there’s already contingency plans ready for their replacements in She-Hulk, Hercules, and Kate Bishop. However, they will likely get their grand sendoff in Secret Wars and not sooner.
Outside any potential Avengers, we’re also likely to see the Fantastic Four play a large role in the Marvel ensemble film. Those roles have yet to be cast, so we’ll have to see who brings those characters to the MCU. Rest assured, they will be aboard the train when it stops at the edge of the Multiverse for Secret Wars.
Again, this is all speculation. I invoke the Kevin Feige Rule (which I totally made up), which states that nothing means anything until Feige says differently. Still, it’s playing the guessing game that makes the MCU so much fun in the first place.
