Marvel may have laid out its plans, but the MCU’s most intriguing possibilities hover over what surprises could be in store for 2025.
What’s coming from Marvel Studios in 2025? After all, the mega announcements from Kevin Feige and the gang with their entire 2023 Phase Five schedule put on full display, there’s plenty of surprises left. The 2024 slate still has some wiggle room, but it’s 2025 that has the most to offer.
Officially, there are only two movies with release dates, and they are heavyweights: Avengers: The Kang Dynasty and Avengers: Secret Wars. Those two will bring an end to Phase Six and provide the conclusion to The Multiverse Saga. What exactly the newest saga is about is anyone’s guess, but the implications are massive.
On that note, let’s take a closer look at not only what is on the slate, but what movies we may see come together by ‘25.
Avengers: The Kang Dynasty
Release date: May 2
Starring: Jonathan Majors
Since Kang is in the title, we can confirm that Jonathan Majors will be the star of this movie. What that will entail remains to be seen, but let’s put the fun in conjecture (the “f” is silent…and missing).
This will be the first Avengers movie without the original lineup, specifically core members Robert Downey, Jr., Chris Evans, and Scarlett Johansson. We can safely assume that Anthony Mackie will fill the Captain America spot on the roster, and many fans have speculated that Riri Williams will take the Iron Man slot while Yelena Belova will be Black Widow. However, that may not be the case. Ironheart could be a Young Avenger by that point, and all signs point to Yelena joining the Thunderbolts for their movie in 2024.
What will overshadow the new Avengers will be Kang. More specifically, Kangs plural, because Feige has already confirmed that there will be multiple variants in the Multiverse Saga. Plus, He Who Remains had prophesied the coming of his variants in the Loki season one finale. By the time we get to The Kang Dynasty, this movie could be filled with several versions of the Conqueror. In the comics, they have their own name: the Council of Cross-Time Kangs, and they could be the focus of the fifth Avengers film.
We have three years before Avengers: The Kang Dynasty reaches theaters, and getting there should be a wild ride.
Avengers: Secret Wars
Release date: November 7
Starring: TBD
While it may be safe to say that Jonathan Majors will star as the titular character in The Kang Dynasty, the next Avengers movie is all question marks. Besides the release date, all Marvel Studios announced was that it would be the final piece to The Multiverse Saga and close out Phase Six. The rest is up for debate, which honestly is the best part of the MCU.
As we explained in “What is ‘Secret Wars’ about?,” the original 1984 Marvel Super-Heroes’ Secret Wars was meant to sell action figures. That is why it has the distinct feel of kids taking all their superhero toys to the sandbox for a mega battle just for the fun of it. The comics told the story of The Beyonder, a godlike cosmic being who kidnapped his favorite heroes and villains, dragged them to Battleworld, and set them against each other just to see which side would win. By Secret Wars II, Beyonder took a human form, and those same heroes and villains sought their revenge.
Where most Marvel theorists think Avengers: Secret Wars is heading could be straight from the pages of 2015’s Secret Wars revival. The MCU established the idea of incursions between dimensions in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, and that concept is at the heart of the 2015 SW. The condensed version of things is the Ultimate Universe and the Marvel-616 were colliding. Doctor Doom, with some help from the Molecule Man, stole the power of The Beyonders. As the entire Multiverse was collapsing, Doom used his newly acquired godlike abilities to make a patchwork universe from all the scraps of the old worlds. He then became God Emperor Doom, residing over what was more or less Marvel meets Game of Thrones in an excellent story.
There are countless rumors of Doom arriving in the MCU, and some theories suggest he will be introduced as early as Wakanda Forever. It is highly unlikely we’ll see God Emperor Doom in the MCU, but it would be amazing if Marvel took that road.
Deadpool 3
Release date: TBD
Starring: Ryan Reynolds
Now we get into the speculative portion of today’s list. Not only has Feige confirmed that Ryan Reynolds will return as the “Merc with a Mouth,” but Disney is okay with it being Marvel Studios’ first R-rated movie. When we could see Deadpool 3 is up in the air, but at least fans can look forward to more foul-mouthed, raunchy, fourth-wall breaking humor.
What other characters we could see in the Deadpool franchise has been the subject of many online debates. Deadpool 2, released in 2018, featured Josh Brolin as Cable, Zazie Beetz as Domino, and Reynolds provided the voice to the best onscreen Juggernaut yet. (Go ahead and sing the song. You know you want to.)
Will we see any of those characters return for the third movie? Beetz has gone on record saying that she has had no conversations with Disney. There are unsubstantiated rumors that Brolin will reprise his role as Cable, but that doesn’t mean much at this point. All we can do is keep our ears to the rail and listen for the rumblings.
Armor Wars
Release date: TBD
Starring: Don Cheadle
Out of all the Disney Plus offerings at SDCC, this was a glaring omission from the festivities. Feige first announced Armor Wars in February 2021, but there have been no new details since then. With Riri Williams, aka Ironheart, debuting in Wakanda Forever before she flies into her Ironheart Disney Plus show, most Marvel pundits suspected the show’s full cast, plot, and release date would be unveiled at SDCC. Since Armor Wars was left off the agenda, the speculation is that it could be part of Marvel’s package for September’s D23 Expo.
As for the plot, only Feige and his inner circle know for sure. When the show was initially revealed, the synopsis gave the vague premise of Cheadle’s War Machine fighting to keep Tony Stark’s Iron Man technology from falling into the wrong hands. That leads many to believe the show will center on different figures looking to profit from Tony’s Hall of Armor. The prevailing theory is that the Punisher himself, Frank Castle, will follow the comics and get his hands on the War Machine suit.
Black Panther: Kingdom of Wakanda
Release date: TBD
Starring: TBD
After the success of Black Panther, which earned Marvel Studios its first Best Picture nomination at the Academy Awards, Feige lined up two more projects set in Wakanda. The new trailer for Wakanda Forever has wowed audiences with its scope and beauty, but there’s a mystery streaming series in the works as well.
Nothing has been said about Kingdom of Wakanda except that Black Panther and Wakanda Forever director Ryan Coogler will helm the Disney Plus show. In the past, there were rumors that he was developing a spinoff streaming series focused on the Dora Milaje. That could still be a possibility, depending on what happens when Atlantis invades Wakanda this November.
