Warning: Spoilers for Secret Invasion to follow.
We may all be looking ahead to Avengers: Secret Wars as the magnum opus of the Marvel Cinematic Universe‘s Multiverse Saga, but we’d be remiss to forget that we don’t have the full roadmap just yet.
Indeed, beyond the three known Phase Six entries in Fantastic Four, Avengers: The Kang Dynasty, and Secret Wars, we know that Armor Wars and untitled sequels for both Spider-Man: No Way Home and Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings lie ahead, but even those films aren’t the biggest point of intrigue.
That honor goes to the three confirmed Phase Six film release dates that don’t currently have a title attached to them. The dates in question, all in 2026, are Feb. 13, July 24, and Nov. 6. Exactly which stories might be taking place in and around the one-two punch of The Kang Dynasty and Secret Wars is anyone’s guess, but it just might be safe to wager that at least one of them will owe itself to the developments present in Secret Invasion and The Marvels.
Of those aforementioned dates, one of them, Feb. 13, takes place before The Kang Dynasty, while July 24 and Nov. 6 occur after The Kang Dynasty and before Secret Wars. Putting aside whatever Kang does or doesn’t accomplish in The Kang Dynasty, it’s safe to say that the in-universe nuances during that time are going to warrant an assembly for a brand new group of Avengers.
Possible but unconfirmed spoilers for The Marvels ahead.
If those post-credits scene leaks are true, then the ending of The Marvels will see Kamala Khan set off to haphazardly form the Young Avengers, with Kate Bishop and Cassie Lang being her first two recruits. With a threat as cosmic as Kang on the horizon, it’s probably safe to say that Kamala’s ragtag Avengers team won’t be the tip of the spear in that particular fight, but The Kang Dynasty and Secret Wars are Avengers movies for a reason. Enter the potential for the A-Force, Marvel’s all-female Avengers team, to roll up in their own movie.
Both Carol Danvers — one of the most prominent members of the team in the comics — and Monica Rambeau would be clear frontrunners for joining the ranks of the MCU’s take on the A-Force following their rollicking adventure in The Marvels, and more potential candidates seem to be cropping up every other minute; She-Hulk, for instance, is another major member of the original comic book iteration of the team, and especially since her abilities are already on par with the Hulk, there’s little reason to doubt that Jen Walters could show back up for the formation of the A-Force.
As for the Secret Invasion x-factor, it seems as though G’iah is slowly becoming more of an ally to Nick Fury as time goes on, and while we have yet to see what the final episode of Secret Invasion will bring us, her newfound status as a Super-Skrull has rocketed her potential for superhero shenanigans, so who’s to say she won’t reunite with her childhood friend Monica and join the ranks of the Kang strike force?
And it doesn’t stop there; Sabra is set to debut in Captain America: Brave New World, while Elektra, another team member in the comics, is getting roped into the MCU thanks to Deadpool 3. Indeed, the A-Force pieces may be falling a bit more quietly than they are for players like Loki and Sam Wilson’s Captain America, but they’re falling nevertheless, and we can only imagine how awe-inspiring that completed picture would be.
If the A-Force is indeed on their way, though, many questions still remain; could they form before the events of The Kang Dynasty on Feb. 13, or might they unite in response to Kang’s initial, multiverse-shattering attack, assuming he follows in Thanos’ footsteps and “wins” in the first half of the Multiverse Saga’s climax? Further, if Kang isn’t their first assignment, who might they find themselves up against as a freshly-put together team? Might they serve as a sort of springboard for the Young Avengers seeing as Kamala Khan, Kate Bishop, and Cassie Lang were all members of the A-Force prior to the end of the Secret Wars comic storyline? If so, just how involved could the Young Avengers — many of whom have already shown up at this point — be during the pinnacle of the Multiverse Saga?
At the end of the day, it’s hard to say exactly what Marvel Studios is cooking, but given these in-universe context clues and the wealth of space in the Kang Dynasty-Secret Wars release window, it just might be high time for A-Force to enter the fray.
