Murphy's Multiverse

Tag: Secret Wars

  • The MCU Could Set Up a Non-Earth-616 Universe With Phase 5 and 6 Projects

    The MCU Could Set Up a Non-Earth-616 Universe With Phase 5 and 6 Projects

    One of the many reveals at Marvel Studios’ Hall H Panel at San Diego Comic-Con was that two Avengers films would be the final events of Phase 4-6, now officially coined the “Multiverse Saga.” While Avengers: The Kang Dynasty and Avengers: Secret Wars were new announcements, many were already speculating that a Marvel Comics’ Secret Wars-inspired event with Kang the Conqueror as a main villain was the endgame of the current Marvel Cinematic Universe saga.

    Avengers: Secret Wars gets its name from two major Marvel Comics events—Secret Wars (1984) and Secret Wars (2015). Both share some similar elements, such as Beyonder(s) and the creation of a Battleworld, and Marvel may very well take elements of both of these events to craft the 5th and 6th Avengers movies. Still, considering the 2015 event was prefaced on the destruction and ultimate revival of the multiverse, it does not take a scholar to guess that the 2015 event and the events leading up to it will be an extremely heavy influence on Secret Wars.

    Earlier this year, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness actually gave us potentially the first direct reference to a Secret Wars (2015)-inspired event. While before the Illuminati, Reed Richards told our 616 universe Doctor Strange about the phenomena called incursions, where universes get destroyed when colliding with one another. A simplified summary of the igniting event before 2015’s Secret Wars is the incursion of the last two surviving universes in the Marvel multiverse—Earth-616 and Earth-1610. Many are familiar with Earth-1610 as the “Ultimate” universe, as it was the subject of Marvel Comics’ imprint Ultimate Comics. Earth 1610, among many other contributions, was responsible for the introduction of Miles Morales as Spider-Man. 

    Part of the reason Secret Wars (2015) was as compelling and exciting as it was is due to the long-running and meticulous building of that separate universe—Earth-1610–alongside the primary Earth-616 storylines. Secret Wars (2015) writer Jonathan Hickman was the driving force behind the Avengers, New Avengers, and some Ultimate Comics, which all led into the event. The Marvel Cinematic Universe is in a very different state than the comics were ahead of Secret Wars. We know that the 6th Avengers film of the same name will release in just a little over 3 years. As such, the MCU will have trouble being able to capitalize on its storytelling during those years given the limited amount of projects it can feasibly churn out in comparison to comics. Still, if the MCU wants to ensure its next major event feels and hits like the massive event it purports to be, it might take specific inspiration from the comics that inspired it. 

    Specifically, the MCU would benefit from having at least one universe separate from Earth-616 for audiences to be invested in. While there are bits and pieces scattered throughout the Multiverse Saga already (such as in What If… ? and Multiverse of Madness), there is no particular set of stories taking place in a dedicated separate universe yet. With two entire Phases left to go before the end of the Saga, Marvel Studios has a decent amount of time and a sufficient quantity of projects lined up to explore something akin to the Ultimate universe in live-action. 

    While some of the MCU’s animated projects leave the multiverse implications wide open, the MCU could boldly step into the next few years with major live-action projects that actually take place in a non-616 universe. Marvel Studios has said nothing to indicate this about any of its upcoming projects, but it would be a relatively easy and low-stakes (in the long-term) way of building up to Secret Wars and its aftermath. In the comics, the conclusion of the event saw the reconstruction of the multiverse, but it did not return to exactly how it existed before its destruction. An easy example is, again, Miles Morales. Though his home was the 1610 universe, the new multiverse saw him established as part of the main 616 universe.

    The MCU would similarly have this option with any non-616 characters it established. In other words, the fact that some major characters could debut and exist outside of 616 in the coming years would not mean that our main MCU timeline would be without them in the long run. This could mean anything from the upcoming Fantastic Four, Blade, Deadpool 3, Daredevil: Born Again, or other projects could take place outside of the MCU’s Earth-616 universe fans are accustomed to. Aside from telling the Multiverse Saga story, it could also help Marvel Studios better integrate some of its newer properties from Fox or reboot Marvel TV projects into the proper MCU.

    We have yet to see what the next Phases of the MCU will bring, though the Multiverse Saga would be quite bland if the multiverse did not dramatically expand story-wise ahead of its conclusion in Secret Wars. Bits and pieces of other universes will play their part, but firmly establishing major live-action storylines in another universe would heighten the overall narrative and experience for fans since we now officially know where the current saga ends. We will find out more, presumably soon, but some of the upcoming live-action projects could very well begin establishing an entirely new universe than the one the MCU has spent virtually all of its time in. 

    In light of all the new MCU announcements, check out Murphy’s Multiverse’s continuously-updated What to Expect from the Future of the MCU and When to Expect It.

  • Marvel Studios Director Takes Himself Out of the Running to Helm ‘Avengers: Secret Wars’

    Marvel Studios Director Takes Himself Out of the Running to Helm ‘Avengers: Secret Wars’

    Kevin Feige delighted and confused Marvel Studios’ fans with the announcement that Avengers: Secret Wars is targeting a November 2025 theatrical release. Though the project had been teased as early as June of 2021 in Season One of Loki, the debate about whether or not something on the scale of Secret Wars could be put together in less than a decade raged on amongst fans.

    That debate hasn’t ended with the announcement of the film, but some attention has been diverted to who might be directing Avengers: Secret Wars. When it was announced that Destin Daniel Cretton signed on to helm Avengers: The Kang Dynasty, which will debut just six months before Avengers: Secret Wars, it was also revealed that Cretton was not on board for Secret Wars. It’s hardly uncommon for a Marvel Studios’ film that’s over 3 years away to be without a director, but for one of this magnitude, it’s become a talking point and most of the discussion seems to center on directors who have worked with Marvel Studios in the past.

    One such director, Scott Derrickson, who directed 2016’s Doctor Strange and served as an executive producer on Doctor Strange in The Multiverse of Madness, has been mentioned as a possible candidate, but according to Derrickson, it’s not in the cards. When asked if there were any possibility of him landing the gig, Derrickson promptly replied with a GIF that provided a firm “NO” as an answer.

    https://twitter.com/scottderrickson/status/1552688255795171329

    If Derrickson is truly out of the running, the pool of candidates who have worked with Marvel Studios in the past is still pretty deep. While Feige has said the Russo brothers aren’t on board for the project, it had the “they aren’t on board YET” feel. Other candidates could include Ryan Coogler, Sam Raimi, Peyton Reed, Nia DaCosta and Jon Favreau, who while he’s been busy with Star Wars, could return for a project the size of Avengers: Secret Wars. And there’s no reason to close the door to directors who haven’t worked with the studio before, as a big project like this could attract the interest of some big names in the industry. Whoever they land, Marvel Studios could have an announcement as early as this September at their D23 presentation in Anaheim.

  • Kevin Feige on Marvel Studios’ New Outlook on Avengers Films

    Kevin Feige on Marvel Studios’ New Outlook on Avengers Films

    For the first decade of its existence, Marvel Studios rolled out an Avengers film every three years or so to signal the end of a Phase. Fans were treated to The Avengers in 2012, Avengers: Age of Ultron in 2015 and then double-dipped with Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame in 2018 and 2019. Endgame, of course, was the final film in what’s now known as The Infinity Saga, a long-form narrative told over the course of 23 films.

    Three years removed from the release of Endgame, Marvel Studios’ next phase is off and running and, in less than two years, has seen the release of more than half of what the studio did in the first eleven years. Thanks to the addition of in-universe streaming series on Disney Plus, Phase 4 is already 13 projects deep with two more coming in 2022 (She-Hulk: Attorney at Law and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever) and 26 more scheduled from 2023 through 2025. As it stands, when Daredevil: Born Again releases on Disney Plus in the Spring of 2024, Marvel Studios’ post-Infinity Saga output will surpass what the studio released in its first 10 years, with 25 total projects released in just over 3 years (2021-24). None of those projects, however, will have been Avengers projects.

    At SDCC ’22, Marvel Studios head cheese Kevin Feige revealed the studio’s upcoming slate, which includes two upcoming Avengers films. With both of those films slated to hit theaters in 2025, fans are staring down a six-year stretch in between Avengers films, double what they’ve been accustomed to. Feige explained why the studio has broken free from the pattern they once set for themselves:

    The truth is, when we were doing Phase 1, Phase 2 and Phase 3, there were less projects over more years. They were smaller projects and individual character stories, and it felt appropriate at that point, that after every two or three years that it took for a phase, we would do an ‘Avengers’ film. As [Phase] 4, 5 and 6 were coming together, there are more projects in less years – because of all the amazing stuff we’re now allowed to do on Disney+, and getting characters from Fox, Fantastic Four and Deadpool — that it felt like, certainly after ‘Infinity War’ and ‘Endgame,’ that we thought ‘Avengers’ movies aren’t cappers. So many of our movies now — ‘Multiverse of Madness’ and what you’re about to see in [‘Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania’], all are big team-up films introducing big parts of the mythology… ‘Avengers’ films really should be the capper to a saga.

    Kevin Feige

    Feige left a lot to unpack there, but the key points are that the increase in the number of productions, the ability to tell stories on Disney Plus, the addition of new properties via the Fox merger and the fact that the studio can use the already existing wealth of characters in team-up style films all helped the studio rethink what an Avengers film might need to be. Part of the allure of an Avengers film is seeing multiple heroes working together and that’s something that the studio can do in nearly every project they roll out these days, given that they have dozens of already established characters at their disposal. And so, at the end of the day, what it really means is that the Avengers films will feel like even bigger events than they did before with the ability for them to all include something on the scale of the final battle in Avengers: Endgame. For fans of Marvel Studios, that’s a prospect worth waiting to see on the screen.

    Source: Variety

  • Marvel Studios President Teases New Approach With ‘Avengers’ Movies

    Marvel Studios President Teases New Approach With ‘Avengers’ Movies

    San Diego Comic-Con was quite the experience and have us a first real look at the future of Marvel Studios’ projects. Not only did they unveil Phase 5 but also confirmed that the Multiverse Saga will come to an end with Phase 6. However, what stood out for many was that we won’t be getting an Avengers film to wrap up a Phase as we used to. Many expected that to be the case with a surprise announcement to wrap up Phase 4, but it turns out that Black Panther: Wakanda Forever has the privilege of that placement.

    In an interview with MTV News, Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige offered some insight into how they are tackling the new approach, especially with how Disney+ has opened up many new gateways for them to introduce other characters in new and interesting ways. He also compares to how their approach has changed from the previous Infinity Saga.

    Well… it’s never about going bigger just to go bigger. Sometimes, by the nature of the number of characters that you have in the toy box to then bring into the sandbox of the story, things can get bigger. But you know, the truth is, when we were doing Phase 1, Phase 2, and Phase 3, there were less projects over more years. And they were smaller projects and individual character stories. And it felt appropriate at that point that after, you know, every two or three years that it took for a phase, we would do an Avengers film. As 4, 5, and 6 were coming together, there are more projects in less years because of all the amazing stuff we’re now allowed to do on Disney+ and getting and getting characters from Fox, for Fantastic Four and Deadpool, that it felt like… and certainly after Infinity War and Endgame that we thought, ‘Avengers movies aren’t cappers

    Kevin Feige

    While some have seen this as slightly controversial due to the number of projects available in less time than previously offered, they are aware of that fact and are also not trying to just rush out Avengers films as a result. They are trying to keep its place as an “event” within the build-up and have other franchises.

    So many of our movies now, the Multiverse of Madness, what you’re about to see in Quantumania, are big team-up films introducing big parts of the mythology and that Avengers films really should be the capper to a saga. Which is really all we wanted to to lay the groundwork for today, is say, ‘We are currently in the midst of the Multiverse saga which will culminate in two Avengers films.

    Kevin Feige

    Of course,e it’s an interesting strategy to wrap up the Saga with not one but two films. It may be a showcase of what they learned with the success of Infinity War going into Endgame. Yet, it does seem curious they wouldn’t want to keep a year between these projects to build into it. Of course, there’s always the chance that is the plan and they are keeping a potential shift of their release dates just in case, as they still don’t have a director set.

    Source: YouTube via The Direct

  • SDCC: Kevin Feige Explains How Kang and Thanos Are Different

    SDCC: Kevin Feige Explains How Kang and Thanos Are Different

    Marvel Studios blew the roof off San Diego Comic-Con with some major reveals. Perhaps the biggest piece of news was the confirmation that Jonathan Majors’ Kang the Conqueror would be the franchise’s next big bad, with the freshly-dubbed Multiverse Saga culminating in two Avengers films, sub-titled The Kang Dynasty and Secret Wars, in 2025. Speaking with Comic Book, studio boss Kevin Feige explained why he’s so excited to have Majors terrorize the Marvel Cinematic Universe as a time-hopping warlord for the next few years:

    It comes down to the cast and with Jonathan Majors, who I think took over the Hall H stage, you know, in the three minutes he was up there. It’s amazing, and I said to him there’s nobody’s shoulders I’d rather be putting the multiverse saga on than his. It’s really impressive what Jonathan Majors is able to do and all the different incarnations, variants, if you will, of Kang that we will see him do. It’s really pretty cool.

    Kevin Feige

    Majors made his first MCU appearance as He Who Remains in last year’s Loki, playing a weirdly charming variant of Kang who held the original multiverse together. As referenced by Feige, that character’s death came with a warning that multiple variants, including the Conqeuror, would soon be on their way. Marvel Studios’ President continued to explain how this diversity in performance will set Majors’ Kang apart from the previous MCU big bad – Josh Brolin’s Thanos:

    What I love is that he’s totally different from Thanos. That he is completely different. That it’s not just how about there’s a bigger purple guy with a helmet? That’s not what Kang is. Kang is a very different type of villain and the fact that he is many, many different characters is what’s most exciting and most differentiates him.

    Kevin Feige

    Kang will make his grand debut when Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania hits theaters on February 17, 2023.

    Source: Comic Book

  • SDCC: Feige Confirms the Russo Brothers Not Attached to Next ‘Avengers’ Films

    SDCC: Feige Confirms the Russo Brothers Not Attached to Next ‘Avengers’ Films

    Although Secret Wars was only confirmed during Marvel Studios’ Hall H presentation on Saturday, the project has been rumored to be in development for years now. It is a film that directing duo, Anthony and Joe Russo have described as their dream project, calling it an ambitious story that they adored growing up. Last year, a report circulated suggesting the Russo brothers were thought to be negotiating a return to Marvel Studios with many thinking it would be to helm a Secret Wars film down the line – especially following their handling of Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame. That, however, does not look to be happening.

    Following the huge Hall H presentation on Saturday, Kevin Feige briefly talked to Deadline about the Russo brothers and the next two Avengers films. Unfortunately, for those hoping to see the duo direct Secret Wars and/or Kang Dynasty, it doesn’t look as though it’ll be happening. Feige was asked about the possibility and went on to explain that, while Marvel Studios loves the Russo brothers and they love the studio, Anthony and Joe Russo are not attached to direct either Avengers title.

    “They are not connected to it,” he said. “They have been, I think, very direct about that. I think they were… we love them, they love us, we wanna find something new together, um, but it’s not this.”

    Feige’s words, of course, do suggest we will see the brothers return to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, though. Just not for the next two Avengers films. With a slew of projects still to be announced for Phase 6, perhaps there’s something else they find themselves attached to soon enough. For now, we’ll just have to wait and see.

    Avengers: Kang Dynasty and Avengers: Secret Wars will hit theaters on May 5th, 2025 and November 7th, 2025, respectively.

  • Marvel Studios Phase 4: It’s Not Them, It’s You

    Marvel Studios Phase 4: It’s Not Them, It’s You

    Marvel Studios concluded its thirteenth project of Phase 4 this past Wednesday as Ms. Marvel shocked us all with an impactful finale. Revealing Kamala Khan as a mutant was a game changer. More importantly, it was a reminder that the MCU is still evolving, growing, and-pun intended-embiggening. When the pandemic shut things down for 2020 we as a collective were starved for content. Any morsel of footage we were grateful for. We waited for Disney+ day and it came and we got trailers and previews and titles. It was exciting, and then WandaVision happened.

    When WandaVision first aired on a Friday in mid-January of 2021 we were satiated. Everything we missed about the MCU was back, except it was different. We were going week to week as opposed to the normal 3-4 month wait between movies. Simply put, watching WandaVision was a phenomenon. There was a level of captivation that brought the theory boards and connecting of Easter eggs. Remember when we thought that space engineer was Reed Richards? Or how about the calls for Mephisto? Yes, that was us. Now none of those things happened, and WandaVision ended with Wanda Maximoff becoming The Scarlet Witch. That should’ve been enough right? Monica Rambeau’s debut and her getting her powers on screen? Should’ve been enough you think?

    Instead what followed was a collective groan from a vocal part of fans annoyed that their theories didn’t come true. Also even with the explanation from show-runners and producers as to how the pandemic changed filming we didn’t take that into account. It became a demerit. Even if you enjoyed WandaVision-and many did-it didn’t quite hit the same as when it started. Two weeks later, The Falcon And The Winter Soldier debuted. We didn’t have the time to really digest what happened and why we became so hypercritical. It was odd to say the least.

    12 additional projects later, the fandom generally seems ornery. Between leaks coloring fans’ views before things come out and critics mocking the formula of the MCU, we as a collective are in an interesting place. As Thor: Love And Thunder came out last week to mixed reviews the whispers seem to be getting louder. VFX and CGI have become apart of everyone’s vocabulary in a way we’ve never heard before. Now social media should never be the end all be all in judging a product. The bottom line should be. Yet, you almost can’t deny a feeling of impatience amongst the masses.

    Where are we going? What’s the main story? These questions are in blogs, and on peoples’ minds. The answers seem to be there. It feels like Loki told us the answers. Ms. Marvel just gave us more. The truth is the real answer is the MCU is telling new stories. The Infinity Saga is over. It was fantastic. Akin to a dynasty in sports. Now it’s time to rebuild. Kevin Feige is leaning more on source material. We have new characters. These movies are more comic book like than ever dropping us in for a ride and taking us home at the end. Seems reasonable enough. Not to us though.

    We’ve heard the ridiculous and misogynistic phrases like “MidCU” and “MSheU”. Stories of representation are being told and it’s still not enough. So at some point the question needs to be asked, is it them or is it us? Now Marvel does have work to do. They’re still trying to figure out structure on this streaming platform. These finales often seem rushed, undercutting more than one thing even if the overall stories are rewarding. Movies are always subjective so you can always quibble with that. Let’s take a look at what happened to us.

    Endgame is now over three years old. Since then we have experienced a time period of going from no content for nearly two of those years to content all the time. It’s changed us. We view these things differently and it’s not because of fatigue. The truth of it all is that we aren’t the same people we were in 2019. We’ve grown, and we’ve seen a lot of terrible things in the world. All of that is bound to increase cynicism of everything. Plenty of people who consume this content make a living off of it. That trough has only grown. Of course this doesn’t reflect everyone, but with that becomes not only the responsibility to be honest but enough care to zoom out and ask yourself this question. Is it really them, or is it us?

    Essentially what’s happened is paralysis by over-analysis. The fun many of us grew up with reading comics and enjoying that escapism has been replaced by the blurred lines of our lives and the ones of characters on screen. The drug of nostalgia has been dosed with a chaser of “fatigue” and “CGI” and “director choices.” Truthfully, it’s just the tip of the iceberg. When it’s all said and done, we are on the fast train to Secret Wars, Kang The Conqueror, and Mutants. You can make the argument Phase 4 is doing just fine. How are you though?

  • Joe Russo Talks Marvel Studios ‘Secret Wars’

    Joe Russo Talks Marvel Studios ‘Secret Wars’

    It’s no secret that the directing duo of Joe and Anthony Russo have a dream project that could tempt them to return to Marvel Studios where they helmed four films together, including the two-part culmination to the Infinity Saga. Even as they did press for Avengers: Endgame in 2019, the brothers spoke openly about how one project might get them back behind the cameras for Marvel Studios: Secret Wars.

    At the premiere of their new movie, The Gray Man, the Russos were asked, once again, what would bring them back to the Marvel Studios fold. And it was no surprise that Joe Russo gave what at this point is a pretty canned response to the question. This time, however, Joe may have given a little more away than usual.

    Our love for Marvel is based on the books we read as kids and the books that we fell in love with. The one series that we adored growing up was Secret Wars. It’s incredibly ambitious. It would be bigger than Infinity War and Endgame, but it’s a massive undertaking and those two movies were very hard to make. Trying to imagine making another two movies even bigger than those two…we’re going to have to sleep on it.

    Joe Russo

    It sounds like Joe and Anthony may have done more than sleep on the decision to return to co-direct Marvel Studios Secret Wars. In fact, it sounds like they are far enough down the road that they’ve outlined what they believe the story should be and have determined that it would take two films to tell the story the way they see fit.

    Once considered a pipe dream, an MCU-set Secret Wars has become an inevitability at this point. The story was first teased during Loki and further teased in Doctor Strange in The Multiverse of Madness when John Krasinski’s Reed Richards introduced the idea of Incursions. The introduction of Incursions makes it more likely than not that the MCU’s Secret Wars will, at least in part, be based on Jonathan Hickman’s 2015 event series, though the Russos oft-professed love for the the original 1984 event almost certainly means that its influence will be felt as well.

    It’s hard to imagine that the brothers, who worked so hard to make sure the two-part conclusion of the Infinity Saga were more than parts 1 and 2, would be happy with a basic Hollywood two-parter. With Joe imagining Secret Wars as a two-part event, it’s safe to assume they have something along the lines of an Infinity War and Endgame split in mind for their next MCU gig, making sure each film can stand on its own spectacular feet.

    Source: Deadline

  • How the Road to ‘Secret Wars’ Might Go Through Earth- 838

    How the Road to ‘Secret Wars’ Might Go Through Earth- 838

    Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness is looking like another box office win for Marvel Studios, what it accomplishes as the 5th film in Phase 4 is to continue planting the seeds for the potential next major crossover. Already eleven projects in, the path to Marvel Cinematic Universe’s take on the classic Secret Wars storyline seems like it’s being built, even if some feel we’re not ready quite yet.

    That’s right, it’s beginning to look like the MCU is eleven projects into what might become known as the Secret Wars saga. The Falcon and The Winter Soldier gave us a new Captain America, a reformed Bucky, and introduced us to the US Agent. Black Widow gave us a new Black Widow and a still effective Red Guardian. WandaVision gave us White Vision and Photon, while simultaneously introducing us to witches, including the Scarlet Witch. What If…? showed us different Earths, with different Variants of the heroes and villains we’ve seen on Earth-616, including worlds where Thanos does not become a villain and where Captain Carter is the first Avenger. And then there’s Loki, which presented us with the rules of the multiverse, how the TVA had been pruning Variants across different universes, while introducing the maestro behind it all, He Who Remains.

    He Who Remains, aka Nathaniel Richards, had spent considerable time and energy figuring out a way to defeat and/or trap multiversal Variants of himself, essentially wiping out their worlds. When Sylvie stabbed He Who Remains in the season final of Loki, she unleashed the multiverse. Indeed, we find out in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness that a Variant remaining in another universe for too long causes an Incursion. Knowing that, it is clear that Nathaniel Richards did save lives, even if the methods of his TVA were not the right ones. The restoration of the multiverse, the knowledge that Incursions destroy other universes and the revelation that at least one universe in the multiverse has a TVA that openly works for a version of Kang can be seen as evidence that Marvel is building towards Secret Wars.

    With Incursions playing such a viral role in Jonathan Hickman’s Secret Wars run, and Marvel leaning a lot on Hickman’s work when they adapt these stories for the MCU, the mention of them by Earth-838’s Reed Richards is no coincidence. We now have one world (Earth-616) where a Variant (Gamora) is on the loose and no TVA to return her to her timeline. We know that, coming out of Avengers: Endgame, there were at least 5 different timelines. What If…? gave us the timelines mentioned above, which Kevin Feige confirmed are the consequences of Sylvie’s stabbing. In one of those universes, a Captain Carter exists. Could she be the same Captain Carter seen in Multiverse of Madness?

    In her world, we see that it’s a world where the X-Men, Fantastic Four, and Inhumans all exist. The Charles Xavier who arrives late to Strange’s trial greatly resembles the Professor X from the X-Men animated series. If we accept that the animated series is canon to Earth-838, then this means that on this Earth there are the remaining members of the Fantastic 4 and X-Men, Inhumans who have just had their King brutally murdered, and ateam of Avengers who also just had their leader murdered. Also of note, only Mordo survived to tell their Wanda was possessed by another Wanda: as such, they’re going to want consequences.

    Hovering over all of this is every version of Kang. With Incursions caused by Variant sremaining in another universe for too long, and no TVA there to prune said Variant, then it is possible that Earth-838’s Kang (Immortus) will use the Baxter Foundation to further his desire to control the other universes. With a catalyst like Earth-616’s Doctor Strange off in the Dark Dimension, and the death of his own Variant, he may feel that Earth-616 is vulnerable and thus can be attacked. He’s got his army and all that’s left is war.

  • How An MCU-616 Earth vs ‘X-Men ’97’ Showdown Could Be the Multiverse Saga’s Endgame

    How An MCU-616 Earth vs ‘X-Men ’97’ Showdown Could Be the Multiverse Saga’s Endgame

    On the heels of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, much of MCU fandom is focused on the phases to come, particularly the next Avengers: Endgame-level event. For most of them/us, “Secret Wars” seems to be the destination. But trying to figure out exactly what form the MCU storytelling will take as it prepares to adapt Jonathan Hickman’s 2015 epic has been thorny, especially because the most recent Doctor Strange film gave us another thing to chew on: The Illuminati.

    New Avengers #2 (2013)

    The Illuminati featured prominently in the Hickman New Avengers run that preceded Secret Wars, but unlike in Marvel Comics, where the Fantastic Four and X-Men have been mainstays since the 1960s, the appearance of Reed Richards and Charles Xavier in the MCU (albeit in its Earth-838 universe) was a momentous event, one that jump-started speculation as to how and when we’d see both the F4 and mutants properly introduced into the narrative. And while I do have my ideas about the role the Fantastic Four will play, I think that the bigger question centers on the mutants, and their biggest brand, the X-Men.

    Back in November 2021, Marvel announced during its Disney Plus day special that a revival of the popular 1990s X-Men: The Animated Series, often referred to as “X-Men ‘92,” would debut in 2023 under the title X-Men ‘97. Storylines and continuity from the original series would be picked up on, as the timeline would press ahead. However, now that the MCU Multiverse is firmly in play, questions about the canonicity of these new episodes abound. Which brings us back to Secret Wars.

    Avengers #44 (2015)

    In Hickman’s “Time Runs Out” storyline, the narrative that led directly into Secret Wars, “incursions’” of alternate universes into the main 616 universe led to the Illuminati, among others, taking drastic steps to eradicate those universes so that ours would survive, until only two universes were left — the 616 and the Ultimate Universe, designated 1610, home to Miles Morales, the evil Reed Richards known as The Maker, and others. The finale, which immediately preceded Secret Wars, was an all-out battle between the two universes, which, although ultimately fruitless for both universes, was epic.

    The MCU doesn’t have an Ultimate Universe; if anything its 616 universe, what with its Samuel L. Jackson-inspired Nick Fury and its teenage Peter Parker, shares quite a few similarities to it. And with a 15-year head start, there’s no time for Marvel to build up a new Marvel Universe for us to grow attached to. But what they can do is bring back a universe that we have a preexisting attachment to: the X-Men animated universe.

    Once that classic theme song hits, our nostalgia feels will come rushing back, and an audience that has been fed a steady diet of uneven live-action X-Men content by Fox will be reminded of how good they once had it, and how good it could be again. By the end of the first season, I’m sure that fans will be fully reinvested in the characters and their universe. By the end of the second or third season, when their universe faces an incursion by the 616 MCU, fans won’t be eager to see that universe be sacrificed. And if that means X-Men battling Avengers, so be it.

    Introducing X-Men into the MCU this way has many advantages. For the mutant concept to maximize its potency, the weight of history — of a world where they have been hated and feared for years, and where some characters have formed relationships over decades — should be maintained. That can be highlighted and reinforced, and the animated series can do that far better than the Fox films, which admittedly still have some goodwill, but are nowhere near as universally loved and revered.

    Now, will it be tricky to eventually bring the characters from that animated series into live-action? For sure. But one needs to look no further than Marvel’s Disney Plus sister property, Star Wars, to see that it can be pulled off, and be well-received by audiences. And given the stakes of this universe-destroying cataclysmic battle, Marvel can be forgiven for a stunt casting or two alongside longer-term castings of characters who will return after Secret Wars and the eventual Multiverse realignment. But many of us have been waiting decades to see comic-accurate, iconic looks in live-action, so one should expect the fan reaction to those characters making the transition be massive.

    After Avengers: Endgame, fans and media alike have been trying to figure out how Marvel could top itself, and Secret Wars could definitely be that. But more so than seeing different versions of the MCU heroes squaring off against one another, seeing Avengers face X-Men with their respective universes at stake would be a spectacle unlike any we’ve seen to date. And X-Men ‘97 could play a vital role in bringing that about. Both universes can encounter Kang variants, and both could experience Incursions that would lead the heroes of their respective universes to do whatever it takes to preserve them. It would be a massive, epic storyline, with the potential to energize and galvanize fans. And of, course, it could be the biggest Marvel event of all time.