Release Date, Cast, Plot, and Everything We Know
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While the Multiverse Saga is currently all the rage and will dominate all of the Marvel Cinematic Universe until 2026, it will eventually culminate in Avengers: Secret Wars. The film will also be the end of Marvel’s Phase 6, so we can expect some major ramifications from this upcoming movie. At this point, there is still a ton of ground to cover between now and its release, but this article will give our best predictions based on statements by Marvel executives such as Kevin Feige and the comic runs for Secret Wars, as well as all the confirmed information hot from the press.
So without further ado, here's everything we know so far about Avengers: Secret Wars, the earths-shaking finale of the Marvel Cinematic Universe's Multiverse Saga.
When and Where Is Avengers: Secret Wars Coming Out?
While the original release date of Avengers: Secret Wars shared at the San Diego Comic-Con 2022 was November 7, 2025, that release date has been pushed back significantly to May 1, 2026. There are several reasons for this change, and most of them aren’t really cause for concern. Part of this is to put a larger gap in the schedule between Avengers movies; With the original release date, there would have been less than a year's difference between Avengers: The Kang Dynasty and Avengers: Secret Wars. The new release date gives us nearly a full year's time separating the two Saga-ending films. While we may not always want to wait for more Avengers, it will probably be better for the production quality in the long run. For those wondering about how it will be released, there should be no surprise that it will be premiering exclusively in cinemas with an eventual release on Disney+.
Who's In the Cast of Avengers: Secret Wars?
While we suspect that the vast majority of the Marvel Cinematic Universe's characters will have at least a cameo-level appearance in Avengers: Secret Wars, only some of them have been confirmed so far. These characters presumably are safe in their own upcoming movies, but everyone else may or may not make it to the end of Phase 6.
We know that Jonathan Majors will return as Kang the Conquerer alongside Kathryn Newton as Cassie Lang. We don't have any confirmation on whether any of the other characters who will appear in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania will make it to the end, but as Kang is the main villain in that film, it will likely have a large impact on Avengers: Secret Wars. Alongside the Ant-Man-related characters, we also have many of the big hitters expected to return, including Mark Ruffalo as Bruce Banner, Chris Hemsworth as Thor, Anthony Mackie as Captain America, and Benedict Cumberbatch as Doctor Strange. Those are definitely some of the names we've gotten used to seeing on Avengers cast lists, but others that we haven't seen as much are also expected to appear. Those others include Simi Liu as Shang-Chi, Iman Vellani as Ms. Marvel, Xochitl Gomez as America Chavez, Dominique Thorne as Riri Williams (aka Ironheart), and Benedict Wong as Wong. Those are all the actors reported to be in the movie so far, but that number is likely to grow exponentially, especially given that the 2015 comic book story that we suspect this next movie is based on has many Fantastic Four characters at center stage.
Who Should the Fans Look Out For?
The major characters that have not yet been introduced into the Marvel Cinematic Universe that are most likely to impact Avengers: Secret Wars are Doctor Doom and Molecule Man. Most people know about Doctor Doom and there is a clear path to introducing him in the upcoming Fantastic Four movie set to come out in 2025, but Molecule Man is lesser known. He has many abilities thanks to his contact with the Beyonders, but his most important ability is that he is a constant throughout the Multiverse. Oh, and he has godlike powers over reality on a quantum level. If either of these characters appears in the upcoming Marvel films the fans should take special notice as they likely hold the key to Avengers: Secret Wars.
Who's Making Avengers: Secret Wars?
In terms of the director or writing credits, there is only one person officially on the project so far and that's Michael Waldron, who's penning the script. Waldron has been a producer for several shows such as Loki (which he created) and Rick and Morty as well as the writer for Loki and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. So far, he has done excellent work in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and we should have high hopes for his work on Secret Wars as well. Kevin Feige will of course be the producer for the film and casting for the movie is being handled by Marvel vet Sarah Finn.
What Do We Know About the Avengers: Secret Wars Plot?
We know that the Marvel Cinematic Universe almost always pulls from the comic runs, and there are two of those to pull from for the film. The first is the original Secret Wars, which saw villains and heroes pulled into a patchwork planet called Battleworld by a mysterious being known as the Beyonder. It first ran in 1984. The second run was released in 2015 and focuses on the destruction of the Marvel Multiverse. Other storylines that could intersect with the film's story are the House of M storyline and the Age of Apocalypse storylines. While the Marvel Cinematic Universe has not exactly followed either of those previous comic runs by any means there are certainly a number of options open for the creators to explore.
It is more likely that the movie will follow the 2015 Secret Wars storyline. In the lead-up to the event, the Beyonders (the main villains of sorts) fight a multiverse-level war that destroys Earths through a series of Incursions. Doctor Doom, the secret other party who opposes the Beyonders, then foils this plan but twists things to gain unlimited power, creating a new Battleworld from the broken pieces of the multiverse and installing himself as God Emperor.
So far we have seen a good amount of evidence that the idea of Incursions is in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, most notably in Multiverse of Madness. We saw that on Earth-838, incursions are events that can destroy multiple universes. We've also seen a lot of multiverse-jumping in Spider-Man: No Way Home, with the promise of plenty more to come. All of this could very well be the prelude to a planet-threatening Incursion event. And if that isn't an Avengers-level threat, what is?
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