With Avengers: Secret Wars mysteriously promising some big changes to the MCU, Marvel fans are debating just what exactly that might entail.
"Endgame, literally, was about endings. Secret Wars is about beginnings," Marvel Studios boss Kevin Feige said earlier this year. "Reboot is a scary word. Reboot can mean a lot of things to a lot of people. Reset, singular timeline – we're thinking along those lines."
One Reddit user had several suggestions about what could happen, including Doctor Doom having "a history with the other heroes and Reed Richards, but is not particularly villainous, just antagonistic towards them," the X-Men being "established for a while, and they have existing relationships with the rest of the superhero community," and Steve Rogers and Tony Stark leading the Avengers from Mount Avengers.
"I think it's entirely based on the box office of Doomsday and Secret Wars," another fan replied. "I completely expect it to finish in a way that lets them either completely reboot or have an altered universe, with saving some of the characters. In either case, it will lead to X-Men in-universe."
"I don't think it'll ever be a complete reboot cause then wtf do you do with characters with ongoing stories?" replied someone else. "Spider-Man is just about to start a new trilogy, Shang-Chi needs a 2nd movie, Black Panther 3 and Doctor Strange 3 are both in development. I have to assume Fantastic Four 2 is coming…"
"I saw someone say they're viewing Secret Wars/ Doomsday like Avengers 1, where it unifies the world that’s so far been mostly separate, and that we’ll see more cohesion and collaboration going forwards in a more structured linear line," suggested another user.
"I really don't see Steve and Tony coming back," wrote someone else.
"It seems like the only recast characters at scale that we know of atm will be the X-Men universe," reads another suggestion. "Like if the X-Men’s universe is destroyed in Doomsday via incursions or incursion prevention, then they are folded into 616 at the end of Secret Wars, they can explain the differences as being a result of them being introduced into different environmental variables affecting the new timelines."
Before Secret Wars, though, there's Avengers: Doomsday. Production has now wrapped, and Gambit star Channing Tatum has promised that the movie is "gonna make your brains ooze out of your ears" (which is meant to be a good thing, we think?).
Avengers: Doomsday arrives in theaters on December 18, 2026, with Avengers: Secret Wars following on December 19, 2027. While we wait, get up to speed with what's still to come in Marvel Phase 6 with our guide to the other upcoming Marvel movies and shows.
