Secret Wars Can Be So Much More Than A Single Movie

Avengers: Secret Wars is the biggest undertaking in the history of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, making it especially difficult to do the storyline justice in a single film. Coming one year after Avengers: The Kang Dynasty, the sixth Avengers film is set to hit theaters in 2026, acting as the ending of Phase 6 and the entire Multiverse Saga, making it the franchise’s biggest film since Avengers: Endgame. However, because of Secret Wars‘ massive stakes, cast, and impact on the MCU as a whole, Marvel Studios would be wise to expand the event beyond the boundaries of a single movie.

Jonathan Majors’ Kang the Conqueror was officially introduced in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, officially kicking off Phase 5, the second chapter in the Multiverse Saga. Kang and his multiple variants, several of whom appear in Quantumania‘s post-credit scenes, are expected to act as the ultimate antagonists of the ongoing saga. Secret Wars will act as the culmination of the Avengers’ battle against Kang and his variants, which will inevitably explode into an all-out multiversal incursion. The final battle between Kang and the Avengers is expected to even reach beyond the MCU, including Marvel properties like Fox’s X-Men franchise and Sony’s Spider-Man films, making it the biggest Avengers movie yet.

Secret Wars Is Much Bigger Than A Single Movie

As the culmination of the MCU’s Phase 6 and the entire Multiverse Saga, Secret Wars truly cannot be contained in a single movie. Presumably based on the 2015 Jonathan Hickman comic storyline of the same name, Secret Wars will see the multiverse in shambles as Earth-616 experiences an incursion with multiple alternate realities. The heroes of each universe find themselves summoned to Battleworld, where they engage in brutal warfare to determine the fate of their respective homeworlds. The comic storyline remains one of Marvel Comics’ biggest events of all time, and the MCU’s adaptation will surely be no different.

Although the two Avengers films were announced together, Secret Wars and The Kang Dynasty may not be as closely tied as Infinity War and Endgame were. Rather, Secret Wars seems to be caused as a result of the constant alternate reality antics of the Multiverse Saga, finally causing a mass incursion at the end of The Kang Dynasty. However, the fallout of this cataclysmic event would certainly affect countless universes beyond even the MCU’s Earth-616. An incursion of this magnitude could not be adequately depicted in a single movie but must instead be explored in multiple different titles that directly tie into Secret Wars.

Disney+ Can Help Expand Secret Wars’ Multiverse Story

Disney+ gives Marvel an intuitive way to expand its ongoing storylines, especially Secret Wars. Although some have blamed Disney+’s MCU shows for increased superhero fatigue, this issue can be resolved by tying each series’ storyline directly into major events like The Kang Dynasty and Secret Wars. This has been a common practice in the comic world for years, as various books were designed as specific tie-ins to major crossover events. While the main story for each event would occur in its own series, other tie-ins and one-shots would expand the storyline, often exploring the adventures of the peripheral characters therein.

For the first time, Marvel has the capability of adapting an expanded storytelling format to properly do justice to its Secret Wars event. Outlying Disney+ series can follow each of Phase 6’s Avengers as they deal with the fallout of the coming multiversal war. Furthermore, Secret Wars‘ Battleworld setting offers the perfect set-up for these spinoff series and one-shots, allowing for smaller battles to be depicted in each tie-in leading up to an epic climax in the movie itself. Disney+ can thereby pad the year between The Kang Dynasty and Secret Wars with content that actually exists in service to the MCU’s story.

An Expanded Secret Wars Event Solves A Common MCU Problem

In addition to giving its story a bit more space to breathe, expanding Secret Wars would also solve a problem that is becoming increasingly present in the MCU. Like previous Avengers movies, Secret Wars’ massive cast could make it difficult to give every hero therein enough screen time. Not only does the film have to include the many living heroes introduced in both the Infinity and Multiverse Sagas, but it is also heavily rumored to include those who have died in prior films, alternate-reality versions of well-known characters, and characters from non-MCU films, potentially including the Spider-Man variants seen in Spider-Man: No Way Home, Fox’s X-Men, and many more.

A cast of this size is too large for any one movie, especially if Secret Wars aims to balance its talent as well as Infinity War and Endgame did. However, expanding the event to include multiple projects would allow for each of these characters to undergo their own adventures. The numerous cameos in the film can instead become featured roles in tie-in projects, taking notes from No Way Home‘s depiction of the multiverse rather than other cameo-centric films like Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. Each character, from Earth-616 or otherwise, could truly shine in their own individual stories, leading up to a thrilling finale in Avengers: Secret Wars.