Since so many new characters have been introduced to the MCU in recent years, Avengers: The Kang Dynasty could run the risk of repeating one of Avengers: Infinity War’s biggest problems. Marvel Studios chief Kevin Feige confirmed the development of Avengers: The Kang Dynasty in 2022, with the crossover project set to be the first Avengers film since 2019’s Avengers: Endgame. Scheduled for release on May 1, 2026, Marvel Studios’ Avengers: The Kang Dynasty has undergone several changes in recent months, but its biggest potential issue is only becoming more prevalent with each new MCU Multiverse Saga project that releases.
Avengers: The Kang Dynasty was initially expected to feature a new team of Avengers coming together to battle Jonathan Majors’ Kang the Conqueror. However, amid Majors’ legal case, director Destin Daniel Cretton and writer Jeff Loveness departed the project in November 2023, and Majors’ conviction in December 2023 has left Kang’s future in the MCU uncertain. Loki’s Michael Waldron has replaced Loveness as writer, and recent reports have noted that the project is being referred to as Avengers 5 internally, suggesting Kang the Conqueror’s storyline may be reworked. However, there may be even bigger problems facing Avengers: The Kang Dynasty.
What’s Going On With Avengers 5: Is The Kang Dynasty Cancelled?
Bombshell reports regarding Marvel and the MCU have indicated that Avengers: The Kang Dynasty may be canceled – here’s what’s really going on.
Avengers 5 Risks Having Too Many Main Characters Just Like Avengers: Infinity War
While Avengers: Endgame thinned the crowd in the MCU by featuring the deaths of Tony Stark’s Iron Man and Natasha Romanoff’s Black Widow, and the retirement of Steve Rogers’ Captain America, Marvel Studios has quickly filled these voids. Many new live-action heroes have been introduced in the MCU’s Multiverse Saga, and the majority of them are expected to be making appearances in 2026’s Avengers: The Kang Dynasty, which poses a huge problem for the Phase 6 crossover event. There may simply be too many heroes battling for airtime in Avengers: The Kang Dynasty, which may repeat Infinity War’s biggest issue.
2018’s Avengers: Infinity War marked the culmination of a decade of storytelling in the MCU, and featured the returns of most of the MCU’s heroes from Phases 1 through 3. This allowed Infinity War to become the biggest MCU project, including over 30 superheroes, but The Kang Dynasty has been set up to feature even more. New heroes such as She-Hulk, Moon Knight, Shuri’s Black Panther, Namor, Daredevil, Ms. Marvel, Shang-Chi and Sam Wilson’s Captain America, among many others, are expected to appear in Avengers: The Kang Dynasty, which means the project will be the most jam-packed MCU adventure yet.
New MCU Hero | Introduced In |
---|---|
Monica Rambeau’s Photon | WandaVision (2021) |
White Vision | WandaVision (2021) |
Sam Wilson’s Captain America | The Falcon and the Winter Soldier (2021) |
Yelena Belova | Black Widow (2021) |
Alexei Shostakov’s Red Guardian | Black Widow (2021) |
Shang-Chi & Katy | Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (2021) |
The Eternals | Eternals (2021) |
Dane Whitman’s Black Knight | Eternals (2021) |
Kate Bishop’s Hawkeye | Hawkeye (2021) |
Maya Lopez’s Echo | Hawkeye (2021) |
Matt Murdock’s Daredevil | Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021) |
Marc Spector’s Moon Knight | Moon Knight (2022) |
Layla El-Faouly’s Scarlet Scarab | Moon Knight (2022) |
America Chavez | Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022) |
Clea | Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022) |
Kamala Khan’s Ms. Marvel | Ms. Marvel (2022) |
Hercules | Thor: Love and Thunder (2022) |
Jennifer Walters’ She-Hulk | She-Hulk: Attorney at Law (2022) |
Jack Russell’s Werewolf by Night | Werewolf By Night (2022) |
Shuri’s Black Panther | Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022) |
Namor | Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022) |
Riri Williams’ Ironheart | Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022) |
Cassie Lang | Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (2023) |
New Guardians of the Galaxy | Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (2023) |
G’iah | Secret Invasion (2023) |
Wade Wilson’s Deadpool | Deadpool 3 (2024) |
Joaquin Torres’ Falcon | Captain America: Brave New World (2025) |
The Fantastic Four | Fantastic Four (2025) |
Eric Brooks’ Blade | Blade (2025) |
Simon Williams’ Wonder Man | Wonder Man (TBD) |
Richard Rider’s Nova | Nova (TBD) |
Splitting Up Avengers 5’s Characters Into Teams Creates Its Own Problems
Avengers: Infinity War solved this issue by splitting its heroes up into distinct teams, each fighting their own battles against the Mad Titan Thanos and his Black Order. Iron Man, Spider-Man and Doctor Strange joined the Guardians of the Galaxy on Titan, while Captain America, Black Widow and Black Panther dealt with Thanos’ Outrider army in Wakanda. While this worked to divide up Infinity War’s time between each hero and their own mission, this created its own set of problems, as this made the project’s storyline feel disjointed, and ultimately contributed to Earth’s Mightiest Heroes losing their battle against Thanos.
Recent speculation has suggested that Avengers: The Kang Dynasty may go down this same avenue, with the MCU’s heroes being split up into three teams, with each battling a different variant of Kang the Conqueror. This would feature a street-level MCU team, including the likes of Daredevil and Spider-Man, a cosmic superhero group, perhaps led by Captain Marvel and Thor, and a supernatural group, which could see Moon Knight team up with Blade and Doctor Strange. However, this would only repeat Infinity War’s problems, making The Kang Dynasty’s plot feel disconnected and confusing, but Marvel Studios does have a solution.
How Avengers 5 Can Fix Avengers: Infinity War’s Biggest Problem
The easiest solution for Avengers: The Kang Dynasty to avoiding the mistakes of Infinity War would be for the project to instead copy techniques established in Avengers: Endgame. 2019’s Endgame featured even more characters than Infinity War, yet felt more personal, managing to focus mostly on concluding the story of the MCU’s original six Avengers. These heroes, particularly the “Big Three” of Iron Man, Captain America and Thor, led the Time Heist mission, and fought on the front lines against Thanos and his army in Endgame’s final battle, so The Kang Dynasty could do the same with its own heroes.
If The Kang Dynasty features the formation of one core team of Avengers, the story can focus solely on their battle against Kang the Conqueror, if he is recast. This may relegate other MCU heroes to supporting characters, or perhaps even simply cameo appearances, but would trim the fat and allow The Kang Dynasty to tell a more grounded, personal and impactful story. This could see heroes like Sam Wilson’s Captain America, Captain Marvel, She-Hulk and Doctor Strange step up to lead the charge, though there’s no doubt Avengers: The Kang Dynasty will include an array of other MCU heroes.
Key Release Dates
Deadpool 3
Release Date:2024-07-26Captain America: Brave New World
Release Date:2025-02-14Marvel’s Fantastic Four
Release Date:2025-05-02Marvel’s Thunderbolts
Release Date:2025-07-25Blade (2025)
Release Date:2025-11-07Avengers: The Kang Dynasty
Release Date:2026-05-01Avengers: Secret Wars
Release Date:2027-05-07