Marvel Studios will reportedly be making major changes to its release plans for 2026's Avengers: Secret Wars.
Four years have already passed since 2019's Avengers: Endgame, but fans still have over two years to wait until Earth's Mightiest Heroes next assemble to take on Jonathan Majors' Kang in 2025's Avengers: The Kang Dynasty.
But that's just the beginning of the blockbuster antics, as that will be followed just one year later in 2026's Avengers 6 - a Multiversal epic that is expected to bring back some familiar Marvel icons.
Those two May dates may remain the case for now, but many are expecting both Avengers blockbusters to come later than that as Marvel Studios makes a slew of delays to its upcoming MCU slate, although that may be a good thing.
Marvel Splitting Avengers: Secret Wars In Half?
In a recent tweet, The Cosmic Circus' Alex Perez, a well-known insider, asked his followers to name things they don't expect Marvel Studios to do "on the road to the Secret Wars movies."
When a follower questioned his use of the plural of "movies" in referring to Secret Wars, Perez simply replied with a GIF from The Office of Stanley Hudson proclaiming "Did I stutter," indicating the Multiversal epic is now expected to be adapted across multiple movies.
Currently, the official plan for the conclusion of the Multiverse Saga has the story culminating across 2025's The Kang Dynasty and 2026's Secret Wars.
The Marvel Studios Spoilers subreddit moderators previously shared in February they have heard from trusted sources that Marvel Studios was having "very, very early talks" about splitting Secret Wars from one movie into two.
Additionally, they noted the potential for Phase 7 to be pulled into the Multiverse Saga instead of opening the next saga as was previously expected.
Why Avengers: Secret Wars NEEDS Two Movies (And a Delay)
Marvel Studios is currently in the midst of figuring out the stories for these Avengers 5 and Avengers 6, with Jeff Loveness and Michael Waldron, respectively, penning the two scripts. As this happens, the team is likely getting more of a sense of how to do Secret Wars justice, which may require two movies.
Secret Wars is truly a vast storyline with so much potential and countless unique opportunities to explore. Many comic fans have been saying since the movie was announced that the story should require at least two parts to properly do it justice, and, if these reports are accurate, Marvel Studios may have come to that realization.
On top of the Beyonder, who has been rumored to be a Kang Variant in the MCU, Doctor Doom serves as the secondary antagonist of Secret Wars. Perhaps splitting the adaptation into two movies, combined with a delay, will allow him to be introduced in a Fantastic Four sequel and appear in at least one of the parts.
This could ultimately leave the Kang-centric conclusion covering three movies, which many will be happy to hear as Hollywood simply can't get enough of Jonathan Majors. Not to mention this will allow plenty of extra time for more exciting cameos and shocking surprises as the MCU has grown famous for.
The Kang Dynasty and Secret Wars catching a delay now seems to be an inevitability as Marvel Studios pushes much of its movie and series slate back. Eventually, these delays are bound to have a knock-on effect that leads to the next Avengers blockbusters getting delayed by at least a year.
Avengers: The Kang Dynasty hits theaters on May 2, 2025, and Avengers: Secret Wars will follow on May 1, 2026.
