Avengers: Secret Wars will reportedly have a major lasting impact on the MCU's story that will delight many. Next year, Marvel Studios is expected to end Avengers: Doomsday with a jaw-dropping cliffhanger that ushers in Secret Wars. As the first chapter of the saga-concluding Avengers story is still to be released, details are scarce on what will actually happen in Phase 6's final movie.
After Incursions lay waste to the Multiverse, many are expecting Secret Wars to see Robert Downey Jr.'s Doctor Doom create Battleworld from its remnants. This patchwork reality is ruled by God Emperor Doom, who has several heroes, including Doctor Strange, working alongside him, while others resist his reign.
During a recent edition of The Cosmic Circus’ Q&A, Alex Perez revealed that Avengers: Secret Wars will open the doors for familiar Marvel characters to return in Phase 7 and beyond. This supposed MCU reboot plan could bring back fan favorite Marvel heroes and villains, such as Iron Man, for new projects.
Perez noted that there will be “previously dead heroes and villains“ who return in the next saga after Avengers: Secret Wars prompts some timeline changes.
He added that after the planned “reset,” some major MCU events may have “occurred in a different way,” perhaps allowing major faces to be resurrected in the altered timeline, which is bound to excite many.
Fans have been well aware for a while that Avengers 6 could usher in a soft reboot of the MCU, allowing some storylines to continue while others are reset.
Tony Stark, T'Challa, Natasha Romanoff, and Quicksilver are just four examples of heroes who were left behind after the Infinity Saga, who, after sitting out many years of MCU releases, could return in the future.
Avengers: Doomsday and Secret Wars will bring back one left-behind MCU actor with Robert Downey Jr., this time as the big bad Doctor Doom (who surprisingly already debuted in The Fantastic Four: First Steps).
Beyond that, the two-part December 2026 and 2027 blockbusters have revealed an expansive cast, with 14 survivors confirmed for Secret Wars already.
Why the MCU Needs to Resurrect Iron Man & Other Dead Heroes
DC executed something similar in The CW's Arrowverse after 2019's "Crisis on Infinite Earths" crossover event saw the Multiverse destroyed and reborn. In the rebooted timeline, heroes such as Black Lightning and Supergirl, who existed in separate universes from The Flash and others, were relocated to Earth-Prime.
Marvel Studios may implement the same logic after Avengers: Secret Wars, after the heroes put an end to Doctor Doom's Battleworld. This new, rebooted reality could not only bring the Fantastic Four, Deadpool, and the X-Men to Earth-616, but also have some timeline changes that resurrect late heroes and villains.
Ultimately, some Marvel characters have simply become too iconic and profitable to never be seen again, even if it requires a recast. It wouldn't be shocking if the MCU's next saga saw a younger actor introduced as Tony Stark, who could lead a reboot of the $2.4 billion-dollar-grossing Iron Man trilogy.
Recently, there have been fears that Marvel Studios has quietly cancelled the Iron Man spin-off, Armor Wars, which could add further fuel to the fire that a revival of the mainline franchise is on the cards down the line.
There's no denying the MCU has faced struggles getting audiences as engaged in its newer generation heroes as they were with the original Avengers. While many of those fresher additions will undoubtedly stick around, sprinkling in rebooted takes on some icons could help bolster the MCU roster.
