The MCU's third saga is coming sooner than later, and it looks like two iconic superhero teams will play a big role in whatever Marvel Studios builds after Avengers: Secret Wars. According to a new Q&A with industry insider Alex Perez, the post-Secret Wars reboot will look largely familiar, but with a few significant changes.
The MCU's reboot is no secret at this point. Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige confirmed that Secret Wars will serve as a reset for the MCU, creating what he called a "singular timeline." He was careful with his language, noting that the word "reboot" was too scary as it could mean many different things. Whatever the direction, it's obvious something will definitely change. We now have a decent idea of some key changes the studio might make, thanks to Alex Perez's recent comments on Cosmic Circus.
When asked about what the reboot would resemble, Perez answered, saying, "Same as before. Except now, mutants will be more prominent, and The Fantastic Four will be living among 616."
These two changes are particularly interesting given that the X-Men currently don't have a proper foothold in the MCU's main continuity, despite years of buildup through a slow trickle of mutant reveals across recent films and series. The reboot will finally give the X-Men the spotlight they deserve in the MCU. This isn’t much of a surprise, given that the MCU's next saga is expected to be the mutant saga.
Fans have long speculated about the Fantastic Four’s future in the MCU. After being introduced in the alternate reality of Earth-828 in Fantastic Four: First Steps, the team is expected to join the mainline Earth-616 continuity during the events of Avengers: Doomsday. While many wondered if they would return to their original home after Secret Wars, Perez’s comments suggest they are here to stay in the 616 for good.
Perez also addressed Earth-838, the alternate universe introduced in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. Asked whether fans will see it again after the reboot, his answer was "After this reboot, I doubt it."
Earth-838 was one of the more intriguing detours of the Multiverse Saga, home to alternate versions of major characters and a glimpse at a Marvel world that developed very differently from the main timeline. If Perez is right, the reboot closes the door on much of the Multiverse infrastructure Marvel spent years constructing.
Marvel Studios Soft Rebooting the MCU Is a Good Thing
The MCU has been overdue for a reset for a while now. The Multiverse Saga never quite landed the way the Infinity Saga did, and a big reason is that there were too many complex storylines, alternate timelines, and too many characters. A lot of these stories couldn’t get a proper payoff, despite being teased via post-credit scenes. A soft reboot fixes this as it wipes the slate without erasing history, and gives Marvel the chance to rebuild around properties that matter most and discard the storylines it couldn’t deliver.
Mutants and the Fantastic Four are the right foundation for this rebuild. These are the characters that defined Marvel Comics for decades before the MCU existed. Getting them properly embedded in a singular, coherent universe is what the franchise has needed since Marvel reacquired the rights from Fox. If this reboot delivers that, the next chapter could end up being the strongest the studio has produced.
There's also something worth appreciating in how Marvel is approaching this. Calling it a soft reboot rather than a hard one means the studio doesn't have to pretend the last 15 years didn't happen. The best characters and good stories get to stay, and what gets left behind is the clutter, and frankly, the MCU accumulated quite a bit of it during the Multiverse Saga.
Geraldo Amartey is a writer at The Direct. He joined the team in 2025, bringing with him four years of experience covering entertainment news, pop culture, and fan-favorite franchises for sites like YEN, Briefly and Tuko.
