The Multiverse Saga has been an undeniably strange ride, with post-credits scenes introducing countless new characters and a long list of TV shows adding fresh faces to the MCU one after the other.
Frustratingly, most of them haven't been seen since. Major new characters like Moon Knight, Shang-Chi, Hawkeye, and She-Hulk have only shown up in their respective movies and TV shows, though they will all likely factor into Avengers: Doomsday. As for Hercules, Clea, and Starfox, they've gone no further than the stingers referenced above.
However, if The Marvels taught us anything, it's that moviegoers won't necessarily follow these characters from streaming to theaters (and that many people don't see Marvel Television's offerings as essential viewing).
Over the past 24 hours, a social media post has gone viral detailing how little we've seen the Multiverse Saga's major players between the events of Avengers: Endgame and Avengers: Doomsday. It makes for a stark contrast to the comparison between Iron Man and Avengers: Infinity War, with the highest number of appearances coming in at three for Florence Pugh's Yelena Belova.
Did Marvel Studios introduce too many new characters too quickly? An argument could be made for that being the case, and it does feel like Kevin Feige and company panicked a little after losing Captain America and Iron Man and just decided to throw everything at the wall to see what would stick.
The prevailing opinion seems to be that we needed a smaller Avengers movie between Endgame and Doomsday or at least a Captain America: Civil War-style team-up. Instead, there will have been a seven-year gap between when the team last assembled and their return in 2026.
Hopefully, Avengers: Doomsday will be the making of these newer characters, setting the stage for them to make a bigger impact in the Mutant Saga.
Talking to Empire Online, Anthony Russo recently said, "Endgame was the end, and it took a little time for us to begin to think about it as something other than an end. We’re very close with Kevin and Lou [D’Esposito, Marvel Studios’ Co-President] and the entire Marvel team and we’ve had conversations through the years. We’ve talked about a lot of ideas."
It was reportedly then that inspiration for Secret Wars struck. "Really what happened was, we ended up stumbling upon an idea that activated all of us," he teased. "You couldn’t see it coming until it came, and once it came it was like, 'Well, that’s a story we need to tell.'" You can hear more from him and Joe here.
Avengers: Doomsday is set to be released in May 2026, with Avengers: Secret Wars scheduled to arrive in May 2027.