There are plenty of reasons to be excited about Avengers: Secret Wars, even if we don't know exactly when it will be released in theaters. Yes, it's scheduled for a 2027 release, but based on recent rumours, we could see it slipping further down the calendar.
Marvel Studios has slowed down the rate of its theatrical and streaming releases, and it's hard to imagine Avengers 5 coming out only a year after Captain America: Brave New World and Thunderbolts. We'll have to wait and see.
Today, a very exciting rumour is doing the rounds which claims Robert Downey Jr.'s Iron Man and Tom Holland's Spider-Man will "meet again" in Avengers: Secret Wars.
This comes our way from scooper @MyTimeToShineH, so we'd advise taking it with a pinch of salt. Still, this reunion makes sense, though we don't anticipate them necessarily being allies.
It's previously been reported that the next Avengers movies will see Earth-838's Tony Stark come to Earth-616 looking for revenge. If accurate, that means Downey will be playing a villainous Iron Man, an exciting contrast to the heroic Variant who gave his life to save the universe in Avengers: Endgame!
Marvel Studios is thought to be courting all six original Avengers for an MCU return. Last November, Chris Evans was asked about the rumours he's gearing up to play Captain America and said, "You know, I always see those reports too, and it’s news to me."
"I think every couple months, someone says that they’re getting Downey, and [Chris] Hemsworth, and Scarlett [Johansson], and everyone’s coming back!"
He added, "No one’s spoken to me about it. And look, I would never say never, but I’m very protective. It’s a very precious role to me, so it would have to be just right."
That followed Johansson also being asked about a possible MCU return, though she played a little more coy earlier that same month month. "You really ask the hard questions," the actress teased. "I actually don’t have to tell you! I feel like [Avengers: Endgame is] kind of the end, right?"
Neither of the upcoming Avengers movies has a director after Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings director Destin Daniel Cretton stepped down from the fifth instalment last year. The Kang Dynasty also lost its title and writer Jeff Loveness following Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania's poor performance and Jonathan Majors' legal issues.
Michael Waldron (Loki, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness) is now penning both movies.
Avengers 5 is currently scheduled to arrive in theaters on May 1, 2026, with Avengers: Secret Wars to follow on May 7, 2027.