We know that Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars are shaping up to me massive MCU events, and it sounds like the latter, in particular, might just turn out to be the most ambitious superhero movie of all time in terms of scale and scope.
Though no characters have been officially confirmed just yet, the movie is expected to feature a new roster of Earth's Mightiest Heroes along with the surviving members of the original team - and possibly even variants of the likes of Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) and Natasha Romanoff (Scarlett Johansson).
Robert Downey Jr. will definitely be back - but as Doctor Doom (who may or may not turn out to be a Tony Stark variant).
Now, we're hearing that another major player from the Infinity Saga will also be making his long-awaited return: The Mad Titan himself, Thanos!
According to scooper MTTSH, the powerful villain will return to the MCU "sooner than you think," and we've been able to confirm that he will appear in Secret Wars.
How big a part Thanos will have obviously remains to be seen, but with so many other heroes and villains fighting for screen-time, we can't imagine he will have a significant role.
Secret Wars plot details are still a mystery, but there have been plenty of rumors doing the rounds. One thing we do know for sure is that Robert Downey Jr.'s Doctor Doom will play a big part in the story after making his debut (unless that happens in The Fantastic Four: First Steps?) in Doomsday.
Avengers: Doomsday arrives in theaters on May 1, 2026, followed by Avengers: Secret Wars on May 7, 2027. Both films will be directed by the Russo brothers, who also make their MCU return after helming Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Captain America: Civil War, Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame.
"Being able to create stories and explore characters within the Marvel Universe fulfilled a life-long dream of ours, and we discovered a powerful connection with audiences in each film that we made. We’re thrilled to collaborate once again with Kevin, Lou and the entire Marvel team to bring this epic adventure in storytelling to new and surprising places for both the fans and ourselves”, said The Russos in a statement after the SDCC panel.
Have another look at some photos Downey Jr. shared to Instagram after the big reveal below.