Though there's never been anything too solid behind these claims, several online scoopers have reported that Marvel Studios' Avengers: Secret Wars (and to a lesser extent, Doomsday) will serve as a "soft reboot" of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
With everything going on in the Multiverse and the amount of potential paths bringing characters from various alternate universes together presents, it wouldn't be outside the realm of possibility if the studio did decide to retcon certain elements of the shared world while building towards a fresh start for the long-running film and TV franchise.
Marvel's Brad Winderbaum was asked about the possibility of an MCU reboot post-Secret Wars during an interview with Screen Off Script.
“You can't really fully reboot anything. It's a very difficult thing to do to a living, breathing fictional universe ... to just start from scratch, because of all the fan investment and love for the stories that have come so far."
It's worth repeating that nobody ever said a full reboot was on the cards, and Winderbaum's response to a question about a soft reboot would probably have been a lot more interesting. That said, as the exec himself makes clear, he is involved with the television and streaming side of the MCU, so Kevin Feige would really be the man to ask - not that anyone would get a straight answer!
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.
Both movies are expected to shoot (almost) back-to-back, with production kicking off this April in the UK.