Avengers: The Kang Dynasty was recently pushed back to May 1, 2026, with Avengers: Secret Wars set to follow on May 7, 2027. Unfortunately, between the Hollywood strikes and Marvel Studios realising it needs to slow down a little, we're expecting further delays.
Next April, five years will have passed since Earth's Mightiest Heroes assembled to battle Thanos in Avengers: Endgame. With that in mind, we know many of you are eager for news about the team's next battle and, for the most part, we've mostly just had rumours and speculation to sift though.
However, in this feature, we've rounded up the biggest and most reliable rumours - and possible spoilers - about what's to come in both The Kang Dynasty and Secret Wars. From shocking cameos to unexpected plot developments and the MCU's future, this is the round-up you've been looking for.
To take a look at what may or may not be on the horizon for the Multiverse's Mightiest Avengers, click on the "Next" button below.
8. Earth-838's Revenge
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness went to great lengths to drive home the importance of incursions and even ended with Clea recruiting the former Sorcerer Supreme to help stop one.
Many fans have theorised that they will now traverse the Multiverse to stop worlds from colliding, with Earth-616 later faced with an incursion of its own...with Earth-838. That's the home of The Illuminati, and a previously unseen member of the team is said to be coming to the MCU to avenge his fallen allies.
That villain is thought to be an Iron Man Variant and the creator of the Ultron drones which failed to protect Captain Carter, Mister Fantastic, Black Bolt, Captain Carter, and Professor X from the rampaging Scarlet Witch. Oh, and Robert Downey Jr. will likely return to play him!
7. Spider-Man Takes Centre Stage
Spider-Man: No Way Home featured arguably the best use of the Multiverse concept since this latest Saga began, so perhaps we shouldn't be surprised that Tom Holland's web-slinger will be front and centre in The Kang Dynasty (there are also big plans in place for Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield).
The actor is said to have signed a huge new "secret" deal with Marvel Studios to return as Spider-Man in both a fourth solo outing - released before one or both upcoming Avengers movies - and to serve as The Kang Dynasty's lead. If correct, that's huge, and we can't help but wonder what role he'll play.
After all, his fellow Avengers no longer remember who is beneath the mask, so much of his shared history with Earth's Mightiest Heroes is no more. Spidey does, however, have some Multiversal experience and his existence in the MCU could mean he's some sort of Nexus being who poses an unexpected threat to Kang.
6. Multiversal Avengers Assemble!
It sounds like Earth-616's Avengers will be defeated by Kang in The Kang Dynasty, with the idea being that the heroes we know and love assemble to fight the Council of Kangs and fail. Oddly enough, this is a very similar premise to Avengers: Infinity War.
Regardless, after the groundwork is laid in Deadpool 3, the TVA supposedly sends a team of Multiversal Avengers they've secretly recruited - led by Tobey Maguire's Spider-Man, Hugh Jackman's Wolverine, and Ryan Reynolds' Deadpool - to save the Sacred Timeline's Avengers and defeat the Kangs once and for all.
Those certainly aren't the leads we expected to take centre stage in this conclusion to the Saga, though it lines up with what we've heard about Secret Wars featuring a host of characters from the past who assemble in a bid to end Kang and create a new Sacred Timeline after the incursions and Multiversal War.
5. Neither Movie Has A Writer Right Now
When the news broke that Jeff Loveness would write The Kang Dynasty for Marvel Studios, it made all the sense in the world. Despite never having written a movie that big before, he was well-versed in the Multiverse thanks to Rick and Morty and had already penned Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania.
Then, the movie came out and was met with a tepid response. As for Michael Waldron, Marvel Studios' choice to write Secret Wars, he too came from Rick and Morty but had already cut his teeth on Loki and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.
The Doctor Strange sequel also didn't quite live up to expectations, and we've since heard both Avengers movies find themselves without writers. As we write this, Destin Daniel Cretton is still directing The Kang Dynasty, while Sam Raimi, Shawn Levy, Ryan Coolger and more are still said to be in the mix for Secret Wars.
4. The Beyonder
There have been two comic book events named Secret Wars; the first saw The Beyonder abduct heroes and villains from Earth, pitting them against each other for his amusement. In the second, an incursion ended with Doctor Doom ruling over an amalgamation of realities from across the Multiverse.
While we've heard The Avengers will be defeated by the Council of Kangs, it will be after that when this definitive Variant makes his presence felt, destroying every other reality to create one he alone rules over (so, like He Who Remains, but infinitely worse). Who's left to oppose him? The TVA's Avengers!
One popular theory online is that the Kang we met in Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania didn't die and has somehow been merged with the Multiverse itself to become an all-powerful being. However, if Loveness is no longer working on The Kang Dynasty, that idea may have been scrapped.
3. Avengers: Secret Wars Could Be A Two-Parter
Several MCU projects have been pushed further down the release calendar, including The Kang Dynasty and Secret Wars. However, as part of that, the apparent two-part conclusion to this Saga could be further expanded with Secret Wars split in two.
This is a rumour that's been circulated for a while now, and it's previously been reported that the Multiverse Saga could expand into Phase 7, with a movie titled Avengers Forever bidding a final farewell to the Infinity Saga's lead characters.
Following reports The Beyonder will be a Kang Variant, there's been chatter about all movies released after The Kang Dynasty being set in a Battleworld-style reality. If so, it means many of Phase 6's movies will take place in a new MCU similar to what happened in Jonathan Hickman's Secret Wars comic book event.
2. A Villainous Doctor Strange
Doctor Strange is a great hero, but if one thing has become clear in recent years, it's that his decisions more often than not put reality at risk. While Peter Parker had a role to play, that dangerous spell in Spider-Man: No Way Home very nearly brought countless Variants into the MCU.
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness and What If...?, meanwhile, drove home the danger Stephen Strange poses to the Multiverse. At the end of his sequel, the former Sorcerer Supreme hopped into a portal alongside Clea to halt an incursion, and it seems Strange will soon be on Kang's radar.
The idea heading into The Kang Dynasty and Secret Wars is to pit Strange against Kang, similar to Iron Man's rivalry with Thanos. However, Kang's perspective is that he’s the hero trying to save the Multiverse from its greatest threat yet, Stephen Strange, because he's causing the incursions, not the Multiversal War.
1. The MCU Gets Rebooted
Avengers: Endgame was the perfect end to the Infinity Saga, but it left Marvel Studios in something of a predicament. Not only did they lose some of their most popular superheroes, but they had to start from scratch with a new saga which, thus far, has been far more hit-or-miss than expected.
Similar to what happened after Jonathan Hickman's Secret Wars comic book, one reliable online scooper claimed earlier this year that Secret Wars is going to "very likely [set] up a soft-reboot," serving as a "send-off for not only the entirety of the Fox-Verse, but the MCU that we’ve all grown to love."
In other words, this will be an opportunity to put the classic versions of characters fans love front and centre - Iron Man, with or without Robert Downey Jr., for example - minus concerns about pesky continuity issues. It also means the Fantastic Four and X-Men can seamlessly join this All-New, All-Different MCU.