Following Jonathan Majors' recent firing as the MCU's Kang the Conqueror and a largely tepid response to the Multiverse Saga from fans, Marvel Studios is thought to be trying to figure out where to go from here.
The Cosmic Circus, a reliable source on the whole, has chimed in today to confirm recent reports that a Young Avengers movie is in the works at Marvel Studios. Yesterday evening, we heard it might be fast-tracked for release before Avengers: Secret Wars and the site believes the focus will be on Kamala Khan, Kate Bishop, Cassie Lang, America Chavez, Billy Maximoff, and Tommy Maximoff.
However, Marvel Studios is also considering adding Theodore Altman, Axl Heimdallson, RiRi Williams, Eli Bradley, and Skaar to the mix.
There are bigger plans for the MCU beyond that, with the current idea being to shift focus to mutants. There have been discussions internally about giving them a larger role in the Multiverse Saga than originally planned, establishing them "in a more meaningful way on Earth-616 before the conclusion of the saga."
The site adds, "Some ideas include a Mutants series on Disney+, focusing on individual stories for several mutants (a-la What If…?) or an X-Men film under the Marvel Studios brand down the road prior to Avengers: Secret Wars."
Here's where things get really exciting: one idea that's been thrown around is an Avengers vs. X-Men movie. It's unclear where in the release schedule this project would fall, though the site seems to believe it would revolve around the Earth-616 versions of each team rather than pitting the Avengers we know against the X-Men from the Fox-verse (which, on paper, sounds like a perfect Multiverse movie).
Fantastic Four will also include a significant Multiversal component - something to do with black holes, apparently - but what of this Saga's big bad, Kang?
According to the site's sources, he's being put on the back burner for a while and is unlikely to be addressed until much nearer the end of the Multiverse Saga. There have been talks about other villains replacing him, but the plan right now is still to end this era of storytelling with a Kang Variant - The Beyonder based on what we've been hearing - as the MCU's ultimate big bad.
There's a lot to digest here and only time will tell how much, if any, of this pans out. Still, the idea of shifting the spotlight to the X-Men feels like a good one, especially as the groundwork has already been laid for that in the likes of The Marvels and the upcoming X-Men '97 animated series.
Stay tuned for updates.