Kevin Feige recently announced up to Phase Six of the Avengers: Secret Wars. It’s unclear which version of the Secret Wars storyline is being drawn on for the MCU, but based on the franchise’s track record, it’s likely that Marvel will incorporate elements from both versions to suit its own vision of the multiverse.
Broadly speaking, Secret Wars revolves around various alternate realities folding into each other to become “Battleworld,” the site of a mega-scale battle royale amongst legions of superheroes. From Sylvie to Captain Carter to Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield’s Peter Parkers, a bunch of fan-favorite multiverse variants could be summoned to Battleworld for this showdown.
Tobey Maguire’s Spider-Man
Thanks to a poorly worded wish by Tom Holland’s friendly neighborhood webslinger, the universe of Tobey Maguire’s Spider-Man movies has already collided with the MCU’s Earth-616.
After the Peter Parker, Norman Osborn, Otto Octavius, and Flint Marko of the Raimi-verse all got transported into the MCU in Spider-Man: No Way Home, these two realities have become irreversibly entangled. They could get folded into one another in the creation of Battleworld.
Andrew Garfield’s Spider-Man
Just as Maguire’s Spider-Verse now exists in the MCU, the world of Andrew Garfield’s Amazing Spider-Man movies has also briefly tangled with the mainline Earth-616 universe.
The Secret Wars movie could allow for a No Way Home reunion with the three Spider-Men fighting side-by-side once again, this time in the chaotic cosmic setting of Battleworld.
Captain Carter
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. The version of the character seen in Multiverse of Madness was bisected with her own vibranium shield by the Scarlet Witch.
But the version seen in What If...?, the one who vanquished Hydra’s tentacled kaiju and ed the Guardians of the Multiverse, or a different version of the character altogether, could reappear on Battleworld in Secret Wars.
Sylvie
In the season 1 finale of Loki, Sylvie created the multiverse – and effectively kicked off the MCU’s “Multiverse Saga” – when she confronted Kang the Conqueror’s “He Who Remains” variant in the Citadel at the End of Time and didn’t hesitate to kill him. After Sylvie killed He Who Remains, the Sacred Timeline branched out into a bunch of alternate realities.
The trickster god’s female variant is surely being set up for a much larger role in the Multiverse Saga. Kang might want Sylvie to face trial by combat in Secret Wars to avenge his other self.
Thanos-Killing Gamora
A variant of Gamora who managed to kill Thanos was featured in the season 1 finale of What If...? as one of the Guardians of the Multiverse assembled by the interfering Watcher. This was her first appearance in the show, but an episode exploring how she killed the Mad Titan was cut from season 1 and will instead be released as a part of season 2.
Secret Wars could bring back a more heroic Gamora since Infinity War killed her off and Endgame undid her character development by bringing her pre-redemption arc 2014 self into the present. Plus, a Gamora capable of killing Thanos would be pretty useful on Battleworld.
Karl Mordo (Earth-838)
The original Earth-616 version of Karl Mordo, Stephen Strange’s arch-nemesis, didn’t appear in Multiverse of Madness. Instead, a variant of Mordo was introduced in the Earth-838 universe. He ended up being the only member of Earth-838’s Illuminati left alive after Wanda’s shocking massacre.
The superhero-infested battle royale on Battleworld might incorporate the Sorcerer Supreme of a handful of universes, which could include Earth-838’s Karl Mordo.
Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine
Patrick Stewart’s Multiverse of Madness cameo as Charles Xavier established that the cast of 20th Century Fox’s groundbreaking X-Men franchise exists in the MCU’s sprawling multiverse. Stewart’s appearance alongside Doctor Strange might be setting up more familiar X-faces to appear in Secret Wars.
Marvel fans are dying to see Hugh Jackman’s adamantium-clawed mutant in action again, and Stewart’s appearance in Multiverse of Madness has proven that X-Men actors can reappear as multiversal variants in the MCU without undoing the perfect endings of their character arcs.
Doctor Strange Supreme
Following the live-action debut of Captain Carter in Multiverse of Madness, Marvel is clearly interested in bringing some of the variants from the What If...? animated series into its live-action projects. A different member of the Guardians of the Multiverse could make his live-action debut alongside Captain Carter in Secret Wars: Doctor Strange Supreme.
It was fun to see Benedict Cumberbatch playing different versions of Strange in Multiverse of Madness, but they were all killed off before the end credits.
Classic Thor
Richard E. Grant was praised for his brief but unforgettable performance as “Classic Loki” in the Loki series on Disney+. Classic Loki is a fan-favorite variant of the trickster god who sacrificed himself in the climactic battle with Alioth.
Secret Wars could follow up on Grant’s widely adored guest appearance by introducing the Thor of his universe, possibly played by Paul McGann as a nod to Withnail and I.
Wanda Maximoff (Earth-838)
The plot of Multiverse of Madness turned Wanda into a villain as she was corrupted by the Darkhold and set out to seize America Chavez’s verse-jumping power for herself. It’s unlikely that Earth-616’s Wanda will ever appear again, at least as a protagonist.
But Multiverse of Madness also introduced a new variant of Wanda who’s still good at heart and could reappear as a protagonist. The Wanda seen raising real-life versions of Billy and Tommy in the Earth-838 universe could appear on Battleworld.
