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During Marvel Studios’ tremendous showcase at San Diego Comic-Con 2022, two new Avengers movies were announced by president Kevin Feige. These films are positioned to round off Phase 6 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Slated to premiere on May 2nd, 2025, Avengers: The Kang Dynasty will ultimately bring forward a major storyline involving the MCU’s current big bad villain, Kang The Conqueror. Avengers: Secret Wars will premiere just a year after that and feature a grand multiversal crossover event, providing an epic conclusion regarding the many universes popping up throughout MCU properties such as Doctor Strange: Multiverse of Madness and Spider-Man: No Way Home, for example.
While the first of the two upcoming Avengers movies is already building momentum towards its release by introducing the main villain of that movie, Kang The Conqueror, in the season one finale of Loki. Kang will also star as one of the main antagonists in the upcoming Ant-Man and the Wasp in Quantumania. However, there is not much concrete information on the other hand regarding Avengers: Secret Wars, such as if any original Avengers will reunite.
Released in April 2019, Avengers: Endgame was the last time that audiences saw Chris Evans step into the role of Captain America. Along with Iron Man, Thor, and the rest of the Avengers, Thanos was ultimately defeated, and the world finally came to a rest. After the long and treacherous battle, Steve Rogers decided that now was the best time to hand off the shield to Sam Wilson and spend the rest of his life with Peggy Carter in the past. However, fans are hoping Evans is not truly done with the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
The Secret Wars Multiversal Storyline Offers Unlimited Possibilities
Any Marvel fan could speculate that the movie’s plot could easily run adjacent to either the mid-1980s or 2015 comic book arc of the same name. The first iteration of the Secret Wars storyline revolved around a tactless character called The Beyonder, capturing both heroes and villains to fight each other on a planet called Battleworld so that he could be amused by the fight that goes on between good and evil.
The more modern telling featured wild variants of Doctor Strange, Fantastic Four, Spider-Man, and the Black Panther (who uses the powers of the infinity gauntlet) to fight off God Emperor Doctor Doom and his treacherous comrades in a cataclysmic event.
Through either rendition of Secret Wars, one thing is for certain. In whichever medium this story is told through, the overall arc features lots of different characters and seemingly unlimited possibilities, and that is where the excitement emerges for MCU fans. The storytelling rules that made up the Marvel Cinematic Universe for all these years do not have to apply with Secret Wars. Both heroes and villains we thought were dead could come back to life.
As seen from the new Multiverse Ride at Disney California Adventure, where King Thanos has won the Infinity War and has to battle a different team of Avengers, Marvel is already no stranger to taking extreme leaps and creating extreme stakes when it comes to multiversal stories.
The Crux of Captain America
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From within the theatrical screens that the Marvel Cinematic Universe is played on all the way to the pages that Marvel Comics is printed upon, the character of Captain America is never shown to be without the highest of moral compasses. In his very first solo movie, not only was he proud to keep America safe from Nazi bullies, but he voiced his disdain toward bullies, no matter where they came from.
Right in the middle of a frenzied battle against robots in Avengers Age of Ultron, Steve Rogers immediately and nobly scolds Iron Man for swearing during the fight. In the events that led up to Marvel Comics Secret Wars in 2015, Captain America actually sacrificed his own life in a battle with Tony Stark because that is how much he thought Stark was not aligning himself with the values that a hero should have. These high-standing beliefs and trademarks of the character are certainly going to be a factor in the character’s destiny if the original character is to return in the latest film in the Avengers franchise.
Although Evans has passed the torch to Anthony Mackie, in speaking with Variety, Mackie supports another appearance. He stated:
“I hope so, man. You know, Chris [Evans] is my boy. We all love and enjoy Chris. I’m highly upset that they put Sebastian in a movie with Wyatt and left me out. If Sebastian gets Wyatt, I should get Chris.”
There is no question about Marvel fans wanting to see Chris Evans in the MCU once more, and his appearance would absolutely bolster the hype toward Avengers: Secret Wars. The film premieres in theaters on May 5th, 2026.