The Marvel Cinematic Universe is becoming increasingly invested in the concept of the Multiverse. Not only are multiple Disney+ shows playing around with the idea, but two big-name Marvel Properties, Spider-Man and Doctor Strange, have had movies that center around the concept of a multiverse.
We also know that we are getting Avengers: Secret Wars in 2025. Given what we know about the direction of the MCU, we can assume they will lean on the 2015 Marvel Comics storyline more than the 1984 storyline, which has much less to do with the Multiverse. Still, it’s important to know about Secret Wars 1984 because the MCU does enjoy referencing classic comics.
Secret Wars can be intimidating and confusing for a newcomer to comics. Unlike Infinity War, there isn’t a major antagonist like Thanos that one can easily associate with the arc. This article will explain the basics behind the storyline so that you can begin to understand the framework being built for upcoming MCU Avengers movie.
Secret Wars 1984
In Secret Wars 1984, Marvel heroes and villains are transported to a planet called Battleworld by an entity known as the Beyonder. The event was planned as a large crossover to bring together various heroes and villains to boost sales, and ultimately lasted 12 issues. Characters from the Avengers, X-Men, and The Fantastic Four fought against villains like Doctor Doom, Ultron, and even Galactus. The series wasn't very much of a complex plot, rather more of an excuse to have these various characters all in the same place and to have them fight each other. The main takeaways from 1984's Secret Wars was the character of the Beyonder and the role Doctor Doom played in the plot.
The Beyonder has been developed more in Marvel Comics, and that development is an important part of 2015's Secret Wars, but for now the Beyonder was established as an omnipotent entity capable of manipulating matter and energy to his whim. Secret Wars 1984 has several sequels that further expanded upon the Beyonder's early mythos. Much of Secret Wars II, for instance, revolved around the Beyonder's search for meaning to his own existence and the nature of existence for a god-like being. Secret Wars II flopped, but it did establish the ambitions for Secret Wars as a series being very grand and exploratory. Then, there's Doctor Doom. In 1984's Secret Wars, Doom found a way to absorb the all-powerful abilities of the Beyonder, becoming an omnipotent being himself. Eventually, the Beyonder managed to reclaim his abilities when Secret Wars was drawing to a close.
Secret Wars 2015
In Secret Wars 2015, the Beyonder's backstory came more into play. As it turns out, he was a member of an entire species of omnipotent beings. These Beyonders kick things off with a plan: to destroy the entire Marvel Multiverse. They wished to do this by using Molecule Man, a man with the ability to manipulate matter on the molecular level, as a bomb in each of the universes. Doctor Doom learned of this plan and attempted to stop it by killing the Molecule Men in multiple universes before they could explode. This had unintended consequences, causing an event called Incursions, wherein realities would collide and destroy each other. These Incursions are the main crisis of the story.
The run-up to Secret Wars, and Secret Wars itself, is exceptionally more complex and high-concept than the original Secret Wars from 1984, and spans and intertwines multiple other storylines. There are the Illuminati in the early part of the story, who are working to prevent the Incursions, which threaten the main reality of Marvel Comics, by destroying the Earth in the alternate realities before the universes can collide. There is also the formation of the Cabal, the mirror to the Illuminati, by Namor who left the group after disagreements with them. There is the Ultimate Universe, which is an alternate universe Marvel Comics made to explore alternate storylines to the main Earth-616 canon, which kicks off Secret Wars itself when it gets caught in an incursion with Earth. There were a lot of pieces that needed to be set up for Secret Wars to happen.
Ultimately, Doctor Doom works out a way to destroy the Beyonders and usurp their power. However, he could not do so and save the Multiverse. Instead, Doom uses the usurped Beyonder power to create a new world called Battleworld, named the same as the world from 1984's Secret Wars, and populates it with the remnants of the destroyed realities. In the end, survivors from Earth-616 and the Ultimate universe band together to overthrow him.
What Would an MCU Secret Wars Look Like?
The short answer is we don't know as of right now. As said earlier, Secret Wars requires a lot of pieces to be set up, and not all of them are currently in the MCU. It's pretty safe to assume that the 2015's Secret Wars will be the main comic book inspiration for the MCU storyline given all the Multiverse-related projects we've been getting. Currently, the MCU does not have a Molecule Man, Beyonder, Ultimate Universe, or a Doctor Doom. However, Marvel has a decent amount of time and movies to introduce these characters and elements, or create and establish substitutes, between now and 2025. It's very hard to predict how these pieces will be introduced at the moment or even if they will ultimately matter to the storyline.
We do have some elements in place. We did have The Illuminati, though they weren't in the main universe of the MCU and they've all been killed. Despite this, it's entirely possible for The Illuminati to form in the main MCU universe — it's just a question of who would be a member. Doctor Strange is available. Reed Richards and Namor are also going to be introduced in the near future. Charles Xavier, Black Bolt, and Tony Stark all present problems, with the first two not seemingly in the slate to debut in the MCU (yet) and Stark being dead. It's very likely then that the Illuminati will have new members in the MCU. It will be interesting to see whom they choose for that, as the entire point of the Illuminati is that they are morally compromised by having to do dark and very bad things to save their world and universe. It's also possible that the Illuminati showing up in Multiverse of Madness was a red herring and that they won't end up having anything to do with MCU's Secret Wars.
The most interesting question is what will take the place of Earth-1610, AKA the Ultimate universe. The Ultimate universe was the original universe of Miles Morales, before he was introduced into Earth-616, with Secret Wars being a vehicle for that. It's unlikely that Sony will let Disney destroy and integrate the Spider-Verse or Andrew Garfield's Amazing Spider-Man Cinematic Universe. However, there is a universe that Disney already owns that it could integrate. Secret Wars, and the reset button it offers, might be a way for Disney to integrate the Fox X-Men universe into the MCU. Especially given that they don't appear to be doing so before Secret Wars.
We can, at best, wildly speculate about what might happen in Secret Wars right now. Does the MCU plan to recreate the 2015 Secret Wars faithfully, or do they have a plan to change it? It's very hard to say at this point, but the Multiverse has been set up, and we already have the idea of Incursions being set up in Spider-Man: No Way Home and further teased in Multiverse of Madness.