Avengers: Secret Wars is the MCU’s biggest movie to date, beating even Avengers: Endgame in terms of sheer scale and scope. It seems appropriate to compare the two blockbusters; Endgame was the triumphant end of the MCU’s Phase 3, while Secret Wars aims to bring a satisfying close to the Multiverse Saga. Both are helmed by the Russo brothers, and the expectation is that Secret Wars will feature a cast of unrivaled size.
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The fundamental problem Marvel faces, though, is a simple one: can lightning strike twice? Avengers: Endgame grossed a staggering $2.8 billion in the global box office, but the superhero boom does seem to be over, and the MCU’s recent films and TV shows have generated far less excitement than they would have done previously. The Fantastic Four: First Steps basically performed like a Phase 1 movie, and Marvel will be glad of that. Can the MCU make this work again?
Avengers: Endgame Caused Major Problems For the MCU
The Multiverse Saga is far from over, but there have already been an amusing number of post mortems given the sheer number of stumbles. But the best begin not with Phase 4, but with the tail end of Phase 3 – specifically, with Endgame itself. The clue is in the title; this was positioned as the “endgame,” the dramatic conclusion of an epic narrative that had spanned over a decade. The core plot was positioned as a last hurrah for the original Avengers, culminating in the epic portal battle in which Steve Rogers finally uttered the immortal words: “Avengers assemble.”
Endgame was, fundamentally, about endings and not beginnings. The Russo brothers worked hard to craft a film that paid off of a decade’s worth of in-jokes and references. It wasn’t perfect, but it was a masterful effort, and the final emotional catharsis was incredible. There was some setup at the end of Endgame (think Sam Wilson being given the Captain America shield), but none of it felt essential. The story was over, the tale complete, and it was time to move on.
One single element of Avengers: Endgame signified this more than anything else: the five-year time jump. When Thanos snapped his fingers in Avengers: Infinity War, wiping out half the universe in an instant, most viewers assumed that everything would be magically reset by a time travel plot. Instead, Endgame used a five-year time jump to embed this, revealing matters were not put right for five whole years. The original MCU was “the world outside your window,” a real world but with the addition of gods and monsters, allowing for suspension of disbelief. Endgame‘s time jump broke that sense of relatability.
Avengers: Secret War Has Learned From Endgame’s Mistake
Avengers: Secret War is expected to operate on an even bigger scale than Endgame. No doubt featuring the cast of Avengers: Doomsday (and many more), it’s set up as a celebration of the last 20 years of Marvel movies – not just the MCU. Crucially, though, this is not just a story about endings; it’s also about beginnings. Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige made that abundantly clear in an interview with Variety back in July:
“We’re utilizing that [story] not just to round out the stories we’ve been telling post-Endgame, just as importantly — and you can look at the at the Secret Wars comics for where that takes you — it very, very much sets us up for the future. Endgame, literally, was about endings. Secret Wars is about is about beginnings.”
Feige is referring to Jonathan Hickman’s Secret Wars miniseries, which ran from 2015 through to 2016. Easily one of the biggest events in Marvel Comics history, this brought all Marvel’s various timelines together into one spectacular “Battleworld,” before allowing for the entire multiverse to be reset courtesy of Franklin Richards. Marvel used Secret Wars as an opportunity to straighten out the timeline, introduce new concepts, and simplify their narratives. It was as close to a reboot as Marvel Comics has ever come.
Fundamentally, then, Avengers: Secret Wars is very different to Endgame. With Endgame, viewers were expected to walk away fully satisfied rather than buzzing with speculation about what will come next. Secret Wars, however, is as much a launchpad as anything else. For Marvel, the principal reset will be a single timeline where all their ideas are brought together, where X-Men and Avengers can coexist for a new generation of viewers.
It remains to be seen whether Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars can reverse the decline of the MCU. What is certain, though, is that Marvel learned a lot of important lessons from Endgame‘s successes and stumbles, and that those lessons are being implemented now we’re approaching the tail end of Phase 4. It will be exciting to see whether Marvel can pull it off.
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