All eyes are on Avengers: Doomsday in 2026. All three of the Marvel Cinematic Universe‘s 2025 films, Captain America: Brave New World, Thunderbolts*, and The Fantastic Four: First Steps, use post-credits scenes to tease the upcoming team-up project, setting the stage for Doctor Doom. The villain will surely set his sights on conquering the multiverse after his meeting with Franklin Richards, who has the potential to be the most powerful character in the MCU. However, no matter what Doom cooks up in his next appearance, the events of Doomsday will be small potatoes compared to what comes after in Avengers: Secret Wars.
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Secret Wars is the biggest event in Marvel Comics history, bringing together characters from every universe to fight for survival. The MCU is going to put its heroes in the same spot, which opens the doors for plenty of wild Easter eggs. Here are seven Marvel movies that Secret Wars needs to reference.
1) Avengers: Doomsday
To get the obvious out of the way, Secret Wars will be a direct follow-up to Doomsday. It’s unclear whether the fifth Avengers movie will take a page out of Avengers: Infinity War‘s playbook by ending on a cliffhanger that makes the wait for the next film unbearable, but Marvel Studios isn’t afraid to return to the well. A good bet would be that Doomsday ends with the creation of Battleworld and all the heroes realizing they’re in for the fight of their lives.
2) Spider-Man: Brand New Day
It’s hard to believe, but Tom Holland has yet to be announced as part of the cast of Doomsday. The actor is busy filming another MCU movie, Spider-Man: Brand New Day, which is going to swing into theaters a few months before Doomsday. With Peter Parker off on his own, Secret Wars will seemingly have to do some heavy lifting by bringing him back into the fold after his run-in with the Hulk and Punisher.
3) Deadpool & Wolverine
Two other major MCU characters without invites to the Doomsday party are Wade Wilson and Logan, the stars of 2024’s Deadpool & Wolverine. While plenty of X-Men are returning to the big screen in 2026, the MCU might be saving its two biggest mutants for Secret Wars. It’s going to be nice to learn what the duo has been up to since saving the multiverse from Cassandra Nova.
4) Ghost Rider
It’s easy to lose track of all the Marvel series on Disney+ because they typically have low stakes. Well, Ironheart bucks that trend by introducing Mephisto, a mysterious villain who makes an offer to the titular hero. Mephisto explains that he has deals with lots of people, and, based on the character’s comic book history, Johnny Cage is definitely one of them. Secret Wars can confirm the connection by bringing Nicolas Cage back into the fold for one last ride.
5) Spider-Man 3
One of the most iconic images from the Secret Wars comic is of Spider-Man discovering the symbiote and donning his black suit for the first time. If Secret Wars follows in the source material’s footsteps, it will recreate this moment with Holland’s Peter. Fortunately, there’s a Spider-Man variant in the multiverse who already has experience with the alien threat and has a history with Earth 616’s Wall-Crawler.
6) Venom: The Last Dance
While Secret Wars really has no reason to reference Sony’s franchise, there’s at least one good thing to come out of it: Tom Hardy’s Venom. During the events of Spider-Man: No Way Home, Eddie Brock finds himself on Earth-616, and while Venom: The Last Dance shuts down any hope of him meeting Spider-Man, Secret Wars can open the door again. Seeing two symbiotes share the screen would be too good an opportunity to pass up.
7) Elektra
Deadpool and Wolverine are able to fight back against Cassandra because they join a group of freedom fighters in the Void, which includes Gambit, Blade, X-23, and Elektra. Channing Tatum is part of the Doomsday cast, and it’s safe to assume that X-23 will go wherever her “father” Wolverine does. That leaves Elektra and Blade as the last two heroes without a chair. However, Jennifer Garner’s assassin has more potential than her Daywalker friend, making her the more likely candidate to return in Secret Wars and talk about her past adventures.
Avengers: Secret Wars hits theaters on December 17, 2027.
Do you hope Avengers: Secret Wars references all these movies? Are there any other Marvel projects you want to see get a shout-out? Let us know in the comments below!
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Image courtesy of HBO
