Summary
- Avengers: Secret Wars will bring the Multiverse Saga to a close in Phase 5, but a new concept could be introduced in Phase 5 to temporarily replace the multiverse.
- Deadpool 3 may directly lead into the storyline of Avengers: Secret Wars, featuring the collapse of realities and the establishment of Battleworld.
- The TVA, introduced in Loki, may play a significant role in connecting Deadpool 3 and Avengers: Secret Wars, potentially poaching characters from various realities to populate Battleworld.
One major MCU theory suggests the multiverse may be destroyed long before Avengers: Secret Wars, but a new concept will be introduced to replace it in Phase 5. Marvel Studios chief Kevin Feige confirmed the development of Avengers: Secret Wars at SDCC 2022, revealing that the crossover project will be bringing the Multiverse Saga to a close. Originally slated for release at the end of 2025, Secret Wars has since been pushed to May 2027. While Loki and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness writer Michael Waldron is penning the script, not much is known about Secret Wars’ storyline, though the pages of Marvel Comics could provide some hints.
Marvel Studios’ Avengers: Secret Wars is expected to be adapted from Marvel Comics’ 1984 and 2015 events of the same name, both of which featured most of the heroes of the Marvel Universe in two epic crossover stories. 2015’s Secret Wars took place after a catastrophic incursion destroyed a number of universes, though many survivors were gathered on the strange planet of Battleworld, allowing variants of iconic Marvel characters to exist alongside each other before the universe was reborn. With the threat of incursions looming over the multiverse, it’s likely a similar storyline will unfold in live-action, and this could be kick-started in the upcoming MCU Phase 5 lineup with Deadpool 3.
The TVA Will Establish Battleworld In Deadpool 3 – Theory Explained
After Disney’s acquisition of 20th Century Fox was finalized in 2019, Ryan Reynolds was quickly confirmed to be reprising his role of Wade Wilson, a.k.a. Deadpool, in the MCU proper, becoming the first character from another Marvel movie franchise moving permanently to the MCU. This is set to take place in 2024’s Deadpool 3, which will also mark the returns of several characters from previous Fox films, including Colossus, Negasonic Teenage Warhead, Yukio, and Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine, now in a comic-accurate costume. Deadpool 3 will bridge the gap between Fox’s X-Men universe and the MCU, but one theory suggests it may have a more pivotal role in the Multiverse Saga.
A theory posted by Deadpool Updates (via Twitter) suggests that Deadpool 3 will lead directly into the storyline of Avengers: Secret Wars, as the Phase 5 film will feature the collapse of several realities across the multiverse due to incursions. This will be the first time the MCU witnesses incursions happening, though Doctor Strange and Christine Palmer saw the aftermath of one in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. This catastrophe may catch the attention of Loki’s Time Variance Authority, who could begin to establish the MCU’s version of Marvel Comics’ Battleworld by saving characters from each of the destroyed universes and collecting them on a new world.
In Marvel Comics, Battleworld was formed by Doctor Doom after he absorbed the power of the otherworldly Beyonders. Doom pieced together broken fragments from a selection of realities that had been ravaged by incursions, creating a patchwork planet where he established a new history and placed himself as “God Emperor”. Eventually, further survivors of the main Marvel Universe’s incursion arrived to oust Doom, with Black Panther using a completed Infinity Gauntlet to rebuild the multiverse. It seems this storyline could begin to unfold in the MCU’s Phase 5, even though Doctor Doom hasn’t been introduced to the MCU, as the TVA could build Battleworld instead.
This would make Deadpool 3 one of the Multiverse Saga’s most important projects – a valuable potential decision for Marvel Studios, as the upcoming film is highly-anticipated and raising excitement among audiences. It’s a safe bet to use a popular franchise like Deadpool to introduce some major ideas for the future of the MCU, as it’s a certainty that viewers will flood to theaters to watch Deadpool 3. This could also begin to establish clear connections between every project in the Multiverse Saga, helping to solve major criticisms, as Deadpool 3 can explain Loki’s TVA, who may poach characters from a variety of previous projects to begin to populate Battleworld.
Deadpool 3 & Secret Wars May Already Have A Clear Connection
Deadpool 3 is scheduled for release on May 3, 2024, while Avengers: Secret Wars won’t hit theaters until May 7, 2027, so it may be difficult to imagine Deadpool 3 directly setting up the storyline for a film releasing three years later. That’s not even taking into consideration the potential for these films to be delayed due to the ongoing WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes that have brought Hollywood to a halt. Nevertheless, this new theory suggests that Deadpool 3 could set up some huge plot points for Avengers: Secret Wars, and if recent rumors turn out to be true, the two projects may share an even stronger connection.
In recent weeks, there has been speculation concerning who will be hired to direct Avengers: Secret Wars, with names such as Sam Raimi, Alfonso Cuarón, and Ryan Coogler being thrown around. One popular candidate for Secret Wars’ director is Shawn Levy, Deadpool 3’s director. Levy responded to these rumors ambiguously during an interview with ET Canada, but neither confirmed nor denied his potential involvement in Secret Wars. This could establish a clear connection between Deadpool 3 and Secret Wars, which may hint at this theory turning out to be true, as Ryan Reynolds’ MCU debut can actively set up some major storylines in Phase 6.
Loki Season 2 Can Start To Tease Deadpool 3’s Storyline
The TVA debuted in 2021’s Loki season 1 as the mysterious organization tasked with ensuring that the Sacred Timeline didn’t branch out. Eventually, however, several members of the TVA worked with Loki and Sylvie to face He Who Remains, a variant of Kang the Conqueror and the creator of the TVA, and while they perhaps restored free will, this came with the consequence of the Sacred Timeline unraveling. This allowed the multiversal stories of Spider-Man: No Way Home, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, and Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania to unfold, and left the fates of Loki and the TVA unclear.
Deadpool 3 has been rumored to be including the TVA for some time, which makes sense as Deadpool will be making his way from Fox’s X-Men franchise into the MCU proper, potentially becoming a variant that gets on the TVA’s radar. However, the theory suggests the TVA will have a larger role in Deadpool 3, perhaps even removing characters from Fox’s X-Men franchise and other realities and placing them on Battleworld ready for Avengers: Secret Wars. This storyline can begin to be teased in the upcoming Loki season 2, which is set to premiere on October 6, 2023, on Disney+, setting up the TVA’s involvement in Deadpool 3 and beyond.