Secret Wars’ Biggest Story Theory 3 Years Before The MCU

DC already pulled off the movie story Avengers: Secret Wars is most popularly theorized to for the MCU three years before the 2027 film. While Marvel and DC’s movie empires are different in an assortment of ways, there’s also often a considerable amount of overlap between the two franchises, especially where stories are concerned.

With both superhero comic worlds having had decades of history, it’s inevitable some narratives mirror one another, and that some movies follow suit. DC managing to adapt the major story it appears Avengers: Secret Wars may be set to unveil for the MCU timeline is perhaps one of the most interesting examples of this kind of phenomenon.

Avengers: Secret Wars Is Popularly Theorized To Bring An MCU Reboot (& For Good Reason)

Comic book panel: Thanos getting killed by God Emperor Doom in Secret Wars.

Ever since Avengers: Secret Wars‘ title was announced, the main and most popularly believed theory about the movie’s story is that it will close with a reboot of sorts for the franchise. This would make sense, as an opportunity to adjust the current landscape of the MCU, and tweak any storylines or castings that so call for it.

Given both the different main runs of the Secret Wars comics bring major changes in the Marvel world, it stands to reason the MCU will adapt this aspect of their stories. This is doubly possible since the 2015 Secret Wars concludes with a multiversal reboot that has Doctor Doom and Franklin Richards as key players, following their respective MCU debuts.

Kevin Feige has confirmed the film will act as a “reset” for the X-Men definitively – with the X-Men who appear in Avengers: Doomsday & Secret Wars being recast after the films. Logistically, it appears the most straight-forward way to make this happen is by a soft reboot of sorts, which opens the door for other changes at the same time.

Naturally, the prospect of a reboot of any sort would be a major game-changer for the MCU, and one that would prove a surprise to many despite the theories that exist about this eventuality. However, it is a game-changer that DC managed to pull off with its own movie releases beforehand in recent history.

DC’s Movies Covered A Multiverse Being Rebooted With Crisis On Infinite Earths

Two Supermen in Justice League Crisis On Infinite Earths Part One with many heroes behind them

Interestingly, DC pulled off a similar story that rebooted a movie multiverse only one year ago thanks to its Crisis On Infinite Earths trilogy. Running from January to July of 2024, the Justice League: Crisis On Infinite Earths trilogy adapted a similar DC comic story of the same name, tying up the DC Animated Movie Universe by rebooting it.

With the multiverse being decimated by the Anti-Monitor, Crisis On Infinite Earths covers the franchise’s heroes trying to find a way to save their worlds – a premise that already sounds similar to what has been teased for Avengers: Doomsday, which also looks to bring different corners of Marvel’s movie world together to face a common foe.

In the end, much as the 2015 Secret Wars comic ends with the multiverse being built anew, the DC trilogy ends with the heroes using a machine to transform the multiverse into one new universe, allowing reality to reach balance once more. While the Spectre and Constantine don’t enter the “monoverse”, most of the heroes do, being reborn once more.

While the Crisis On Infinite Earth trilogy saw divided reception, the films are fascinating in terms of showing what a movie adaptation of a comic story that reboots a franchise’s world can look like. In effect, the trilogy also provides some great lessons about how this kind of story can work and can struggle when adapted into film format.

The Crisis On Infinite Earths Movies Prove The Pros & Cons Of A Franchise Reboot Storyline

Shot from Justice League Crisis On Infinite Earths with Wonder Woman, Superman and Lois Lane stood togehter

The DC Animated Universe’s Justice League: Crisis On Infinite Earths trilogy is divisive among viewers for a range of reasons. Splitting the story between three movies naturally creates challenges around pacing that can make the films choppy to experience if there’s time between viewing them, and the story is complicated to understand without seeing other DCAU releases beforehand.

Perhaps the aspect of the trilogy that most divides viewers, though, is that of its nature: an ending to all that came before, and a new beginning with it. While some reviews cite this as a brave decision and a big play they appreciated the magnitude of, others lamented the death of years of DC’s history in one fell swoop.

This reception helps to further explain Kevin Feige saying Avengers: Secret Wars will bring a “reset” to the franchise, and not a reboot. Conceptually, a reboot can feel like too much of a jarring move even when explained in-universe, as these reactions attest to – highlighting why a full reboot would present issues that simply changing castings and story details wouldn’t.

That said, the fact the movies are able to craft a clean slate in a way that still allows the franchise to pay respect to what came before is significant. Hopefully, if Avengers: Secret Wars does indeed take the reboot route, it will manage to mirror the strengths of the DC movie trilogy while also learning from its criticisms.