'Secret Wars' Mega-Theory - Part 1: An introduction to the story arc that could shape Marvel Studios for the next decade
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| Marvel's heroes face extinction in 'Secret Wars' |
A lot of Marvel theories lately seem to center around the studio’s Phase Four film slate and the individual pieces in that puzzle.
Those theories include the possibility that Mephisto is the big bad behind a trilogy of Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) movies, beginning with Disney+’s WandaVision, continuing in Spider-Man 3 and ending with Dr. Strange and the Multiverse of Madness. They also include the hows and whys of the Fantastic Four’s introduction, the eventual inclusion of Marvel’s mighty mutants, The X-Men, and the burgeoning reveal of The Young Avengers. Not to mention the likelihood we’ll see some Netflix Defenders in the greater MCU, too.
All good theories about components of Phase Four and, likely, elements of Phase Five. But there are few theories trying to put all the pieces together, to speculate not only on what the next Infinity Saga will be, but how that story threads through multiple films and shows - and how it will evolve over the next decade.
Editor’s note: Only now am I going back through my first draft of this post - clocking in at nearly, 4,300 words - and I haven’t even touched Phase 5 and 6. It occurs to me that to do this right, and make it easier to read, I should break it up into a series of blog posts and publish them over the next few weeks. So that’s what I’ll do.
Oh yeah. And before we go any further, there could be a fair number of spoilers - and a ton of speculation - that could turn out true. If you’re not into that, then it might be time to turn back. You are now dutifully warned.
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| Cap and Iron Man come to terms in 'Avengers: Assemble' during the MCU's Phase 1 |
Wait, before you start, what do you mean by ‘phases’?
If you’re asking that question, welcome to the world of Marvel Studios and its (mostly) interconnected universe of movie and television characters. As fans, we make a lot of to-do about this complementary world, but what we often forget is that this shared universe serves a purpose.
Serialized stories that span dozens of films is part of Marvel Studios’ brand. These stories have a distinct beginning, middle and end, and they are typically told in three acts, whether those acts are within a standalone film, a movie trilogy, or part of the larger, all-encompassing story. The Infinity Saga is our best - and only - example so far. Each act of that story was denoted by a “phase,” and each phase consisted of a select number of films.
As we think about the next shared event Marvel might tell, it behooves us to think in terms of three-act structure - or, in this case, three-phase structure - and see what might be cooking.
Choose your crossover event wisely
The Infinity Gauntlet, on which The Infinity Saga was based, was the culmination of Marvel Comics’ (yes, comics, not films) biggest crossover event series. It ranks No. 1 on a lot of lists. Civil War, too, which served as the foundation for Captain America: Civil War, and the repercussions of that series carried through Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame.
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| The original 'Secret Wars' cover reimagined by artist Alex Ross |
Also near the top (and also No. 1 on many lists)? Secret Wars. Marvel Comics published three editions of Secret Wars. The first miniseries, a runaway hit, saw a godlike creature called the Beyonder beam Marvel’s most popular heroes and villains to a planet called Battleworld where they would duke it out for the chance to win whatever they could imagine. The second series, published a year later, saw the Beyonder arrive on Earth to learn what it means to be human.
A third series, published in 2015 and titled Secret Wars, was far more ambitious than the previous two. Jonathan Hickman’s multiverse spanning tale, drawn exquisitely by Esad Ribic, followed our familiar heroes’ quest to restore the multiverse after a series of incursions all but destroyed everything. Only Doctor Doom, with the help of Molecule Man, was able to collect pieces from dozens of universes, build a new Battleworld and save some decimated portion of the cosmos.
This could very well be the tale Marvel will tell through Phases 4, 5 and 6.
I’m not the first - and neither are you
To be fair, there are other Secret Wars theories out there. Plenty of them.
I haven’t read any … yet. I will, though, after I cast my line. I’ll write a bit about some of those theories at the end of this series. We’ll see how close they are to what I have in mind. I’ll even share what I think works - and doesn’t work - in each.
That said, let’s dig into my far-too-detailed, all-new, all-different, will change the Marvel Universe forever mega-theory: Secret Wars!
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