'Secret Wars' Mega-Theory - Part 2: Seeing double, or Why every Phase 4 Marvel film or show deals with twins

Wanda and Vision cuddle twins Tommy and Billy

As I began sketching out this ridiculous speculative mega-theory about Marvel Studios’ next big, interconnected story event, I noticed a theme common among nearly every Marvel film or streaming show in Phase Four. 

Twins.

Already, in WandaVision, Wanda Maximoff has given birth to twins and reminisced about her twin brother, Pietor Maximoff, killed in Avengers: Age of Ultron. The theme is not specific to biological doubles, however. It encompasses an array of mirror images, including the biggest one of all: The Multiverse. On the surface, that’s fairly obvious. But on closer inspection, this idea of doppelgangers really multiplies.

Seeing double

Consider Black Widow. A prequel of sorts, taking place between Captain America: Civil War and Avengers: Infinity War, the movie follows Natasha Romanov home to Russia, where she connects with old colleagues - some of them also going by the code-named Black Widow. These are, for lack of a better term, twinnings, in which a friend or colleague appears similar to the other, either in dress, appearance, power set or all of the above. Black Widow is far from the only Marvel film or show in Phase 4 addressing this type of twin. Consider: 

Hawkeye and Hawkeye -
Kate Bishop and Clint Barton

• Natalie Portman’s Jane Foster, who becomes Thor in Thor: Love and Thunder

• The U.S. government’s version of Captain America, USAgent, in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier 

• Kamala Khan’s Ms. Marvel, inspired by Captain Marvel 

• Jeremy Renner’s Hawkeye training Hailee Steinfeld’s Hawkeye in, what else, Hawkeye
• Tatiana Maslany’s Jennifer Walters becoming She-Hulk when she receives a blood transfusion from her super smart and slightly scary cousin, Bruce Banner
• Scott Lang introducing his daughter, Cassie, to the family business as Stature (or maybe Stinger) in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania 
• Ironheart revealing the young equivalent of Tony Stark, Riri Williams. 
• And that show will likely spill into Armor Wars, in which Don Cheadle’s James Rhodes gears up in his War Machine armor to put an end to the bad guys duplicating Stark’s Iron Man suit

You could even include Black Panther II in this line-up. Tragic and unexpected, Chadwick Boseman’s death leaves the title open for a new hero or heroine. 

Double down on doppelgangers

Then there are the doppelgangers. In Phase Four, we’ll meet at least two versions: the multiverse doppelganger and the shape shifter. 

Dr. Strange could include many more from across the expanded MCU, including, reportedly, Deadpool and some X-Men.

Multiverse doppelgangers reportedly will appear in Spider-Man 3 and Dr. Strange and the Multiverse of Madness. Spider-Man could feature as few as three Peter Parkers from three different universes, as well as multiverse versions of friends and enemies. 

Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch doppelgangers from three different universes

WandaVision is meant to set up these two films, which indicates, at least to me, that multiverse doppelgangers will play a role in this weekly show, as well. Who will it be? Read on. 

And, of course, What If …? Marvel’s animated entry that tells tales of MCU doppelgangers from across the multiverse. Which will become live action (fingers crossed for Hayley Atwell as a live-action Captain Britain)?

A subset of multiverse doppelgangers are time-displaced twins. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 deals with this type of twin. GotG’s Gamora is not the same Gamora we’ve known. How will this slightly younger version with a totally different outlook on life change the team dynamic? If she even agrees to be on the team. 

Loki does something similar, though it may also wander into multiverse territory. As a time agent, Loki presumably meets versions of himself from different timelines (are timelines and mirror universes the same?). 

Do your eyes deceive you? Probably shape-shifters

Shape shifters - the Skrulls, introduced in Captain Marvel - are at the heart of Secret Invasion. And if you think that faction of Skrulls is contained to that series, you’re crazy. I guarantee you a handful of series regulars and film favorites will be revealed as Skrulls. Could Agent Woo be a Skrull? What about Clint Barton? Did Natasha Romanov die? Or was it her Skrull mimic? Start looking for imposters now.

Skrulls disguised as our heroes.
Who do you trust?

Moon Knight’s twin theme is much more cerebral. Oscar Issac’s Marc Spector suffers from multiple personality disorder, his “twins” manifesting as different versions of himself. 

As for Eternals, Shang-Chi and Fantastic Four? Well, we’ll just have to wait and see. 

Why twins are a big deal

This twin theme underscores the three phase story: Secret Wars. Where there are twins, there is conflict. Maybe Marvel is exploring the concept of dualistic cosmology, in which twin beings, posed as moral opposites and often supernatural, create the universe together and then come into conflict over it. Good versus evil, essentially. 

Or, if you are familiar with the Secret Wars comic storyline, you know that universes are destroyed when they collide with one another. But these collisions are less like Demolition Derby and more like a Roman arena, in which two parallel universes enter the ring and one - or none - leave.

Dualist cosmology also gives us the concept of the Evil Twin.

We see that in a few Phase Four films and shows. Extremist Skrulls are evil twins of the people they’re mimicking. USAgent is the opposite (though can we say evil?) twin of Captain America. Everyone in a suit of armor in Armor Wars acts as an evil twin of Tony Stark.

Yes, evil twins run amok in Phase Four.  And that, dear friend, is why Chris Evans is coming back to the MCU. 

NEXT! PART 3!

‘Secret Wars’ Mega-Theory - Part 3: Captain America and his Ultimate (Evil) Universe

CATCH UP! Part 1!

‘Secret Wars’ Mega-Theory - Part 1: An introduction to the story arc that could shape Marvel Studios for the next decade