Avengers: Secret Wars release date, cast, plot, and more

Avengers: Secret Wars will conclude the Multiverse Saga in 2027. But even at this early stage of the Marvel Phase 6 movie's development, there’s already plenty of news to discuss. And we must because this is an Avengers movie, and it's bound to be important!

Thanks to the Marvel panel at San Diego Comic-Con 2024, we know that the Russo brothers are back in the directing seats and that Doctor Doom will likely be the main villain going forward. Robert Downey Jr. is also returning to the MCU as said bad guy, and there have been other confirmed casting announcements.

Already, we can begin speculating plot, multiverse antics and more. Luckily for all of you MCU fans, we’ve created a handy guide to keep track of all the news Avengers 6 news and developments that are flying our way. So, while we wait for Avengers 5 to release in 2026, here’s everything you need to know about the Avengers: Secret Wars release date, cast, plot and more.  

Avengers: Secret Wars release date

Avengers: Secret Wars will be released on May 7, 2027. 

It was originally announced for May 1, 2026, but that got pushed back amid strikes-related delays. The sixth Avengers movie follows on from Avengers: Doomsday, which is now in the 2026 spot. 

"When we were doing Phase 1, Phase 2, and Phase 3, there were [fewer] projects over more years," Feige previously explained of the six-year gap between Avengers: Endgame and the next Avengers movie. "They were smaller projects and individual character stories, and it felt appropriate at that point that after every two or three years that it took for a phase, we would do an Avengers film."

The Marvel boss also suggested that Marvel's larger output, including the MCU shows on Disney Plus, lessens the need for a new Avengers film every year—which makes sense given that Avengers members Hawkeye and Wanda, as well as the Avengers-adjacent Loki, were given their own solo show. Each Disney Plus show has established lore and canon that becomes an official part of the MCU and makes its way into the larger film projects.

Avengers: Secret Wars director

During SDCC 2024, it was announced that the Russo brothers would direct Avengers: Secret Wars and its predecessor, Avengers: Doomsday.

This is welcomed news to fans as the Russo brothers directed two of the best Marvel movies of all time, Avengers: Infinity War and Endgame. So, if anyone can close out the Multiverse Saga with a bang, these two can. 

"Joe and I truly believed Endgame was the end of the road for us," Anthony Russo said. "In the time since, through a special story, we have come to potentially see a road to take with you all."

Avengers: Secret Wars cast

SDCC 2024 revealed that Robert Downey Jr as Doctor Doom will play a role in Avengers: Secret Wars. We also know that the Fantastic Four and the Thunderbolts will play a part in the upcoming Marvel movie.

That means we can expect to see Pedro Pascal as Reed Richards, Vanessa Kirby as Susan Storm, Joseph Quinn as Johnny Storm, and Ebon Moss-Bachrach as Ben Grimm. On the Thunderbolts side, we’ll see Florence Pugh as Yelena Belova, Sebastian Stan as Bucky Barnes, David Harbour as Alexei Shostakov, Wyatt Russell as John Walker, and more.

However, apart from those two groups and Doctor Doom, no other casting announcements have been made yet. The 2015 Secret Wars comics that the movie looks set to be heavily based on also featured the likes of Thor, both Miles Morales and Peter Parker, Wolverine, Captain America, She-Hulk, and so many more. 

Several Marvel villains also joined Doctor Doom in the comics, such as The Beyonder, The Lizard, Magneto, Molecule Man, and Kang the Conqueror. So, keep your eyes on this page, because we expect a lot more casting announcements to come our way in the future.  

Avengers: Secret Wars plot

There have been two prominent Secret Wars storylines in Marvel comics, the first of which launched in 1984 as part of a collaboration between the comic book-maker and toy manufacturer Mattel, the intention being that they would launch a line of toys alongside a huge crossover event in the comics. The first Secret Wars is therefore considered the first ever official Marvel crossover event, with the 12-issue series billed as the ultimate showdown between the most powerful heroes and villains in the Marvel Universe. 

The story sees a villain called The Beyonder send our heroes to a planet known as Battleworld, in which they are trapped and locked into (seemingly) eternal battle with other villains. Many heroes' storylines are drastically altered, including Spider-Man, who receives his famous all-black costume that ends up being a living alien symbiote – which attempts to take over Peter's mind before attaching itself to Eddie Brock and becoming Venom.

While the original Secret Wars is much-loved, the MCU seems set to be more akin to the 2015 comic book run that saw the destruction of the Prime Marvel Universe (Earth-616) as we know it. Essentially, The Beyonders – there are many of them – are trying to collapse the Multiverse through Incursions, which is when universes collide and become unstable. The Beyonders are doing this all by using Molecule Man, the only person who exists in basically the exact same context and identity in every world. He's essentially a failsafe whose powers can be activated by the Beyonders, destroying that universe.

However, the Beyonders are foiled by Doctor Doom. However, being a dastardly villain, Doom then reconstructs Battleworld using elements of different universes. Many heroes were drastically changed in the process, though the Avengers eventually come out on top and defeat Doom, who is known as God Emperor Doom. You can read much more about the Secret Wars comics here.

We've already seen the groundwork for this story being laid out. In Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness, Doctor Strange of Earth-838 causes an incursion, destroying his universe and another. The Multiverse itself has now been well-established thanks to the Doctor Strange sequel and Spider-Man: No Way Home, which featured multiple Peter Parkers. The theme continued into Loki season 2 as well as The Marvels, and we're guessing we haven't seen the last of that yet, either.

On top of that, Deadpool & Wolverine introduced how unstable timelines in the multiverse truly are. After all, the film focused heavily on the destruction of universes outside the Sacred timeline and the TVA - they always seem to follow one universe-ending problem or another. Incursions and the multiverse firmly falls into that bracket. 

In the movie, we also saw a potential future with the Merc with a Mouth being held by Thor. So Wade Wilson will probably have a bigger part to play in Secret Wars than we initially thought as well. 

That's everything we know so far about Avengers: Secret Wars. For much more on the MCU, be sure to check out our full breakdown of all the upcoming Marvel movies and shows coming soon.