Marvel's next saga: is it supernatural, not mutant?

For years, the saga that follows the Multiverse Saga has been called the mutant saga, but reports from trusted industry insiders suggest the next saga might not be a mutant saga at all. One quote in particular, from a different trusted industry insider, recontextualizes what we can expect from Phases 7, 8 and 9: a soft reboot through Avengers: Secret Wars that leads into a supernatural saga.

The mutant saga label goes back to Disney's acquisition of the Fox X-Men. That was when Kevin Feige and his team set out to recast the team and introduce a fresh take in an X-Men reboot. As I understand it, that reboot has been confirmed in pre-development, with writers submitting for the original script back in 2022. At the time, the Multiverse Saga was closing in on its end and Phase 7 was about three years away, supposedly with an X-Men reboot. That's where things get interesting.

Comicbasics.com reports describe the MCU saga after Secret Wars as very dark

The latest round of talk came from an article on comicbasics.com headlined "Fresh reports uncover major clues about the MCU's future after Secret Wars, Next Saga described as very dark." It referenced two specific industry insiders and their reports on what was going on at Marvel Studios.

One of those reports dates back to the previous year, while the other was much more recent. Together, they paint a picture of a very different take on what to expect in Phases 7, 8 and 9.

Joanna Robinson's Kevin Feige quote frames Avengers: Secret Wars as a soft reboot

The first source is Joanna Robinson, who wrote the book The Reign of Marvel Studios. In it, she reveals a lot from industry insiders who spoke candidly and on the record, but anonymously, about what went on behind the scenes at Marvel Studios. The article pointed to a specific quote from Robinson about Kevin Feige and his plan to clean up everything with Secret Wars.

In that quote, Robinson describes a quote from Feige implying that Secret Wars will serve as a soft reboot in which Marvel can "prune everything that's not working, and just keep what's working and bring back people they thought were gone forever."

In my view, this idea of a soft reboot doesn't mean Marvel is cleaning house and getting rid of everyone who has been in the Multiverse Saga or the Infinity Saga. That goes especially for big actors and characters who had only just joined the MCU, and I'm specifically thinking of the Fantastic Four. There were also reports that a Fantastic Four sequel might already be in the works for Phase 7.

Brad Winderbaum has said reboots don't work

Brad Winderbaum at Marvel Studios is the person I think would be first in line to replace Kevin Feige if Feige ever decided to leave. He has said that, in his experience, reboots just don't work. He pointed to the two or three times it has happened with DC Comics and said it never worked out the way they planned. He seems to be against reboots altogether.

So the term soft reboot seems to be more how the fandom and the journalism surrounding Marvel Studios have described what's coming with Secret Wars. Robinson is using it to say Marvel will leave behind some things that didn't work. To me, that means the C tier publishing characters Marvel pushed to Disney Plus, only to find out they were C tier in the first place because they didn't sell many comics. People weren't that interested in them on the page, and they weren't that interested again on Disney Plus.

Alex Perez says the next MCU saga could be very dark and demonic

The second source is industry insider Alex Perez of The Cosmic Circus. Their editorial has been in the game for quite some time and has been an accurate source of information. Perez said the next saga might explore the magic side of the MCU and "be very dark, very demonic," like something out of a Guillermo del Toro fever dream.

This isn't the first time we've heard this. Rumors have said the next saga might explore many themes, that it won't be all about mutants, and that it will explore the cosmic side and the supernatural side. It seems like at some point Marvel was leaning into that. Werewolf by Night was the first to kick off many of the characters in the supernatural corner of the MCU, and Blade, presumably, would have done the same if it had ever been made.

More building blocks were on the way at the time with Ironheart, which was set to introduce the Hood and maybe even Mephisto into the MCU.

Mephisto, the Punisher and Spider-Man: Brand New Day

What made this even more interesting was the Hollywood Reporter's news that Jon Bernthal had officially joined Spider-Man: Brand New Day. That sent everybody back to a report from about a month earlier by industry insider Jeff Sneider, the insider who nailed Robert Downey Jr. coming back as Doctor Doom.

Sneider's report talked about the Punisher teaming up with Spider-Man to take on the Savage Hulk, and said even Mephisto might be in that movie. It could very well be the case that Marvel Studios is setting up Mephisto before Avengers: Secret Wars. The idea would be that he hangs around after Secret Wars, ready to enact his plan, which I think will ultimately lead into a Midnight Suns film.

DanielRPK says Midnight Suns is back in pre-development, which bodes well for Blade

Trusted industry insider DanielRPK was the one who first told us about Midnight Suns, two years before this. He later reported that the project was on hold at the same time all of Marvel Studios' big budget projects went on hold. More recently, he said it was back in full pre-development and that Marvel was pushing forward with a Midnight Suns movie.

That seems like the consolation for keeping Mahershala Ali around rather than having him leave the Blade role: Marvel does Blade, then also does Midnight Suns, so he gets two movies when the studio finally gets around to it. All this supernatural talk definitely bodes well for Blade finally getting made, because it would be the main feeder project into the creation of the Midnight Suns.

For a film that hasn't figured out what to do with that character, why not make the formation of the Midnight Suns the actual plot of the film? That's the way Captain America: Brave New World should have been Sam assembling a new Avengers. It makes me scratch my head sometimes why Marvel finds it so hard to make these films. I have three or four decent pitches for what I think would be an amazing Blade movie.

Where do the X-Men fit into a supernatural saga?

The most interesting question to me is where the X-Men fit into a supernatural saga. Kevin Feige has said he has a 10 year plan for the X-Men, and I wonder what that could possibly lead to.

I'm so curious which story Marvel will pick for the X-Men, because they're probably lining up Age of Apocalypse for the X-Men animated show, and Dark Phoenix is probably off the table because of the previous two attempts.