Avengers: Secret Wars Will Reportedly Focus on Young Avengers, New Mutants and Heroes Sidelined in Doomsday

A batch of insider reports pointed to Avengers: Secret Wars focusing more on characters who got little or no screen time in Avengers: Doomsday, with a younger cast, a few adult advisors and new mutants going up against Doctor Doom. I'm really excited about this, because it's kind of what I was hoping would happen with Secret Wars, and I also think it kind of just makes the most sense logically for the story.

These reports came right after what was basically a confirmation that a plot leak for Avengers: Doomsday was accurate. It's pretty much real, and it had been confirmed by some people who know what the movie is really about. Even if you don't know what that leak says, I think most people expect the same ending for Doomsday: Doctor Doom wins and creates Battleworld, and on Battleworld, much like in the comics, no one remembers anything that happened before. It sounds like maybe everybody in every universe in the multiverse might die until it's just Doom, and then he brings everything back under one rule, creates Battleworld and rules over it. Of course, much like in the snap, some heroes have to survive so there's still a team left to fight Doom, and based on these reports it sounds like there are going to be multiple teams.

A new look shows Doctor Doom almost head to toe

Before getting into the reports, there was a new look at Doctor Doom. It seems to be coming from socks, but for the first time, I believe, we get a full look at Doom almost all the way from head to toe. We even see his feet. Every time I look at something with his armor and this new look, I think it looks really good. Even the metal plating on his shins and his feet looks fantastic.

You can also see other characters in the background: The Thing, Beast, Mr. Fantastic, Cyclops, Captain America and Yelena Belova. These are characters we know are going to be main characters of the film, or at least get a lot of screen time in it.

Daniel RPK reports Secret Wars will focus more on team-ups of characters sidelined in Doomsday

The first report came from Daniel RPK, who said that from what he understands, "Secret Wars will focus more on team-ups involving characters who didn't get much, if any, screen time in Doomsday." Right away I don't just think of one character, I think of three Spider-Men. It doesn't sound like Tom Holland's Spider-Man is going to be in Avengers: Doomsday, it doesn't sound like Andrew Garfield's Spider-Man is going to be in it, and it sounds like Tobey Maguire's Spider-Man is only going to be in it for a little bit.

We know about the opening scene, and we've heard that some reshoots might have involved Tobey Maguire, so perhaps he's involved a little more, but I don't think he's going to be one of the main characters. I think we just get a really cool scene with him and Wolverine, and we get what we've wanted since we were kids: Tobey Maguire's Spider-Man and Hugh Jackman's Wolverine going at it, which I can't wait to see.

I would say the Hulk is probably going to be in Secret Wars as well, because we haven't really heard anything about him appearing in Doomsday either. We also haven't heard anything about Jean Grey or Sadie Sink's character appearing in Doomsday, but it's been confirmed that Sadie Sink is in Secret Wars. So it makes sense that these characters won't be in Doomsday but will get the focus in Secret Wars. I also think that goes for Deadpool and Wolverine in general.

Another insider reports a younger cast will face Doom and some defectors

Another insider added to this, saying they had sort of said it in March: "some characters with big roles in Doomsday will have smaller ones in Secret Wars. It'll focus more on the younger cast guided by a few adult advisors and new mutants that will go up against Doom and some defectors."

That line at the end is very interesting. They're not saying some people will defect from Doom and then fight against him. They're saying the defectors are who the heroes are going to fight. So some people are going to start off good and make their way to Doom. Doctor Strange might be one of them. We're also hearing that Yelena Belova is going to be very important and under Doom's control, so perhaps they'll have to fight Yelena. It makes sense that she would have a somewhat prominent role in Secret Wars.

I also think some of this points toward Secret Wars being two different parts. We'd been hearing a lot about that, including that the Russo brothers are working on another Avengers film, which could be a Secret Wars part two or could just be a new Avengers film in the new universe. With everything we're hearing, there's a lot going on and it makes sense to have two parts, but we'll have to wait and see.

Alex Perez says Doomsday's bigger characters will start Secret Wars as NPCs

Alex Perez added that "most of the characters who appear in Doomsday with bigger roles will start out as NPCs in Secret Wars with absolutely zero recollection of their previous lives or roles, which is why their roles are reduced until the final act." I like this a bit. There are a lot of characters you can focus on, but at the same time I do want to focus on the older characters. The old X-Men are back, I want to see a lot of Cyclops, I really want Storm to return, and there's Professor X and Magneto, plus our Avengers and the Thunderbolts. I pretty much love all the characters who are going to be in this movie, some more than others.

It does make sense that if Doom wins and nobody remembers anything, they're kind of just walking NPCs, except for those who survive, and those survivors are going to be the teams. There's the void, where I think people can go to survive the creation of Battleworld or the destruction of the multiverse. There's the Quantum Realm, which is going to heavily involve the Young Avengers. And we were hearing there was either going to be a pocket dimension or life rafts; those two seemed kind of mixed up at the time. We've heard the life rafts won't be the traditional ones from the Secret Wars comics, so we'll have to wait and see.

Regardless, people survive, and from there it's up to them to awaken these NPCs. Ultimately everybody will be awakened and fighting Doom in the final act. It makes sense that there will be secret missions by the groups who are not mind wiped and don't worship Doctor Doom. On Battleworld, people think Doom created the world. He's God Emperor Doom, he literally made the Earth, so they worship him. He also has a police force; in the comics it's the Thor Corps, and I hope it's the Thor Corps in the movie because that would be really cool.

Alex Perez reportedly hears five names as potential advisors for the younger heroes

Alex Perez continued: "As for the adult advisors who will guide the younger members, the Young Avengers and the New X-Men, Wong, Agatha, Scott, Vision, and Star-Lord are among the names I've heard repeatedly from sources as potential advisors for this group of champions." He also said he had heard Clint's name thrown in, but doubted he'd show up. If you think about it, we really haven't heard much about Hawkeye. No one's really said he's going to return, and the most we've heard is Hawkeye season 2. At this point it doesn't seem like he's going to show up, but we know the new Hawkeye, Kate Bishop, who I do really like, kind of is.

The Young Avengers are most likely going to go inside the Quantum Realm at the end of Avengers: Doomsday, and it sounds like they're going to take some people with them. Wong and Agatha might have some other place they go, maybe some type of dimension or realm. It makes sense that Agatha would guide some of the Young Avengers because she's been with Billy, and they've been looking for Tommy, so that's two Young Avengers right there. Then Cassie, Ms. Marvel and Kate Bishop can all hide in the Quantum Realm. The other Spider-Men could go in the void, and maybe Loki and some of the TVA people are saving them.

What makes this really interesting is that we've seen concept art of Wong and Star-Lord for Secret Wars, and of Vision too. So I really like the way this is going, and I do think it makes a lot of sense. As for the Hulk, a big question at the time was whether he would actually be in Avengers: Doomsday, and it was something no one knew.

The same insider hears a Children's Crusade sort of story for the younger cast

That same insider went on to say that, from their sources, it sounds like a Children's Crusade sort of story, because Marvel seemingly wants the younger cast to make an impact before the next saga ends, as they'll also be ushering in a new young cast in the next saga. So basically they're introducing a decent amount of the new characters who will be coming in the next saga, which I think makes sense.

It had already started with Brand New Day. I think most people believe by now that Sadie Sink is Jean Grey. They're introducing not just her but other new mutants as well who will go on to be part of the X-Men. Plus, the Champions or Young Avengers will go on to ultimately become the Avengers one day, I'm sure. Perhaps not the exact lineup, but some of them will become our new Avengers. They're not trying to wait, they're trying to usher them in now.

With the Children's Crusade story, it sounds like they're going to try to save Wanda. I think Wanda's powers, her reality warping chaos magic, might be the key to waking up everybody on Battleworld. I think she is the key, and it looks like the Young Avengers might be on a very specific mission to rescue her.

Deadpool reportedly spends most of Secret Wars paired with Thor

There was also a report from MyTimeToShineHello, who said Deadpool will reportedly spend most of his screen time in Avengers: Secret Wars paired with Thor. If this is true, I like it a lot. I think it would be funny. I hope it doesn't take too much away from the more serious side of Thor we're getting, but I think it could be incredibly funny.

I think that pairing could ultimately lead to the answer to why Thor is crying. That's something I think the Russo brothers should pay off, because a lot of people really want to know, and I think it needs to be funny, but that's just my opinion.

Why I think a different kind of Avengers story could work

One point raised in response to these reports was that Doomsday is going to have a lot of characters and not everyone will be able to get a focus, and I think that's a great point. That might be why they do a two parter: you can focus on the characters who didn't get much or any screen time in Doomsday, plus the new characters, and then part two could focus on everybody, which would be an insane movie. But who knows if that's what Marvel really wants to do. Since they're not straight up starting from scratch, introducing the new faces this way does help with an easy transition, I think.

I also like going into the new characters because it's a very different story. Doomsday is all about trying to save the multiverse, but they fail. The next part isn't really about defeating Doctor Doom, not in the beginning. It's about awakening the people being controlled by Doom who don't remember anything, then getting them together to assemble the Avengers and fight him. I'm excited for the mix of the old X-Men with a glimpse of what the future X-Men team has for us, and let's not forget that we're supposed to get a new Black Panther. One conversation I really want to see is Tobey Maguire's Spider-Man seeing Tom Holland's with the symbiote suit and getting concerned because of Spider-Man 3, with Tom maybe saying this one's kind of good.

There are so many people who could show up in Secret Wars that we haven't heard anything about appearing in Doomsday, and it's really hard to fit them all into one movie when the cast is already massive. I think the first half of the movie will probably focus on new characters, then they awaken the rest, and then we get a massive number of heroes and antiheroes going up against Doctor Doom in a fight I have to believe is going to be incredible.

Which characters would you most like to see Secret Wars put in the spotlight?