How Avengers: Doomsday and Secret Wars Could Seed Marvel's New MCU

Marvel's plans for the next chapter of the MCU, after the soft reboot that Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars are building toward, might not start off the way we thought they would, and I think that's actually a really good thing. A run of reports about the new Black Panther, the Midnight Sons, Ghost Rider, the Punisher and Shang-Chi all fall, in my view, into one big plan: Marvel starting its new universe before the first project of the Mutant Saga even arrives.

Before, we kind of thought that after Secret Wars everything was just going to stop, maybe cut to black, and then we'd get a new universe where everything was completely different. I think Marvel has plans to start that new universe much earlier, and there's a report on what that first Mutant Saga project might be.

Joe Russo called Avengers: Doomsday a complete reinvention

Keep in mind what the Russo brothers were saying at the time. In an interview, Joe Russo said: "What Marvel's done better than anybody in history is that serialized storytelling at scale. And Doomsday is a complete reinvention. It's another swing. I don't think the audience is expecting it at all what happens in the movie and its tone and its subject matter." He added that he was hoping it would feel like another profound shift in that serialized story.

Because Doomsday and Secret Wars are the same story, I think they're going to be very much not what we think they are. I believe that's because the new universe starts in Doomsday, with this new soft rebooted MCU happening in Secret Wars. The reports below are why I see it that way.

Black Panther 3 was reportedly being considered to open the next saga

The first report came from Alex Perez at The Cosmic Circus, who said Marvel Studios was reportedly considering Black Panther 3 as the first project of the next saga. We'd been hearing for a while that the X-Men movie might not be the first movie, that it would be the first or the second, but now we were hearing that Marvel was considering Black Panther 3.

Here's why I believe they were considering it. After Doomsday or Secret Wars, basically when the new universe starts, we're going to have one Earth, and Wakanda is going to play a big role. According to a lot of different insiders, we're getting a new Black Panther in Doomsday or Secret Wars or both, and if he appears in Doomsday, he'll be in Secret Wars as well. We weren't sure when this new Black Panther would debut, but it was basically confirmed at that point that Marvel was giving us a new T'Challa.

This Black Panther is reportedly going to be the new Black Panther of the MCU moving forward, and the Black Panther for Black Panther 3. So starting the saga with Black Panther 3 makes a lot of sense to me. You'd be opening with a new Black Panther who came in during the restructure, or, as the Russo brothers said, like a reinvention or a reimagination of the universe. That would show that the events of Doomsday and Secret Wars do affect the new universe. In fact, it is the new universe, so when this new Black Panther is introduced, he's the new Black Panther, period.

A new Punisher project could carry straight into the new universe

Daniel RPK also reported that Marvel Studios was developing another Punisher movie. It seemed like most people really did enjoy the Punisher special presentation. It was pretty quick, packed with action, and had a lot of emotion in it, and it seemed to be a pretty big hit. That tracks, because Marvel brought back Daredevil, Kingpin and other characters from the Netflix series, and brought back the Punisher in season 1 of Daredevil: Born Again. Everything seemed to be landing, so if fans like it, keep it going.

The interesting part is how this works with the soft reboot, with Daredevil: Born Again season 3 and apparently a new Punisher project on the way. If these characters are in Doomsday and Secret Wars, they're automatically part of the new universe. I'm expecting pretty much almost everybody to be in Secret Wars, because that's going to be our new universe, so having the Punisher show up means Marvel can just continue his story. Spider-Man is going to show up, Daredevil is going to show up, and everyone playing a pretty big role was going to cross over. That's part of Kevin Feige's plan.

Blade is reportedly set for Secret Wars and a big Midnight Sons role

Daniel RPK had another report that Marvel Studios was reportedly planning to feature Blade in Avengers: Secret Wars. There's a big reason for that, and it has to do with the Midnight Sons, because he also reported that Blade was reportedly going to be in the Midnight Sons film and play a really big role.

Originally we were supposed to get the Blade movie, and it sounds like that's not happening anymore. That film was going to introduce Blade and set up the Midnight Sons. We kind of already got a bit of that in the Eternals post-credit scene, when Blade showed up to the Black Knight. That was supposed to be Blade acting like Nick Fury, recruiting a new supernatural Avengers team. He was going to recruit Black Knight, Dane Whitman, along with Moon Knight and Ghost Rider. That's reportedly what the original plans were, which would have been really cool.

Since Marvel couldn't figure out how to make Blade work, it sounds like they're going to introduce our new Blade in Secret Wars, and since that's the new universe, he'll go on into the next part of the MCU as part of the Midnight Sons. He might still bring the team together, but they might tell that story in the Midnight Sons movie itself. On top of that, Ghost Rider is reportedly going to be in Secret Wars as well, which is really, really big.

Doomsday and Secret Wars are setting up a seamless transition

Marvel is basically setting up the future in Doomsday and Secret Wars so the move into the new universe is pretty seamless. It's not a case of cutting everything off and starting completely new. You'll see some familiarity, and it should be an easy transition. It's basically a fresh start, because we'll have one universe where all of this is possible, but it should be easy for the audience to understand.

I think the hardest part for audiences honestly is going to be Doomsday and Secret Wars themselves, where we have a multiverse, it collapses, and then we have one universe that a lot of different universes end up in. People who have been following along closely will understand it, but for the casual audience I think that'll be the biggest leap Marvel Studios asks of them.

Shang-Chi reportedly gains his duplication power in Avengers: Doomsday

There was also a report that in Avengers: Doomsday, Shang-Chi is apparently going to get his comic power to duplicate himself, which I can't wait to see. The last time we left off with him, he was with Wong, and Katy was there too. If he's been training with Wong, it makes sense that he'd develop these powers and be a lot stronger, because based on that post-credit scene, he was basically just sitting there training to be an Avenger.

I think Marvel Studios is setting up a lot of the new Avengers teams here. Marvel is basically showing what the new universe will look like in Doomsday and Secret Wars: we'll have these main characters, and then they'll disperse into their own sections of one finally fully complete MCU. Shang-Chi is going to be with the new Avengers. Blade and Ghost Rider are going to be with the Midnight Sons. Black Panther of course will be in charge of Wakanda.

I also think the Illuminati come into play, and I really hope an Illuminati is introduced at the end of Secret Wars, because I think that makes the most sense. These major players in Secret Wars will bring the past into the future, and I wouldn't be surprised if we get some cosmic characters in there like Nova. The point is that Marvel Studios isn't waiting for the start of the Mutant Saga to introduce new characters. They're getting ahead of it so the transition is seamless, and I personally think it's a good idea.

The setup for Doomsday is everything Marvel has done before

I agree with the idea that Doomsday is going to be where everything finally starts connecting properly again. Months and months ago I kind of had an epiphany. My first thought was that there isn't that much setup for Doomsday. Then I realized the setup is kind of everything Marvel Studios has done before, if you think about it.

We have the Fox X-Men in this. Deadpool & Wolverine brought back Elektra, brought back Blade from so long ago, and of course Wolverine and the Fox X-Men. Tobey Maguire's Spider-Man, who was brought back in Spider-Man: No Way Home, is supposed to be in Avengers: Doomsday. The big setup for Doomsday is literally anything Marvel, not just the MCU, has done in the past. They're closing all of those stories so that when we go into this new universe, it's fresh and it's one. From then on, anything Marvel does will be one, and they're linking Marvel's history into Doomsday and the start of the new universe, which I really like.

I also trust Kevin Feige. We heard a lot around then about the plans for the MCU, and Brad Winderbaum had kind of become the main man in a role Feige was supposed to have. I think Feige decided to give that to Winderbaum so he could solely focus on making MCU movies and on the next part of the MCU.

Characters from Battleworld could be brought into the main universe

One suggestion I've seen is that it would be reasonable for the heroes to bring people from Battleworld into the main universe. I'm pretty sure that's one of the ways Miles Morales ends up in the main universe in the comics. At the very end of Secret Wars, it's kind of a funny story: Molecule Man is always hungry when anybody talks to him, and when Spider-Man and Miles show up to him on Battleworld, he asks if anybody has food. Miles has an old hamburger in his pocket, and Molecule Man takes it. So when they're recreating the multiverse, Molecule Man does Miles a favor and puts him in the main 616 universe.

I do think this is what Marvel wants to do: anybody they want in the new universe, they just bring into Secret Wars. As for Sadie Sink, it seems like Marvel is setting her up to be Jean Grey, a familiar face for the new X-Men, even way before Secret Wars and Doomsday, in Spider-Man: Brand New Day. I think we're starting to see all the pieces of Marvel's plans come together, I'm starting to see the overall picture, and I have trust in Kevin Feige.

Which of these reported additions would you most want to see carried into the new MCU?