We all know that Avengers: Secret Wars is a major event, but more important than the event itself is the setup. The better the setup, the more grand the scale of the event will feel. This was something that was missing in Avengers: Infinity War and Endgame. Thanos first appeared in the post-credit scene of the first Avengers movie, and his entire setup was shown in Avengers: Infinity War, where he was on a quest to collect the Infinity Stones.

Now, imagine if we had seen Thanos preparing to collect the Infinity Stones one phase earlier. Just think how dangerous that would have been. Marvel Studios is doing something similar in the Multiverse Saga right now, setting up several important elements, though some key elements are still missing to make Secret Wars truly explosive.

Variants in the MCU

Variants are very important for Avengers: Secret Wars, and this is one area where Marvel has done an excellent job. Most of the credit goes to Michael Waldron, who established the concept of the Void and variants through the Loki series. We’ve seen Loki with his variants in the Loki series, Deadpool with his variants in Deadpool & Wolverine, Spider-Man variants in Spider-Man: No Way Home, and Doctor Strange variants in Multiverse of Madness.

While the Kang variants in Ant Man and the Wasp: Quantumania might not make sense anymore, Marvel has done a great job introducing the concept of variants to fans. If we see an army of variants in Avengers: Secret Wars, it will make perfect sense. However, we still need more Multiverse variant armies, especially the Thor Corps, which would be awesome to see. Plus, there are some important groups whose level of destruction is even more dangerous, like Marvel Zombies and Ultron Sentinels, hinted at in the What If series.

The Concept of Incursion

Incursion is the thing that will shake the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe. An incursion is not a small event; we’re talking about one Earth colliding with another, where either one Earth survives, or both are destroyed. The concept of incursion has been well explained in the comics and was mentioned in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness and Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. However, we haven’t seen an incursion happen yet. Showing an incursion in the MCU would be even more awesome.

In the comics, we first saw an incursion in New Avengers Issue 1, where Black Panther sees another Earth over Wakanda, and Black Swan stops the incursion by destroying the other Earth. If we see such a scene in the movie, it will be something else. It would make it clear just how big a problem the Avengers are facing. Marvel has already set up these two important things—variants and incursion—for Avengers: Secret Wars. However, more key elements still need to be introduced.

A Central Hero

We need a hero. Iron Man, Thor, and Captain America were the faces of the entire Infinity Saga. Everyone knew that if the biggest villain of the Infinity Saga, Thanos, needed to be fought, these three would do it. But so far, no heroes of that level have been set up in the Multiverse Saga. If Doctor Doom takes control of the Multiverse, there should be someone on his level or better.

In the Secret Wars comics, Reed Richards was the only man who could save the Multiverse from this problem. Throughout the Infinity Saga, everyone knew that if a problem arose, Tony Stark would find some solution. But that feeling is currently missing in the MCU. Even during the Infinity Saga in the MCU, the Avengers team was so strong that the Russo brothers decided they had to break the team up in Civil War to make the problem of Thanos’ arrival even bigger.

But right now, there isn’t even an Avengers team. Shuri is the new Black Panther, Captain Marvel is singing on a musical planet, Shang-Chi’s setup was solid, but he hasn’t been seen since. Hulk is busy with his family, Thor now has two hammers and the responsibility of a daughter, Sam Wilson considers himself Captain America, but not everyone sees him that way yet, and The Eternals sequel has been canceled.

We desperately need a hero who will be properly set up. Reed Richards is going to be introduced in the upcoming Fantastic Four, but we need to see more of his exploits before we can get that Iron Man, Captain America, and Thor feeling back.

Avengers Teams and Missions

Different Avengers teams, different missions. Every fan should repeatedly praise Avengers: Infinity War for more than just its perfect action scenes and Thor’s epic entry. Even more awesome was how multiple teams were shown handling Thanos in their own ways, all in one movie.

Now, imagine if this had been shown in different projects in the Multiverse Saga. It would have been incredible. This was already in progress; Kang the Conqueror’s variants were planned to appear in different projects, challenging superheroes. After He Who Remains appeared in Loki, Kang was shown in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. Kang’s variant Rama-Tut was supposed to be introduced in Fantastic Four: First Steps. An industry insider even revealed that the original plan for Deadpool & Wolverine was to have them gather a paradox anchor being to deal with the Council of Kangs. However, after Quantumania’s poor performance and Jonathan Majors’ firing, the entire plan was changed.

But if that setup is gone, there’s still a year and an entire phase left to make Doctor Doom’s threat felt throughout the saga. Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness has already teased the incursion. Loki, Ant-Man, and Deadpool have incorporated the concept of variants. The Eternals have gone to get the universe’s judgment. Now, we just need to make Thor, Hulk, Captain America, and the Thunderbolts feel the gravity of this big problem and send them on separate missions to deal with the destruction of this Multiverse.

Earth vs. Earth

There’s also the danger to alternate timelines, and the superheroes from those timelines must be doing something to deal with this crisis. This is where the Earth vs. Earth event comes in. The first time we saw an incursion in the New Avengers series, Black Swan destroyed the other Earth to stop the incursion. The only way to save your planet from an incursion is to destroy the other planet, and both planets would be thinking this way. This leads to an Earth vs. Earth battle, where the superheroes of both Earths face off to destroy the other Earth and save their own from the incursion.

In the comics, just before the Secret Wars event, superheroes from Earth-616 and Earth-1610 face each other. This type of event is somewhat set up in the MCU, where Wanda from the main Marvel Cinematic Universe goes to Earth-838 in Multiverse of Madness and defeats the Illuminati, the greatest superheroes of that world. So, if that Earth comes to fight the main 616 universe, it makes a lot of sense. It’s essential to show this kind of battle before Secret Wars.

Doctor Doom and the Real Threat

Before Avengers: Secret Wars, there will be Avengers Doomsday, where we’ll see Doctor Doom’s journey throughout the Multiverse and what he’s doing during this whole problem. Doomsday here has two meanings: the day of destruction and the day of Doom, as in what Doctor Doom was doing during that destruction day.

There’s an interesting story in the comics where the Avengers, along with the Guardians, were trying to find a solution to this problem. The Illuminati had their way of dealing with the crisis, and the other Earth’s Reed Richards had his plans. But Doctor Doom was the one who reached the root of the issue, where he, along with Doctor Strange and Molecule Man, not only dealt with those responsible for the destruction of the Multiverse but also found a solution afterward in his own way. And so, amidst all this destruction, Doctor Doom had his day—Doomsday—in the comics.

Even though the end of the Loki series suggests that the TVA will deal with Kang and his Council, if we see Doctor Doom defeating the Council of Kangs, we’ll get a much better idea of his powers. The real threat may seem to be Doctor Doom, but that’s not true. Doctor Doom is actually the solution to all these problems—a temporary solution, but not the villain.

The real threat is not visible yet. We’ve been shown that the real villain is Doctor Doom, but that’s not the truth. The real threat is still not visible. Celestial beings could be a threat, or maybe even someone above the Celestials. This is the main thing Marvel Studios needs to work on: who is the villain behind the scenes threatening existence itself?

In the 1984 Secret Wars, the main villain was Beyonder, whose powers Doctor Doom steals. The same thing happens in the 2015 version of Secret Wars, where Beyonder is replaced by Beyonders, and Doctor Doom takes their powers too. Marvel Studios needs a threat like Beyonders.

Conclusion

That was the article about the important elements and events that need to happen before Secret Wars. Marvel Studios has already told us about variants and incursions; now, the remaining elements just need to fall into place, pointing everything toward a grand finale.