What is Marvel's Endgame with Doomsday and Secret Wars?

With Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars coming to close out the current and upcoming phases of MCU projects, here we break down what's come before, and guide you into what's to come.

The MCU's phases…

Phase one is from 2008 - 2012 with the following releases;

• Iron Man

• The Incredible Hulk

• Iron Man 2

• Thor

• Captain America: The First Avenger

• The Avengers

Phase two is from 2013 - 2015 with the following releases;

• Iron Man 3

• Thor: The Dark World

• Captain America: The Winter Soldier

• Guardians of the Galaxy

• Avengers: Age of Ultron

• Ant-Man

Phase three is from 2016 - 2019 with the following releases;

• Captain America: Civil War

• Doctor Strange

• Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2

• Spiderman: Homecoming

• Thor: Ragnarok

• Black Panther

• Avengers: Infinity War

• Ant-Man and the Wasp

• Captain Marvel

• Avengers: Endgame

• Spiderman: Far From Home

Phase four is from 2021 - 2022 with the following releases;

• WandaVision

• The Falcon and the Winter Soldier

• Black Widow

• Loki season 1

• What If...?

• Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings

• Eternals

• Hawkeye

• Spiderman: No Way Home

• Moon Knight

• Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness

• Ms Marvel

• Thor: Love and Thunder

• She-Hulk: Attorney At Law

• Werewolf By Night

• Black Panther: Wakanda Forever

• The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special

Phase five is from 2023 - 2025 with the following releases;

• Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania

• Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 3

• Secret Invasion

• Loki season 2

• The Marvels

• What If...? Season 2

• Echo

• Deadpool & Wolverine

• Agatha All Along

• What If...? Season 3

• Captain America: Brave New World

• Daredevil: Born Again Season 1

• Thunderbolts

• Ironheart

Phase 1-5 Recap

Phase 1 has taken us through the introduction of the hallmark Marvel characters, beginning with film entries for Iron Man, Captain America, and Thor, setup as the main forces within the Avengers to face the first major MCU villain, Loki. Loki has always had a complex character journey, having been adopted as an Asgardian, but living in the shadow of Thor, with a craving for power which was thwarted by the Avengers.

Phase 2 expands the significance of Iron Man, highlighting Stark's creation of Ultron, who is reckoned to go against humanity itself until being stopped by the wider Avengers unit, assisted by Stark's technology software-turned-hero, Vision. 

Phase 3 explores rising tensions between the heroes in the Avengers unit. Different perspectives resulted in the group splitting into two, led by Iron Man and Captain America, with relationships shattered and the team fractured.

This gave Thanos the upper hand in his quest for the Infinity Stones, as his legions faced off against the severed Avengers across both Earth and space, with the division arguably leading to their loss. The ultimate showdown came in Avengers: Endgame where the heroes fought to reverse the damage done to the universe, and had their final confrontation with Thanos, this time victorious.

Phase 4 saw a notable shift in output from the MCU, with not only a focus on TV shows being introduced and released on Disney+, which focused on some of the side characters/Avengers like Wanda, Falcon, the Winter Soldier, Hawkeye, and Loki, to name a few but a slightly different storytelling style, with the movies becoming more individual, whilst TV shows became an integral part of the overall story arc, with the buildup to Kang the Conqueror.

The Multiverse saga also came into full swing, with Spiderman, Doctor Strange, and Loki all meeting variants of themselves from other universes in their respective storylines. New characters like Shang-Chi and the Eternals were introduced, and the Thor and Black Panther franchises continued with fresh takes on the characters.

Phase 5 continued building the Kang story in Quantumania and Loki S2. However, due to legal issues with a cast member, Marvel pivoted away from Kang and shifted focus to a new villain with a familiar face: Doctor Doom, now played by Robert Downey Jr. (a surprise to many).

The Guardians had their final adventure within the then-current iteration of the team, and the long-awaited team-up of Deadpool and Wolverine sparked somewhat dwindling enthusiasm amongst some fans. Captain America also came back into the fold with a new man behind the shield, Sam Wilson (played by Anthony Mackie), with hints at his important role as the new leader of the Avengers, a team he will need to rebuild in preparation for… you know who.

The Thunderbolts, a stand-in team for the currently absent Avengers, consists of characters who have mostly been villains in previous MCU films, but have banded together to save the world, while also finding purpose in it.

How successful have Marvel been?

• The highest-grossing movie in MCU Phase One is The Avengers. It earned $1,515,100,211 worldwide.

• The highest-grossing movie in MCU Phase Two is Avengers: Age of Ultron. It earned $1,395,316,979 worldwide.

• The highest-grossing movie in MCU Phase Three is Avengers: Endgame. It earned $2,799,439,100 worldwide.

• The highest-grossing movie in MCU Phase Four is Spiderman: No Way Home. It earned $1,921,407,902 worldwide.

• The highest-grossing movie in MCU Phase Five to date is Deadpool & Wolverine. It earned $1,338,073,645 worldwide.

From the figures above, it is clear that the culmination of the Infinity Saga (phases 1-3), which came in Avengers: Endgame, was the most profitable for Marvel.  The following milestone events announced by Marvel are Avengers: Doomsday & Avengers: Secret Wars, which will be the concluding stories of phases 4-6. Executives will surely hope for an even higher return on investment for arguably the MCU's biggest storylines.

Upcoming phase 6 – Integral stories/ hero arcs & perspectives

The Fantastic Four: First Steps 

Release Date: July 25th

Cast: Pedro Pascal, Vanessa Kirby, Joseph Quinn, Ebon Moss-Bachrach, Ralph Ineson, Julia Garner

The new iteration of the Fantastic Four is set in a universe different from the "prime" universe (Earth 616). The F4 will be important players moving forward, proving their formidable nature in the fight against Galactus, the "world eater," in their introductory film. With their confirmed appearances in Doomsday and the fact that Doctor Doom is a prime antagonist for the team in the comics, it is safe to say that the characters are being thrown into the deep end from the jump. 

Avengers: Doomsday (Release Date: May 2026, Begun Filming on April 28th in London)

Spiderman: Brand New Day

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Spider-Man: Brand New Day was officially announced on April 1st 2025, with a release date of July 31st 2026.

This places the movie release directly after Doomsday, which has sparked speculation about whether Spider-Man will actually show up with the Avengers, or if the movie’s events will take place simultaneously with Doomsday’s story. Alternatively, some theories have suggested that BND will take place on Battleworld, further removing the hero from his previously more grounded movies.

Tom Holland’s schedule has been packed, filming for a role in Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey, also releasing next year, so it may be the case that Holland simply cannot appear in Doomsday and is instead being saved for Secret Wars.

This is highly likely given not only his star power and presence in the past 2 Avengers films, but also due to Spider-Man’s role in the 1984 Secret Wars run, and it being the first time Spider-Man is seen in the famous black suit.

Who will be in Avengers: Doomsday?

• Chris Hemsworth as Thor

• Anthony Mackie as Sam Wilson / Captain America.

• Danny Ramirez as the Falcon.

• Sebastian Stan as Bucky Barnes / The Winter Soldier.

• Paul Rudd as Scott Lang / Ant-Man

• Tom Hiddleston as Loki, the antagonist of the first Avengers film.

• Letitia Wright as Shuri / Black Panther.

• Winston Duke as M'Baku.

• Simu Liu as Shang-Chi

• Pedro Pascal as Mr. Fantastic

• Vanessa Kirby as Invisible Woman

• Joseph Quinn as Human Torch

• Ebon Moss-Bachrach as The Thing

• Patrick Stewart as Professor Charles Xavier

• Ian McKellen as Magneto

• Kelsey Grammer as Beast

• Alan Cumming as Nightcrawler

• James Marsden as Cyclops

• Channing Tatum as Gambit

• Rebecca Romjin as Mystique

• Florence Pugh as Yelena Belova

• David Harbour as Red Guardian

• Wyatt Russell as U.S. Agent

• Hannah John-Kamen as Ghost

• Lewis Pullman as Bob/Sentry

• Tenoch Huerta Mejia as Namor

• Robert Downey Jr. as Doctor Doom

Who has NOT been announced to appear?

There were some notable absences from the casting announcements, which were surprising, to say the least.

Front-runners such as Tom Holland as Spider-Man and Benedict Cumberbatch as Doctor Strange weren't listed, and other integral characters like Chris Pratt as Star-Lord, Mark Ruffalo as The Hulk, Ryan Reynolds as Deadpool, and Hugh Jackman as Wolverine didn't make the cut either. But fans wanting an appearance from these heroes may not be hoping in vain, as both Robert Downey Jr and Marvel hinted at further announcements on the way; "That's what u call a deep bench of talent… actually it's more like a row, but an extra long one… That must be it…right?", to which Marvel Studios replied "there's always room for more…"

pbs.twimg.com / x.com

It is thought that due to Doomsday's production ramping up, Marvel were simply revealing a limited number of cast members who had officially signed on to appear, with others yet to get their contracts in place.

Key Character/Story Arcs

• Captain America 

• Thor

• Dr. Doom

• Loki

• The Multiverse

Captain America

With Sam Wilson taking over from Steve Rogers as the Star-Spangled Man, there came a mixture of excitement and scepticism.

Sam’s journey has taken him from working alongside Cap as the Falcon, becoming an Avenger, going on the run after the events of Civil War, and fighting against Thanos and his army.

His bravery and selfless nature paid off, with Steve choosing him as the heir to his shield, which Sam felt undeserving of, believing that Steve made the wrong choice. Regardless of his lack of super-soldier serum, Sam’s courage and good nature proves his worth as Captain America.

Working alongside Bucky Barnes in The Falcon & the Winter Soldier, we saw Sam lose the shield to John Walker, an ex-soldier who despite his successful career, proved that he was by no means the right man for the job - Sam consequently fought back, accepting his rightful role.

In Brave New World, Sam was tasked with rebuilding the Avengers, giving him the opportunity to be a leader, a role he has not previously had. Doomsday will potentially show the formation of this new team, or perhaps throw fans straight into a fully-fledged team.

It will also be interesting to see how the other Avengers view and treat Sam as their new leader, especially considering his lack of powers compared to the likes of Captain Marvel or Doctor Strange.

Thor

Thor's most recent appearances were in Avengers: Endgame (2019) and Thor: Love & Thunder (2022), both creating controversy in their own right; in Endgame, Thor's arc dealt with the fallout from Avengers: Infinity War, and the guilt and depression he felt for not killing Thanos, which manifested itself in drunkenness, over-eating, and passing over his King duties. 

Many criticised the 'fat-shaming' element of this portrayal, and the severe change in character, especially as some may label him as the Strongest Avenger; however, some may choose to see this portrayal as a way of shedding masculinity 'ideals' and allowing a character who had encountered catastrophic events and losses the chance to truly 'feel' and show his emotions. But the movie's final act shows Thor back in fighting fashion, giving Thanos his all alongside Iron Man and Captain America.

Love & Thunder's portrayal took us back to the more 'traditional' idea of Thor, back in shape but with slightly more… well, a lot more humour than Thor: Ragnarok, and a second Thor in the shape of Jane Foster (Thor's ex). Thor's arc in this film centred around reuniting with his lost love and eventually (and unconventionally) becoming a father, much in the vein of his own father, Odin, by adopting the child of an enemy force.

Leaving the question of how Thor fits into Doomsday, who now has his child to fight for, much like Tony Stark did (and we know how Tony's story ended).

Dr. Doom

Dr. Doom has appeared in pre-MCU films; however, Doomsday will be his first MCU appearance, much to many fans' disapproval. Many people find the fact that Doom has had zero buildup in any MCU projects a bad sign, especially considering Thanos had teaser appearances in Avengers, Guardians of the Galaxy, and Avengers: Age of Ultron.

Of course, this is due to the original plan for Avengers 5 to focus on Kang the Conqueror, with Loki, Ant-Man, and Wasp: Quantumania building up Kang as the next big bad. However, with Jonathan Majors' legalities causing controversy, paired with a clear sense of audience dissatisfaction with MCU output, Marvel shifted focus to the universally loved Robert Downey Jr., a much safer bet in attracting audiences back into the fold.

Although Fantastic Four: First Steps releases in July, and an appearance seems inevitable, there is no guarantee that Doom will appear, especially as director Matt Shakman stated, "Doom's a great character, but he takes up a lot of air. Other film adaptations have done both an origin story and Doom. We're doing neither, and that allows us to look at them from a fresh perspective."

Galactus

Galactus, the Devourer of Worlds, will take his first villainary introduction in Fantastic Four: First Steps. A character of great significance in the comic books but has not yet been introduced in the MCU. The origin of Galactus begins as his universe is dying, approached by the Sentience of the Sixth Cosmos, fused with its essence, and passed on to the next cycle, the Seventh Cosmos; he emerged as Galactus.

A familiar character we have seen on screen is one of Galactus' heralds, the Silver Surfer. Last appearing in the early Marvel Cinematic era (2007). Shown also to be a cosmic being but bound in eternal obedience until choosing to rebel to help save the planet. Marvel Studios clearly chose a different approach in the MCU version following the story of Shalla-Bal being a herald of Galactus as opposed to Norrin Rad, who will be in the next F4 release. With a character as powerful as the Silver Surfer under Galactus's command, the audience looks in anticipation as to how he will be depicted.

Loki

Loki famously met his end in Avengers: Infinity War when Thanos killed him in front of Thor. Seeming like a final goodbye to the character, after multiple instances of his apparent death being faked, with the addition of Thanos' promise of "no resurrections this time". This turned out to be half-true; Loki doesn't come back to life in Avengers: Endgame, but due to time-travel shenanigans by the Avengers, the Loki we originally met in 2012 steals an Infinity Stone, creating a branched reality separate from the main timeline.

This led Loki to encounter the Time Variance Authority, which monitors the Multiverse and trims the branched realities that aren't meant to exist. Another redemption arc for Loki sprouts because of this, witnessing him fall in love with one of his female variants named Sylvie, facing a Kang Variant named 'He Who Remains' (who regulates the Multiverse as its God), and ultimately holding the Multiverse together at the End of Time, alone. Where this leaves him for his next appearance in Avengers: Doomsday is yet to be seen; however, a reunion between Thor and Loki is bound to happen, set up years ago in Infinity War when Loki confidently says to his brother, "I assure you, brother, the sun will shine on us again." 

The Multiverse

The visitation of other dimensions has been building since the introduction of the infinity stones back in Phase 1. Doctor Strange, one of the more considerable forces in the Avengers, who once held onto the time stone, had his story arc expand upon Spiderman: No Way Home. To erase the world's knowledge of who Spiderman is, he opens a fracture in the universe, which was never fully closed, as we saw in the credits. The multiverse story arc continues in Doctor Strange: Multiverse of Madness, which is where we get a sneak peek into the other reality version of Reed Richards (played by John Krasinski) and can see Professor X (initially played by Patrick Stewart), adding Wanda's magical abilities and the plot to subside her growing darkness ending with Dr Strange becoming a variant of his original self.

With the multiverse, there also comes a multitude of variants for characters, and the ability to revive fan-favourites under the proviso that they are from another universe, and therefore any meaningful character deaths are not completely undermined. Once phase 6 closes, it’s likely the the Multiverse Saga will end, which may be for the better if character arcs and endings are to be preserved.

What will Doomsday and Secret Wars involve? 

The Russo brothers cite both runs of the Secret Wars comics (1984 and 2015, respectively) as direct inspiration for the films, "Well, we always create our own version of the story, so we use the comics as loose inspiration. But, you know, I grew up on the original run. That's something that got me into Marvel comic books. The Hickman run is also fantastic [and they're] very different from each other in a lot of ways, so we'll draw inspiration from both of them."

The 1984 comic run sees a large range of heroes and villains transported to Battleworld by the Beyonder, a character of infinite power, promising those who slay their enemies anything they desire. This leads to factions of characters forming their own teams, including the X-Men and Avengers, working against villains such as Molecule Man, Doctor Octopus, and the Wrecking Crew. Doctor Doom works as his own entity, commanding the villains, whilst plotting against the Beyonder.

The 2015 runs focus on an event called ‘The Incursion’ in which two planets from different universes, Earth 616 and the Ultimate Universe Earth, are on course to collide, destroying both planets in the process. In addition, multiple Beyonders form a plan to destroy the Multiverse, which is thwarted by Doctor Doom, who consequently absorbs their power and forms his own Battleworld by stitching together the remaining parts of the Multiverse. 

The focus on Dr. Doom looks to be heading in the direction of Jonathan Hickman's version of Doom gaining legions of power to form Battleworld, and eventually crowning himself emperor, as seen in the 'Emperor Doom' Comic (1987). The presence of the Multiverse in recent MCU projects likely means that the 2015 Secret Wars run will have much more influence over the movie.

The Russo’s have also interestingly teased a link between Tony Stark’s death, and Downey Jr’s subsequent return as Doom; “We can’t explain that as it’s part of the story. But there’s nobody else in the world who could play this character the way he’s about to.” 

Perhaps Doom doesn’t initially resemble Stark, but after looking into other universes, finds a hero who the whole world looks up to, one who can be trusted… and maybe Doom finds a way to change his appearance to look like Stark, presenting himself as the world’s resurrected Saviour (further adding to his God complex), and uses this as a means to enact his plans undetected.

With confirmed appearances from the X-Men, Thunderbolts, Fantastic Four, and well-known Avengers, all opposing one of the most formidable villains from Marvel history, death is inevitable. Considering Thanos killed Loki, Gamora, and Vision in Infinity War, alongside the pain inflicted on characters such as Nebula, Hulk, and Iron Man, Doctor Doom needs to come in and show he means business. 

And potential character deaths are backed up by Anthony Mackie, who has hinted at the fact that no one is safe;

“It's one of those stories that really pushes the boundaries, and it — the cliffhanger at the end, you know, the last moments of the film — it really builds and sets us up for a way for the continuation of the Marvel saga, which is really exciting… You see these characters, and you see how they're introduced and how they play in the universe moving forward, and no one is safe. Everyone is expendable.”

With such monumental films, there could be room for some small cameos, or larger roles for characters who have either appeared in comics or previous films (e.g. Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield’s versions of Spider-Man have been heavily rumoured to return again). Such appearances should certainly not be ruled out, as anything could happen…

Conclusion / Why should you care? 

There’s clearly much to look forward to in the next chapter of the MCU - with fan-favourite characters making their official entries into the MCU, interacting with already existing characters, and storylines which will take audiences to places previously unseen on the big screen.

Both Doomsday and Secret Wars will surely grant fans the same emotion, action, surprises and spectacle as previous Avengers movies have done. 

With this being their biggest storyline yet to tackle, the Russo brothers have a monumental task to execute, and with their resumé boasting 2 of Captain America’s best-received movies, along with the past 2 Avengers movies, there shouldn’t be any reason to doubt or worry about these movies - we’re in for a treat.

Are you looking forward to Phase 6?

Change Image

• Yes
• No
• Honestly, not bothered

Glossary

Antagonist... the opposing character to the main character (protagonist), always 'antagonising' and creating struggles along the main character's journey.

Cast... the group of actors who make up a production (e.g. stage play, movie)

Marvel... an American media and entertainment company that is one of the two major comic book publishers. A subsidiary of their parent company, the Disney Company.

MCU (aka 'Marvel Cinematic Universe')... a shared cinematic universe of superhero films and TV series developed by Marvel Studios.

Plot... the underlying organisation of events from a novel/ story's beginning to end, made up of Story-Arc, any contradictions (i.e. plotholes) and how believable the organisation of events is.

Story-Arc... the stages of the novel/ story, usually judged on the intention of the writer/ creative and the experience of the viewer/ reader.

Storyline... similar to the Story-Arc, the main difference being the flow from one line of story stages to another. A production can have multiple storylines, the key lies in the connection from the beginning to the end considering the intention of the writer/ creative and the experience of the viewer/ reader.

Sources

boxofficemojo.com

marvel.fandom.com

marvelcinematicuniverse.fandom.com