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Avengers: Secret Wars is an upcoming two-part American superhero film based on the Marvel Comics superhero team the Avengers, produced by Marvel Studios, and distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures. Both films are written by Michael Waldron and directed by XXXXX. Part 1 is scheduled to be released on May, 1 2026, and Part 2 is scheduled to be released on May 7, 2027.

Development
Speaking to more Avengers films being made after Avengers: Endgame (2019) in May 2018, the Walt Disney Company CEO Bob Iger said Marvel Studios was focusing on new characters and franchises for the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) but another Avengers film could happen in the future, especially given the popularity of the previous films. In January 2021, Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige said another Avengers film would happen "at some point". Discussing the future of the MCU for Variety in May 2022, Adam B. Vary said there was no sense yet of where the franchise was heading after Endgame but several of the MCU's Phase Four projects had featured the multiverse and some potential "Big Bads" had also been introduced, including Kang the Conqueror. Jonathan Majors was cast to portray Kang in September 2020 for the film Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (2023), and he was introduced as an alternate universe "variant" of Kang named He Who Remains in the first season of the Disney+ television series Loki (2021), which introduced the multiverse to the MCU. Kang was described by Michael Waldron, the creator of Loki and writer of the film Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022), as a "time-traveling, multiversal adversary" and the MCU's "next big cross-movie villain", and by Quantumania writer Jeff Loveness as a "top-tier, A-list Avengers villain".

At San Diego Comic-Con in July 2022, Feige announced the films Avengers: The Kang Dynasty and Avengers: Secret Wars, to be released on May 2, 2025, and November 7, 2025, respectively. They were set to conclude Phase Six of the MCU and complete "The Multiverse Saga", which covers Phases Four, Five, and Six. The films were respectively inspired by "Kang Dynasty", a 2001 comic book storyline written by Kurt Busiek in which Kang the Conqueror travels through time to enslave humanity, and Secret Wars, the name of a 1984–85 comic written by Jim Shooter and a 2015–16 comic written by Jonathan Hickman that both follow various Marvel characters who converge on the planet Battleworld. Feige compared the films to Avengers: Infinity War (2018) and Endgame, which concluded "The Infinity Saga" that grouped the first three MCU phases. He said a lot of the Phase Four projects had been building to the larger story of The Kang Dynasty and "The Multiverse Saga", and this would continue throughout Phases Five and Six. It was later reported that Marvel Studios had not initially been planning to have the next MCU saga revolve around Kang, but they decided to do so after seeing Majors's performance in the first season of Loki and in early footage during the filming of Quantumania. Feige noted that Majors's role as multiple variants of Kang made him a different type of villain from the Infinity Saga's main antagonist, Thanos, and said there was "nobody's shoulders I'd rather be putting the Multiverse Saga on" than Majors's.

Feige said the Russo brothers would not be returning as directors from Infinity War and Endgame, despite them previously expressing interest in making a Secret Wars film. Destin Daniel Cretton was revealed to be directing The Kang Dynasty shortly after the Comic-Con announcement. He had directed Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (2021) for Marvel Studios, and signed an overall deal with them in December 2021 that included directing a sequel to that film and developing a Wonder Man series for Disney+. Cretton was only hired to direct The Kang Dynasty, unlike how the Russo brothers directed both Infinity War and Endgame. Loveness was hired to write the film's screenplay in September 2022, and began work two weeks later. Loveness did not expect to be considered for the film, thinking he would be "one and done" with Quantumania despite adding elements to that film which he felt would be good setup for an Avengers film. He believed he was asked to pitch for The Kang Dynasty because Marvel Studios had enjoyed those elements in Quantumania and his take on Kang. Majors confirmed the following month that he had discussed the film with Cretton, and in November, Simu Liu expressed enthusiasm for reprising his role as Shang-Chi and potentially working with Cretton again on the film. Loveness said in January 2023 that he wanted The Kang Dynasty to feel like a "generational struggle" that would take the MCU's new characters from Phase Four and "throw them into the fire".

Following Majors's arrest in March 2023 and subsequent assault allegations, Marvel Studios had not yet discussed removing the actor from the MCU by the following month. He was still attached to star in The Kang Dynasty and Secret Wars, and was set to receive $20million with back-end compensation for the former. Disney was reportedly monitoring the situation. Joanna Robinson of The Ringer described the allegations against Majors as a "huge problem" for Marvel Studios that put them in a "very unusual position", since it was unprecedented for the studio to plan so much of the franchise on one character and actor; she argued that Majors had become a much more integral part of the studio's plans for the Multiverse Saga than Robert Downey Jr. or Josh Brolin had been for the Infinity Saga as Tony Stark / Iron Man and Thanos, respectively. Robinson also noted that there were conflicting reports on how the studio would proceed with the matter. By then, The Kang Dynasty was scheduled to begin filming in early 2024. Jeff Sneider of Above the Line reported in May that Loveness was no longer involved in the film and had exited before the start of the 2023 Writers Guild of America strike earlier that month. In June, the film's release was pushed back to May 1, 2026, in part due to the script not being ready before the strike.

Tatiana Siegel at Variety reported in November 2023 that Marvel Studios executives had started discussing alternative plans for the Multiverse Saga due to Majors's legal issues, including pivoting to focus on another comic book antagonist such as Doctor Doom; that character was already expected to be a major antagonist, if not the primary antagonist, in Secret Wars. The studio started considering changes to the Multiverse Saga storyline, including minimizing the role of Kang, following the disappointing box office performance of Quantumania. Siegel felt recasting Majors was another option given Marvel Studios had previously recast major roles in the MCU due to offscreen issues, and she reported that the final episode of Loki's second season (2023) would set-up the future role for Kang and his variants in a way that would be difficult for Marvel to change. However, when the episode was released soon after, several commentators opined that it actually downplayed Kang's future role and provided several possible solutions for Marvel, including having the Kang variants be handled by Loki's Time Variance Authority (TVA) offscreen and potentially replacing them with Loki variants. In mid-November, Robinson reported that Loveness departed the film because he was closely associated with the Kang storyline and Marvel was "moving away" from that. Aaron Couch and Borys Kit, writing for The Hollywood Reporter, said Loveness completed a draft of the script before he left. They were unsure whether another writer would be hired to work on the film. At the same time, Cretton stepped down as director to focus on other MCU projects. His exit was said to be amicable as he was still working on other projects with the studio, and it was partially attributed to the film's schedule delays. Sneider reported that Marvel now wanted a writer and a director who could develop both The Kang Dynasty and Secret Wars as a two-part finale to the Multiverse Saga. He suggested that Marvel drop the Kang Dynasty title and instead call the films Secret Wars part one and two, believing this to be a convenient way to generate excitement for the films while avoiding further questions about Majors's involvement.

By mid-November, the writing team of Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely, who wrote Infinity War and Endgame, had reportedly been acting as "unofficial advisors" at Marvel Studios for several months. Waldron was hired to rewrite the screenplay for the film, alongside his work on Secret Wars, at the end of the month. In December, Majors was fired by Disney and Marvel Studios after he was found guilty of harassment and reckless assault in the third degree. It was unknown if Marvel would recast the Kang character or refocus their plans on a new villain, but the studio had started referring to the film internally as Avengers 5 by then. Sneider soon reported that, like his earlier suggestion, Marvel Studios was now developing Secret Wars as a "giant five-hour movie" split into two parts, with a year between their releases, and that the studio was searching for a director for the films. Filming had then been expected to begin in late 2024. Couch and Kit further reported in February 2024 that the film would be re-titled and it would either minimize the role of Kang or remove the character entirely.

Discussing the acquisition of 21st Century Fox by Disney, which saw the return of the film rights of Deadpool, the X-Men, and the Fantastic Four to Marvel Studios, Joe Russo—co-director of Avengers: Infinity War (2018) and Avengers: Endgame (2019) with his brother Anthony—said in April 2018 that it would be interesting to introduce those characters to the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) using a Secret Wars film that brings together different characters and realities. Secret Wars is the name of a 1984–85 comic book crossover event written by Jim Shooter and a 2015–16 comic book storyline written by Jonathan Hickman that both follow various Marvel characters who converge on the planet Battleworld. In April 2019, Infinity War and Endgame writers Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely said they would return to write a Secret Wars film if the Russo brothers were directing it. Joe Russo discussed the idea again in July 2020, saying "to execute something on the scale of Infinity War was directly related to the dream of Secret Wars, which is even larger in scale". In August 2021, Shooter said executives from Marvel had attempted to secure the rights to his Secret Wars storyline and he assumed they were planning a film adaptation, though Marvel would not confirm that. The film Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022), part of the MCU's Phase Four that followed Endgame, introduces the idea of "incursions" where one universe destroys another within the multiverse. This was a key idea in the 2015 Secret Wars comic. The film's writer, Michael Waldron, compared this to introducing Thanos to the MCU long before he became the main villain of "The Infinity Saga" (which grouped the first three MCU phases).

In July 2022, the Russo brothers reiterated that they were fans of the Secret Wars comic books, but said there were no plans for them to direct a film version. The pair added that they would have to consider the implications of such a project because it would be a "massive undertaking" and making Infinity War and Endgame had already been very difficult. After the announcement of Secret Wars, Feige added that the Russo brothers would not be directing the film, but Marvel Studios was looking for another project to work on with the pair. Waldron was considered the frontrunner due to the studio trusting him after he wrote Multiverse of Madness and created the Disney+ television series Loki. He was hired to write the film's screenplay in early October 2023.

That same month, Joanna Robinson, co-author of the book MCU: The Reign of Marvel Studios which was released that month, said the book included a quote from Feige that implied Secret Wars was being developed to serve as a soft reboot of the MCU, allowing Marvel Studios to keep what was working, remove what was not, and bring back characters that audiences thought were "gone forever". The next month, Tatiana Siegel at Variety reported that Marvel Studios executives had discussed potentially bringing back the original Avengers cast, including Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark / Iron Man and Scarlett Johansson as Natasha Romanoff / Black Widow after those characters died in Endgame. Feige denied that they had discussed the idea. Shortly after, the release date was pushed back to May 1, 2026. Jonathan Majors was revealed to be reprising his MCU role of Kang the Conqueror in January 2023. In mid-November, directing duo Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead expressed interest in directing Secret Wars after they directed episodes of the Marvel Studios series Moon Knight (2022) and the second season of Loki (2023). Shortly after, Cretton stepped down as director of The Kang Dynasty, and it was reported that Marvel now wanted a writer and a director who could develop both The Kang Dynasty and Secret Wars as a two-part finale to the Multiverse Saga. In June, the film's release was pushed back to May 7, 2027, in part due to the script not being ready before the 2023 Writers Guild of America strike.

Filming and release
Principal photography was originally expected to begin in early 2024, on Part 1 prior to its delays and Majors's firing. Filming is set to occur under the working title Apple Pie 1. Part 2 is scheduled to be released in the United States on May 7, 2027. It was previously scheduled for November 7, 2025, and May 1, 2026. It will be the conclusion of Phase Six of the MCU.