However, this hasn't stopped many Marvel releases from hitting some exciting franchise milestones, with a multitude having been made reality in the past few years - most excitingly including many major Marvel characters like the Fantastic Four and Galactus becoming a part of the MCU's setup.
The latest news about the MCU's release slate has now also confirmed an even bigger franchise first is impending for the Marvel movie world thanks to Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars - which marks a big swing for the MCU, albeit one that already looks as though it can help orchestrate the franchise putting its best foot forward for the next few years of its run.
Avengers: Secret Wars Being The Next MCU Movie After Avengers: Doomsday Is A Surprising Move That Can Truly Pay Off For The Franchise
Now San Diego Comic-Con has seen Black Panther 3 and Ghost Rider be announced, it's all the clearer that the plan seems to be for Secret Wars to be the only MCU release of 2027, since Black Panther 3 and Ghost Rider are scheduled for 2028, and the MCU's other prospective films like the Nova movie appear to be set for a 2028 debut at the absolute earliest.
This is interesting not only in that it matches with Marvel's more recent goal of reducing their yearly movie release slate down - as benefited Deadpool & Wolverine in 2024 - but also in that it means we are currently set to go straight from Avengers: Doomsday into Avengers: Secret Wars, with no other MCU movies between the two Avengers films, as Kevin Feige appeared to confirm in an interview with Empire wherein he explained the MCU's focus is "landing those two movies and setting up 2028" at this current point in time.
This will be the first time the franchise has had this happen, since even Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame had Ant-Man and the Wasp and Captain Marvel between them. Though a novel and somewhat surprising setup for the MCU, this decision also very much seems to be in its best interests, since it allows the MCU to focus in on the Avengers storyline without any cinematic distractions during this period of time.
Keeping A Gap Between Avengers: Doomsday & Avengers: Secret Wars Can Help Justify The Long Wait For More Avengers Movies
One of the core complaints about the Multiverse Saga is that the MCU has felt more adrift during this period because there has been much less in the way of crossovers or unifying material that brings the overarching franchise closer together, and ties its central heroes together too - which was the Avengers series' central aim for almost all of the prior Infinity Saga, comparatively.
Though Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars being the MCU's only films from the end of 2026 to start of 2028 won't erase complaints about this period, it does mean the issues audiences have had in recent years should be addressed and abated. For a period of around 13 months minimum, the sole film focus of the MCU will be on these crossover narratives, and the franchise should be able to use them to recalibrate and establish the new central figures of the MCU in a way that provides more clarity for audiences.
Indeed, combined with the fact that Avengers: Secret Wars' ending is already teed up to bring about some big changes for the MCU, it seems all the more that keeping things as streamlined as possible with the next two Avengers movies and their place in the timeline should pay off best for the franchise - and ensure the way forward after Secret Wars has as best a chance as possible to resonate with viewers and learn from the MCU's past.
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