As you’ll no doubt be fully aware, the Marvel Cinematic Universe has found itself at the center of another storm, with a revelatory report laying bare all of the issues to have plagued the Multiverse Saga, the vast majority of which have been completely evident in the downturn in quality to have hit screens.
It’s not ideal for more bad buzz to infiltrate the previously-impenetrable franchise just a week before The Marvels comes to theaters, with the sequel to Captain Marvel in genuine danger of falling embarrassingly short of not just its predecessor, but the MCU standard at the box office.
Inevitably, Jonathan Majors was at the forefront following claims that Marvel was actively considering pivoting away from his Kang the Conqueror as the current end-of-level boss, even if the concept of variants would surely make it easier to simply recast the role. That being said, new rumors swirling around Avengers: Secret Wars neatly sum up the Multiverse Saga’s misguided approach in microcosm.
Phases Four and Five have debuted a huge array of new heroes, but self-proclaimed scoopers MyTimetoShineHello and CanWeGetSomeToast are offering that Tobey Maguire’s Spider-Man and Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine will be the protagonists of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes’ sixth assemblage, which is nothing if not curious.
Of course, previous hearsay has speculated that The Kang Dynasty will see the mainline Avengers decimated by Kang, forcing the TVA’s multiversal army to step in and right that wrong. If you break it down, though, should Secret Wars arrive as planned in May of 2027, the issue becomes clear.
You’ll have Maguire just weeks short of his 52nd birthday leading the line alongside 58 year-old Jackman – neither of whom originated in their roles at Marvel Studios – stealing the spotlight from the current generation in the name of fan service to take on a big bad some people at the studio don’t even want anymore. It’s madness in practice, but that appears to be the way of the MCU these days.