It’s hard to say just how dark things might get for Earth’s Mightiest Heroes by the end of “Avengers: Doomsday.” Reports say the movie was described as “too dark” at test screenings, and Robert Downey Jr. apologized in advance for how bad things will get. With so little to go on about what the next big Marvel movie might have in store, all that’s left to do is look to the ancient texts — also known as comic books — to try to get the inside track on what could be waiting for us on the horizon, which seems fairly doom-riddled.
What we do know is that on December 18, the MCU will be broken to bits by one very bad man in an iron mask, and there are so many ways his plan could come to fruition. After a detailed assessment, we’ve pulled together five significant chapters in Marvel Comics history that either played a part in the events leading to “Secret Wars” or that “Doomsday” might draw on.
Most of these arcs are penned by Jonathan Hickman, who has been confirmed as a creative advisor of sorts on what are guaranteed to be two of the biggest movies of the next few years. Almost all of them lead to some dark or deranged new rule by villains that turn tyrannical until heroes try to stop them.
Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars (1984)
Marvel / Michael Zeck and John Beatty
To prepare for the end, it might be worth going back to the beginning, when Marvel fans were first introduced to a war kept hush-hush. Released in 1984, “Secret Wars” was Bob Layton, and John Beatty. Now considered a pivotal moment in Marvel history, the original event was a tie-in to a Mattel toy line and role-playing game, designed to milk this potential cash cow
The story followed a reality-bending entity, the Beyonder, who created the planet Battleworld for his own amusement and pitted Marvel’s greatest heroes and villains against one another. The event brought together the Avengers, the X-Men, the Fantastic Four, and Spider-Man to face off against Doctor Doom, Ultron, Doctor Octopus, Kang, Klaw, and Molecule Man (who would play a big part in another Secret War years later).
Laced with plenty of twists and turns, “Secret Wars” has elements that could be integrated into the closing events of “Doomsday” and set up the follow-up film. He might not be confirmed to appear yet, but it would be fitting for Peter Parker (Tom Holland) to swing in and help save reality, only to end up with his iconic black symbiote suit, which debuted in Shooter’s story. Additionally, this Secret War also saw Ben Grimm, aka The Thing (Ebon Moss-Bachrach), gain the ability to switch between his human and rocky forms, which, if included, could play a part in future Fantastic Four films if they’re in the MCU’s plans.
Infinity (2013)
Another Hickman-written event that predates his version of “Secret Wars” is “Infinity.” It’s a story that, while lacking in Doom, has another notable villain causing damage — and he’s one who’s already made an appearance in the MCU.
Casting the story’s spotlight on the Avengers for the most part, “Infinity” kicks things off with an attack from Thanos while the Avengers are off-world. While the Mad Titan faces a far weaker defense than usual, the rest of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes wage a battle against the Builders, who have plans involving the multiverse. Unbeknownst to our heroes, though, the Illuminati learn the key details of what this alien race is trying to do, which sets in motion their clandestine plan to ensure Earth-616’s safety by any means necessary.
This particular portion of Hickman’s massive multiversal saga, which ends with Doom creating Battleworld, might not stand as a point of reference compared to other stories on this list, but the idea of Thanos launching a sneak attack while Earth’s strongest players are elsewhere lines up with Doom’s plan. Taking this route could set up how “Doomsday” ends, before the next chapter pulls heavily from the pages of his own big event that the next “Avengers” film is heavily inspired by.
Time Runs Out (2012-2013)
Marvel / Jim Cheung and Justin Ponsor
In a July interview, Marvel Studios head Kevin Feige revealed that the upcoming films will draw inspiration not just from their namesakes, but also from a precursor. “Time Runs Out” was Hickman’s warm-up act for his take on “Secret Wars” (more on that later), and some of its story beats could appear in “Avengers: Doomsday.”
The story finds the Illuminati on everyone’s naughty list after it’s discovered they decided to destroy dozens of realities to save their own. At the same time, Doctor Doom investigates incursions and maps the multiverse for his own purposes, all while it’s discovered that Earth-616 is set to collide with the Ultimate Universe (home of Miles Morales and The Maker, a villainous version of Reed Richards/Mister Fantastic).
World-ending events in the Marvel universe happen every other Wednesday, but “Time Runs Out,” even without its title, feels like a countdown to the end of all things. Hickman does a great job of pumping up his prologue to “Secret Wars” with urgency and characters with dual agendas. This kind of potential double-crossing and high death-rate possibility in “Avengers: Doomsday” might carry over and lead to an even darker shift than the one we got between “Avengers: Infinity War” and “Avengers: Endgame.” When time does run, it’ll be interesting to see who is left standing after being caught in Doom’s grasp, and who falls thinking they can take on this new big bad. We already have our bets on betrayals and deaths, in case you were wondering.
Secret Wars (2015)
Now we’re getting to the good stuff, and we guarantee it will lay the groundwork for the aftermath of “Avengers: Doomsday.” Boldly taking the title from an infamous point in Marvel history, Hickman’s “Secret Wars” is a massive, often gripping story that shows what Hickman can do when he’s fully let loose on the Marvel universe, even reimagining the Beyonder.
After Earth-616 collides with the Ultimate Universe (Earth-1610) and heroes from both realms fight for survival, Doom builds, from the rubble, a planet in his own image where some of the universe’s most powerful figures look to him as their ruler. Running this new Battleworld as God Emperor Doom for eight years, he creates a fantastical domain that could push the MCU into some very wild territory That should take up much of the second film before returning things to normal and potentially making characters from other universes permanent residents of the MCU.
Given the number of heroes from other comic book movie franchises set to appear in the next two films (Deadpool, Fox’s X-Men, and potentially the other two Spider-Men, to name a few), it would make sense that by the end of “Doomsday,” a map is laid out that will see these classic heroes find a home in the MCU. The only concern is which ones won’t survive and how wild Battleworld might look before everything goes back to normal… or as close to normal as it can be.
House of M (2005)
It’s nothing new for MCU movies to take portions of various comic stories and smush them together, which is why “Doomsday” could tee up not just a chapter adapted from “Secret Wars” but also parts of the mutant-focused event “House of M.” Written in 2005 by Brian Michael Bendis, “House of M” came about after Wanda Maximoff created a new reality where mutants were a prominent force in the world, and humanity was close to extinction. Magneto’s family, including his daughter Wanda, was seen as royalty in this reality, ruling from the mutant island of Genosha.
Given that Magneto (Ian McKellen) has no connection to the Scarlet Witch (as we know her) in “Avengers: Doomsday,” it seems unlikely he’d rule a mutant sector of Doom’s Battleworld like a king. That said, one of Doom’s masked witches seen in promotional material poses in a stance similar to Wanda’s, suggesting that by the time we find ourselves in this reality, Wanda could be ruling a mutant-based area much like her father did in the comics.
This plot point has been rumored since last year, so it’ll be interesting to see if it comes to fruition. More importantly, there’s a chance, like in “House of M,” Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine might be the only character who remembers what happened before Doom completely changed reality, which could make for a great twist and a way to involve Wolverine heavily in the plot.
