Russo Brothers Tease Secret Wars as MCU Phase 4 Possibility

With Marvel Studios‘ event film Avengers: Infinity War opening on April 27, the French site Internaute has done an interview with directors Anthony and Joe Russo in which they are asked about possibilities for Phase 4 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. While they may only be speculating, being entirely focused on the third and fourth Avengers films, they teased the possibility of a Secret Wars saga on the big screen that incorporates elements like Fantastic Four, X-Men and more!

“We’ll say that if that Fox deal goes through with Disney there’s a lot more characters to work with all of a sudden,” said Joe Russo. “It would be interesting to do something like ‘Secret Wars’…”

“Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars” was a publishing event from 1984 to 1985 in which Marvel Comics decided to crossover all of their major heroes and villains, including The Avengers, X-Men and Fantastic Four. It focused on a cosmic entity called the Beyonder, who teleports characters against their will to a planet called Battleworld on which said characters… do battle. One major outcome of the series was the introduction of Spider-Man’s black symbiote suit, which eventually morphed into Venom. Originally created as a tie-in with a Mattel toy line, the series proved so popular that editor and writer Jim Shooter returned to pen a sequel titled “Secret Wars II” the next year. A 9-issue comics miniseries from 2015 titled “Secret Wars” was written by Jonathan Hickman and revisited the original “Secret Wars” while incorporating newer elements and alternate timelines of the Marvel Comics Universe.

An unprecedented cinematic journey ten years in the making and spanning the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe, Marvel Studios’ Avengers: Infinity War brings to the screen the ultimate, deadliest showdown of all time. As the Avengers and their allies have continued to protect the world from threats too large for any one hero to handle, a new danger has emerged from the cosmic shadows: Thanos. A despot of intergalactic infamy, his goal is to collect all six Infinity Stones, artifacts of unimaginable power, and use them to inflict his twisted will on all of reality. Everything the Avengers have fought for has led up to this moment – the fate of Earth and existence itself has never been more uncertain.

Confirmed cast members for Avengers: Infinity War so far include Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Mark Ruffalo, Scarlett Johansson, Chris Hemsworth, Tom Hiddleston, Anthony Mackie, Paul Bettany, Elizabeth Olson, Jeremy Renner, Chadwick Boseman, Sebastian Stan, Don Cheadle, Chris Pratt, Dave Bautista, Zoe Saldana, Pom Klementieff, Benedict Cumberbatch, Benedict Wong, Sean Gunn, Tom Holland, Paul Rudd, and Josh Brolin.

Anthony and Joe Russo direct the film, which is produced by Kevin Feige. Louis D’Esposito, Victoria Alonso, Michael Grillo and Stan Lee are the executive producers. Christopher Markus & Stephen McFeely wrote the screenplay.