Avengers 6 Bringing Back Every Marvel Hero Would Be A Huge Mistake

Bringing back every hero in Avengers: Secret Wars would be an ambitious goal, but also a huge mistake if pursued by Marvel in Phase 6. Nothing concrete has been established about the plot, but if rumors are to be believed, Secret Wars could be poised to include not only the full, current lineup of MCU heroes, but also all the Avengers that came before them – and more.

According to these unverified claims about Marvel’s sixth Avengers team-up, the studio’s intention is to find room in the movie for nearly every major hero in the MCU. Plus, Secret Wars will allegedly pull in heroes from adjacent franchises. So hypothetically, this plan would allow for characters like Chris Evans’ Captain America and Robert Downey Jr.’s Iron Man to team up with one of Fox’s X-Men teams, Nicolas Cage’s Ghost Rider, and one of the two Spider-Men that preceded Tom Holland’s. Supposedly, this is how Marvel intends to top Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame. But even if Marvel really did head down this road, it would be the wrong move for Phase 6 to take. Here’s why.

Avengers 6 Can't Accommodate More Heroes Than Endgame

The issue of actor availability aside, Marvel theoretically can bring back any hero it chooses. Because of the MCU's multiverse concept, it won’t matter if the Marvel character it wants is dead or in the wrong cinematic universe. Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness and Spider-Man: No Way Home proved that Marvel can just create an alternate Earth where the characters it wants to use, whether it be Iron Man or Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine, are alive and well. But while it does have the tools it needs to assemble a massive cast of heroes for Secret Wars, heading in this direction would all cause sorts of narrative problems.

Endgame’s enormous cast proves the challenges this approach would pose. Endgame boasted so many heroes that several had to be relegated to minor roles. That’s understandable, given that it was just unreasonable to expect every character to get their fair share of the spotlight. Infinity War suffered from the same problem. The size of its cast left no room for Hawkeye (in spite of him being an original Avenger) and limited Captain America and Black Widow to just a few minutes of screentime.

If these movies couldn’t juggle everyone, then it’s hard to imagine Secret Wars pulling it off any better. By the time the movie rolls around, the MCU will be significantly more crowded with characters than it was in Phase 3. In addition to the Avengers, they’ll have the Eternals, She-Hulk, Shang-Chi, the Fantastic Four, the Thunderbolts, and more, not to mention any character it might bring from outside the MCU. Adding in heroes or villains from Fox’s X-Men movies or Sony’s Spider-Man films will only magnify the issue.

Avengers 6 Needs To Outdo Endgame (Not By "Going Bigger")

Avengers 4 Endgame Captain America Iron Man Fat Thor Team Up Against Thanos

It makes sense that Marvel would want to outdo Endgame, which is exactly what it should ido, but “going bigger” isn’t the solution. Infinity War and Endgame underscored the risks that come up with packing its cast with MCU characters, as this tactic will result in some fan favorites being unavoidably underused. It can, however, it can still tell stories on the epic scale Endgame, and offer plenty of surprises along the way. High stakes don’t have to go hand-in-hand with huge ensemble casts. The Avengers can simply save the multiverse with a smaller group of heroes.

The premise of the Secret Wars comic reveals the potential this movie has as an MCU crossover and how it can sidestep the oversized cast problem. In the comic, a cosmic being known as the Beyonder used his powers to bring together characters from various corners of the Marvel Universe. The characters on hand were people Beyonder chose to be there, which greatly limited the number of heroes available to take part in the adventure. This way, it was able to use representatives of each group, as opposed to balancing full teams of Avengers and X-Men. If Marvel uses this as its blueprint for Secret Wars, it can create an exciting combination of heroes, but not one that’s too large to be manageable.

Not Every MCU Character Needs A Secret Wars Return

Captain America Black Widow Hawkeye Iron Man Thor Hulk

It’s important to note that not every character necessarily needs an additional MCU appearance. Iron Man, for instance, already had his MCU arc properly concluded. His decision to make the ultimate sacrifice in the final battle with Thanos in Avengers: Endgame ended his story in such a satisfying way that there’s no longer any reason for him to return. The same can be said for many of its multiverse characters. Spider-Man: No Way Home already provided one last hurrah for Tobey Maguire and Garfield’s Spider-Men, Hugh Jackman is on the cusp of reprising his Wolverine role in Deadpool 3, and Doctor Strange 2 brought back Professor X.

Doctor Strange 2 Proved Major Cameos Don't Always Work

John Krasinski as Mr Fantastic in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness

The Marvel movie that had the most potential for huge MCU cameos stands as an example of why this particular strategy can easily fail. Doctor Strange 2 delivered surprise after surprise when it introduced the Illuminati and filled out the roster with characters like Marvel’s What If…?’s Captain Carter, Anson Mount’s Black Bolt, and John Krasinski’s Mr. Fantastic. While it would normally be expected for that sort of unique ensemble to go over well with audiences, some of these cameos were met with great disappointment. The MCU introducing a live-action Reed Richards could have been a celebrated moment for the movie, but instead prompted criticism for its out-of-character take on the hero.

If bringing back beloved characters truly is what Marvel aims to do with Avengers: Secret Wars, its best path toward making that work would be to emulate Spider-Man: No Way Home. With just a handful of Spider-Man villains from Sony’s movies and two other versions of Peter Parker, No Way Home succeeded in telling the biggest Spider-Man story to ever hit the big screen. There were theories that Marvel would find room for even more Spider-Man characters in the film, but it actually benefited from narrowing its group of protagonists to the trio of Spider-Men. By following a similar formula, Avengers: Secret Wars can do justice to one or two returning characters without overshadowing the MCU’s present-day heroes.

NEXT: If Deadpool Joins The MCU, What Happens To His Universe?