How Every Upcoming MCU Movie & Show Sets Up Avengers 5, 6 & Kang

Avengers: The Kang Dynasty and Avengers: Secret Wars are the climax of phases 4-6 - but surprisingly, few of the announced MCU films seem like deliberate setup. Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige surprised viewers when he unveiled the entire MCU Phase 5 slate at San Diego Comic-Con, along with a number of titles from Phase 6 - including the next two Avengers movies. The announcement was particularly surprising given Feige had previously hinted he thought the Phase 3 announcement back in 2014 was something of a mistake, encouraging viewers to focus on the future rather than enjoy each step of the journey. Presumably, Marvel had been stung by criticism that phase 4 felt relatively disjointed.

According to Feige, phases 4-6 are collectively known as "the Multiverse Saga." Jonathan Majors' Kang the Conqueror is officially the next Thanos, a multiversal villain who threatens all reality. Ironically, for all some viewers have criticized Marvel for a disjointed approach to Phase 4, this overarching direction had been clear for quite some time; there's been a lot of setup for Kang the Conqueror and Avengers: Secret Wars in Phase 4. This meant most viewers were far from surprised by the SDCC announcement, even if they were delighted all the same.

Naturally, Feige's announcement has now meant all attention has turned to the future. Both Avengers: The Kang Dynasty and Avengers: Secret Wars are named after classic comic book adventures; the first is a celebrated story in which Kang successfully conquers Earth, with the Avengers eventually overthrowing him, while the second is an epic saga in which the entire multiverse collapsed. Here's all the official setup for both movies to date.

Ant-Man & the Wasp: Quantumania

AntMan and the Wasp Quantumania Poster Jonathan Majors as Kang

The next multiversal adventure is Ant-Man & the Wasp: Quantumania, which will introduce another variant of Jonathan Majors' Kang the Conqueror - although it's currently unknown whether this will be the main one. Presumably, the Langs and the Pyms will cross paths with him during their exploration of the Quantum Realm; this makes sense because there are striking similarities between the Quantum Realm and a dimension called Limbo in the comics. There, Limbo is the realm all time travelers pass through while they're moving through the timeline or jumping between dimensions. It became the center of Kang's empire, with the warlord ruling from the city of Chronopolis. This corresponds perfectly to the domed city seen in the background of Ant-Man & the Wasp. All this means Marvel figures probably aren't exaggerating when they promise Ant-Man & the Wasp: Quantumania will change the MCU.

Loki Season 2

Naturally, it's possible there will be Kang cameos of some kind through the rest of Phase 5. Still, it's most likely the next major step in the Multiverse Saga is Loki season 2. The first season established the basic rules of the multiverse, revealing the timeline is naturally chaotic; any moment has the potential to create a branching timeline. Unfortunately, some of the branched timelines became aware of one another, resulting in a multiversal war. The finale revealed variants of Kang the Conqueror were responsible, with the victor - He Who Remains - creating the TVA to police the timelines and prune branches so threats to his reign could not emerge. He Who Remains' death led to the restoration of the multiverse, including new versions of Kang the Conqueror, with one swiftly claiming the TVA for his base.

According to Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, a destructive event called an "incursion" is triggered whenever a being from one timeline leaves too significant a "footprint" upon another, and that incursions are multiversal collisions, resulting in the destruction of both timelines. The TVA's headquarters is outside the normal flow of time, making it one of the few potential staging points for invasions on other timelines. The variant of Kang, who has taken it over, is clearly one of the key players in phases 4-6 - and he may be the same variant set to appear in Ant-Man & the Wasp: Quantumania. There's been intense speculation the Quantum Realm city could be the TVA's base of operations.

Fantastic Four

The next logical step on the road to Avengers: The Kang Dynasty and Avengers: Secret Wars is the upcoming Fantastic Four reboot. The Fantastic Four are numbered among Kang's greatest enemies in the comics, and Reed Richards was particularly important in the 2015 Secret Wars event, so logically is expected to serve as the primary source of inspiration for Avengers 6. Reed Richards and his fellow superheroes are traditionally portrayed as explorers and adventurers rather than traditional superheroes, so it's possible Fantastic Four will send them on a road trip into the multiverse. Hopefully, it won't be long before Marvel makes some casting announcements, giving viewers an idea of what to expect from the third big-screen iteration of the Fantastic Four.

Upcoming MCU Projects That Don't Fit The Multiverse Saga

The throne room of Wakanda burns and floods

Surprisingly, though, the vast majority of Marvel's upcoming films and TV shows don't have an obvious connection to Kang the Conqueror or the multiverse. They include:

She-Hulk: Attorney At Law, a Disney+ TV show with no expected ties to the multiverse.
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, which will pass on the mantle of Black Panther after the tragic death of King T'Challa. It will introduce the MCU's version of Namor, the Sub-Mariner, and the underwater kingdom of Atlantis (renamed Talocan); Namor was a major figure in the build-up to Secret Wars in the comics, but it's unclear if the same will be true here. There have also been rumors this movie will introduce the MCU's Doctor Doom, who became the main villain of Secret Wars, but these are unconfirmed.
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, the end of James Gunn's Guardians saga.
Secret Invasion, a Disney+ TV show focused on a Skrull invasion of Earth.
Echo, another Disney+ show - this time spinning out of the events of Hawkeye.
The Marvels, a cosmic adventure focused on Carol Danvers, Kamala Khan, and Monica Rambeau.
Ironheart, starring Dominique Thorne as a superhero who - in the comics - successfully reverse-engineered Iron Man armor while studying at MIT.
Blade, which will introduce the MCU's version of the celebrated vampire-hunter.
Agatha: Coven of Chaos, a spin-off series from WandaVision starring Kathryn Hahn's Agatha Harkness. The magic used in this Disney+ TV show may have ties to the multiverse, but it's too soon to say whether there'll be a direct connection.
Daredevil: Born Again, a relaunch (possible reboot) of the Marvel Netflix show that's expected to remain street-level.
Captain America: New World Order will follow on from The Falcon & the Winter Soldier and explore Sam Wilson's career as the new Captain America. The title "New World Order" may well allude to a plot tied to Hydra.
Thunderbolts is expected to be Marvel's version of the Suicide Squad, a group of supervillains forced to carry out black-ops missions on behalf of the U.S. government.

It's hard not to conclude that, like Phase 4, Phase 5 is somewhat disjointed - with many of the films and TV shows feeling disconnected from the main narrative thrust. Ironically, the Avengers 5 announcement may explain these issues; in the comics, The Kang Dynasty saw Kang launch an invasion while Earth's heroes were distracted dealing with other threats, and he could do the same thing in the MCU. That would be a smart way to draw all these disparate plots into Avengers: The Kang Dynasty, with the MCU then launching into Avengers: Secret Wars.

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