Avengers: The Kang Dynasty and Avengers: Secret Wars will be the MCU’s next major two-part event, and those will be the first two Marvel movies that could be compared with Avengers: Endgame in terms of scale, budget, and box office. As Marvel’s Phase 4 started to receive more and more criticism regarding the apparent lack of a plan, Marvel Studios unveiled its road map for Phases 5 and 6 during San Diego Comic-Con, a journey that will culminate in The Kang Dynasty and Secret Wars. The Multiverse Saga will not last as long as the Infinity Saga, but in terms of characters involved and the number of releases per year, the MCU is currently far more ambitious than it ever was.
After Infinity War and Endgame saw a decade-old cinematic journey culminate into two box office giants, there were not really many comic book arcs that could be adapted into a bigger event other than Secret Wars. The possibility of an MCU Secret Wars became more solid as Phase 4 started to dive into the multiverse with shows like Loki and What If…? and movies like Spider-Man: No Way Home and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. That said, it was still difficult to predict what exactly Phase 4 was leading to, as Kang The Conqueror and new teams like Thunderbolts were also being set up.
Now, it’s clear that Kang is the MCU’s next Thanos, at least in the sense that he is the one at the center of the next crossover event. Surprisingly, there will not be an Avengers movie in Phase 5, as there wasn’t in Phase 4, marking a six-year window between Endgame and Avengers: The Kang Dynasty. It is still not clear if Kang will also be Avengers: Secret Wars’ villain, or how exactly the events of The Kang Dynasty will lead to that of Secret Wars. Still, considering that both Phase 6 Avengers movies will premiere in 2025 only six months apart, it’s safe to assume that The Kang Dynasty and Secret Wars will play as a two-part story in the likes of Infinity War and Endgame. Marvel is obviously trying to replicate its Infinity War and Endgame phenomenon with the Multiverse Saga, and the decision of placing two big Avengers movies in the same year suggests the studio is confident that The Kang Dynasty and Secret Wars can match, or even top, Endgame’s box office.
Why No MCU Movie Could Beat Avengers: Endgame’s Box Office Yet
Even before the pandemic, it was difficult to think of any MCU movie – or any movie at all – with the potential to beat Avengers: Endgame at the box office. Endgame was not only the immediate sequel to the also box office giant Infinity War but also the conclusion of a decade-long storyline. Even if it was obvious that the MCU would continue past Endgame, audiences were aware that the fate of their favorite characters was at stake, even more so after Thanos’ Infinity War snap. The entire world wanted to see firsthand how the snapped Avengers would return, how Thanos would be defeated, and which heroes would eventually perish at the end. Even the more casual audiences wanted to avoid spoilers, prompting Endgame to become the biggest opening weekend of all time.
With no Avengers movie in sight and a feeling that the MCU was starting over, there was just no chance for any Phase 4 release to match Endgame expectations. The only exception was Spider-Man: No Way Home, a commercial phenomenon whose expectations were largely built on months of rumors regarding the possibility of Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield reprising their roles as Spider-Man alongside MCU’s Tom Holland. However, No Way Home was released during the pandemic, meaning that the movie never got to have a normal box office run.
Kang Dynasty & Secret Wars Can Repeat Infinity War & Endgame’s Phenomenon
While many believed that Marvel could have one or two “smaller” Avengers movies before the next "Endgame" crossover event, similar to Age of Ultron, that is clearly not going to be the case. The only two Avengers movies in the Multiverse Saga will both be part of Phase 6 and will release only six months apart, an even shorter window than the one between Infinity War and Endgame. How close Endgame was released to Infinity War was one of the reasons behind the former’s success, as there was not enough time for the audience's interest in the story to fade away. Marvel Studios is now trying to replicate this phenomenon with the Multiverse Saga, only with an even bolder release strategy.
Although Kang and Secret Wars can make for two completely different movies, the MCU seems to be tying up the concepts of time travel and multiverse into one big story in which Kang The Conqueror will be the main villain – or at least a main villain. Secret Wars involve characters that the MCU has not yet featured, such as Doctor Doom and the Beyonder, and there is the chance that Kang is only a part of a much bigger story. Should that be the case, then The Kang Dynasty and Secret Wars would not be simply redoing Thanos’ two-part story but rather something much more complex.
Avengers: Secret Wars Will Be Bigger Than Endgame
Any adaptation of Secret Wars, no matter what changes were made to the comics, would result in Marvel’s most ambitious movie yet. If Endgame was the culmination of the entire Marvel universe, Secret Wars can be when different Marvel universes collided into one epic multiverse story. The MCU has already played with the possibilities of the multiverse in terms of unexpected cameos, and the result has been extremely positive for the box office. The return of Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield in No Way Home return prompted the movie to become the highest-grossing Spider-Man movie of all time and the most successful release since the COVID-19 pandemic started. Likewise, the prospect of Reed Richards or Professor X cameos in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness led the Doctor Strange sequel to make almost 40% more than the first movie.
Secret Wars, by the nature of its story, can involve even more cameos and work as a celebration of Marvel’s cinematic history – not just the MCU. If Multiverse of Madness brought back Patrick Stewart’s Xavier and Anson Mount’s Black Bolt, not to mention variants of established MCU heroes and the debut of Reed Richards, then there are not many limitations as to where Secret Wars can go. Even stars like Robert Downey Jr., Scarlett Johansson, and Chris Evans could somehow return for a stint as multiverse variants, making Secret Wars an even more special event.
How Much Can The Kang Dynasty & Secret Wars Make Compared To Endgame?
In theory, Avengers: The Kang Dynasty should be compared with Avengers: Infinity War in terms of box office expectations. However, given that The Kang Dynasty will be the first Avengers movie in six years, plus how it will kickstart a story that will be concluded in less than a year, it could be eyeing a better box office performance than Infinity War. Obviously, it all depends on the quality of the movie itself, but given how all the roads in the MCU are leading to Kang and the multiverse, Avengers: The Kang Dynasty could become a must-see event with a strong opening weekend and a 2 billion-range box office. Still, when it comes to beating Endgame, Secret Wars is a strong contender.
No matter how big Avengers: The Kang Dynasty turns out to be, Secret Wars has the potential to outperform it given that it is the sequel. Secret Wars can merge the epic-finale style of Endgame with No Way Home and Doctor Strange 2’s multiverse cameo fest in an organic way, a combination that could shatter box office records. It will not be surprising if Secret Wars makes more than Endgame, and if its legs can keep up with the probable record-breaking opening weekend, Avengers: Secret Wars could cross the 2.8 billion mark to top Avatar as the highest-grossing movie of all time.
