How Loki Is Setting Up Avengers 6’s Secret Wars

Warning! This article contains general spoilers for Loki seasons 1 & 2.

Loki is paving the way for Avengers: Secret Wars in some key ways. While the Marvel Cinematic Universe consisted solely of movies during its most successful period, the Infinity Saga, Marvel Studios has started to diversify its output of content, delving deeper into the new formats that Disney+ allows. Several MCU series have since been released, and while some of them present major changes to the MCU, such as WandaVision setting up the Scarlet Witch’s role in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness or Hawkeye re-introducing Vincent D’Onofrio’s Kingpin, none of the MCU TV shows had as big of an impact on the franchise as Loki season 1.

Loki was the first MCU entry to really touch on the multiverse, opening many doors for other projects to explore in the Multiverse Saga. The Disney+ series saw the MCU debut of Jonathan Majors as He Who Remains, the first variant of Kang the Conqueror to appear in the MCU, with the actor then playing Kang himself in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. Now, Loki season 2’s villain Victor Timely, another of Kang’s variants, has debuted in the series, with the character set to play a major role in the show’s multiverse story. As Loki‘s multiverse plot continues to unravel, the series is laying the path for Avengers: Secret Wars.

Related: Loki Season 2 Cast Guide: Every New & Returning Marvel Character

The Multiversal War Is Coming (In Avengers 5)

Loki season 1’s ending saw He Who Remains reveal to Loki and Sylvie that his death would bring along another Multiversal War — with He Who Remains having stopped the first and created the Time Variance Authority to protect the MCU’s Sacred Timeline. With Sylvie proceeding to kill the character, that event is coming in the MCU’s future. Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania‘s mid-credits scene saw the MCU debut of the Council of Kangs, a multiversal team of Kang variants that seemingly has three leaders in Immortus, Rama-Tut, and Centurion. With both He Who Remains and Kang the Conqueror out, the Council of Kangs should bring along the second Multiversal War.

Every Phase in the Infinity Saga had at least one Avengers movie, but that has not held true for the MCU’s Multiverse Saga. Marvel’s Phases 4 and 5 have received major criticism due to feeling directionless because they lacked an Avengers movie to bring the MCU’s heroes and stories together. That will change when Phase 6 sees the debut of two Avengers films, Avengers: The Kang Dynasty and Avengers: Secret Wars. The first of them should see the Multiversal War teased by Loki, with the MCU’s new Avengers team assembling and going up against the Council of Kangs, paying off Loki season 1 finale’s reveal in a major way.

Loki’s Multiverse Story Sets Up Secret Wars

Besides setting up the MCU’s second Multiversal War for Avengers: The Kang Dynasty, Loki has done the work to prepare the universe for the Multiverse Saga’s grand finale, Avengers: Secret Wars. After Sylvie killed He Who Remains, the MCU’s Sacred Timeline started to see several anomalies pop up, with different branches to alternate universes allowing for a slew of Marvel characters from other live-action projects to show up in the MCU. Spider-Man: No Way Home saw Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield’s Spider-Men, as well as five villains from the duo’s Spider-Man movies, appear in the MCU opposite Tom Holland’s Peter Parker.

Deadpool 3 is also set to bring back Ryan Reynolds’ Deadpool and Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine, with at least Deadpool sticking around in the MCU. With the MCU’s multiversal chaos and several decaying branches of the Sacred Timeline, Loki is setting up the expansive story of Avengers: Secret Wars. After Avengers: Endgame closed out the Infinity Saga in grand style, Avengers: Secret Wars has a high bar to reach for the Multiverse Saga’s finale. The movie is rumored to unite past and present MCU heroes with characters from all over Marvel’s live-action history, making for an exciting finale that is only possible due to Loki.

Secret Wars Needs To Undo Loki Season 1’s Ending

Loki season 1’s ending poses a major element that Avengers: Secret Wars will have to resolve. The MCU series ended its first season with the reveal that the multiverse was fully open, with several different alternate branches in play, and Avengers: Secret Wars needs to go against it, undoing Loki season 1’s finale. The Avengers movie will have plenty of opportunities for Marvel fans to be excited about, with several past live-action Marvel characters and franchises available to be used in the film. Avengers: Secret Wars can provide some long-anticipated moments, such as Jackman’s Wolverine teaming up with Maguire’s Spider-Man.

While the movie can provide a lot of multiverse fun, by the time Avengers: Secret Wars draws to a close, the film should seal the cracks on the MCU’s Sacred Timeline, creating a unified timeline that is overseen not by Loki‘s He Who Remains — who the Disney+ show has revealed is someone not to be trusted — but whoever the MCU chooses as his replacement. In the comics, the 2015 Secret Wars event that the upcoming MCU movie is based on ended with the creation of a unified timeline. Avengers: Secret Wars should follow the same path, undoing Loki season 1’s ending in the process.

Secret Wars Can Be The MCU Reboot Loki Promises

The MCU is using Loki to set up a reboot in Avengers: Secret Wars. Loki season 2 has seemingly revealed that the Multiversal War that He Who Remains spoke of happened in the future. If that is indeed true, then the Disney+ series suggests that the MCU is stuck in a time loop, with another timeline reset set to come in the future after Kang and his variants find themselves in a Multiversal War with the Avengers and other MCU, and likely multiverse, heroes in the next set of Avengers films. Avengers: Secret Wars, as the final movie of the Multiverse Saga, can deliver the MCU reboot promised by Loki.

With a recent report teasing that Avengers: Secret Wars will soft reboot the MCU, the project should be the perfect payoff to Loki‘s multiversal story. Avengers: Secret Wars can make the most of the Sacred Timeline that was fractured in Loki, having MCU and multiverse heroes interact and work together to save the multiverse, with the movie then seeing the creation of a new, unified timeline in its place. Marvel Studios would be able to have the new and original Avengers active in the MCU at the same time as the X-Men and the Fantastic Four, all thanks to Loki and Avengers: Secret Wars leading to the MCU’s reboot.

Key Release Dates