Daily News for Marvel Movie

Summary

• Doctor Strange may replace Molecule Man in Avengers: Secret Wars, as he has been teased to pose a huge threat during the MCU's Multiverse Saga.
• It may be too late to introduce Molecule Man in the MCU, as half of the Multiverse Saga has gone without a mention of the Secret Wars villain.
• Doctor Strange as a villain in Avengers: Secret Wars could set up the perfect introduction for Doctor Doom as a hero.

A new MCU theory suggests that Avengers: Secret Wars may replace a crucial Marvel Comics villain with a powerful hero who has recently been posing a danger to the multiverse. Marvel Studios chief Kevin Feige first announced the development of Avengers: Secret Wars in 2022, but details regarding the final project in the MCU's Phase 6 and Multiverse Saga have since been scarce. Loki and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness writer Michael Waldron is attached to the project, but not much else is known about Marvel Studios' Avengers: Secret Wars, though the project is expected to be adapted from Marvel Comics' two epic storylines of the same name.
Marvel Comics' original Secret Wars event in 1984 saw a number of heroes and villains brought to Battleworld to fight it out for the Beyonder's enjoyment. 2015's Secret Wars storyline, however, saw the Marvel Universe ravaged by an incursion, though a selection of survivors collected on a new version of Battleworld before the universe was restored. Marvel Studios seems to be taking inspiration from the latter Secret Wars for the MCU's Multiverse Saga, as incursions have already been teased, and Avengers: Secret Wars is speculated to soft-reboot the MCU, just as the Marvel Comics storyline did. However, one major piece of 2015's Secret Wars is still missing from the MCU.
Related Genius MCU Theory Sets Up Secret Wars' Huge Final Battle One major MCU theory could suggest that audiences have already seen the location for the final battle in Phase 6's Avengers: Secret Wars. Doctor Strange Fits Molecule Man’s Role In Marvel Comics’ Secret Wars Close Owen Reece, a.k.a. Molecule Man, is a pivotal part of Marvel Comics' Secret Wars storyline in 2015, as he revealed that he was created by the otherworldly Beyonders as a singularity across every reality. This meant that each universe had its own Molecule Man, but if they died, the universe would be destroyed, as Reece had been designed to be a sort of universal bomb. Attempting to stop the death of the multiverse, Doctor Doom collects many versions of Molecule Man and uses them to siphon the Beyonders' power into himself, allowing him to build Battleworld to protect survivors of a catastrophic incursion wiping out the Marvel Universe.
Marvel Studios hasn't debuted Molecule Man in the MCU, but one theory posed by Reddit user Handsart suggests that Benedict Cumberbatch's Doctor Strange could take his place in 2027's Avengers: Secret Wars. Throughout the Multiverse Saga, Doctor Strange has proven himself to be a danger to the multiverse – his spell messed with the multiverse in Spider-Man: No Way Home, he caused an incursion in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, and his variants also caused universal destruction in their respective realities. Since each variant of Doctor Strange seems to be destroying realities akin to Marvel Comics' Molecule Man, the sorcerer is primed to assume the missing villain's role.
It’s Too Late For Marvel Studios To Debut Molecule Man In The MCU Since Avengers: Secret Wars isn't scheduled to hit theaters until May 2027, it's possible that Marvel Studios could still introduce Molecule Man into live-action ahead of the Phase 6 crossover project. However, it may already be too late for Molecule Man to be introduced in the MCU, as Marvel Studios is already halfway through the Multiverse Saga, and there hasn't been one mention of Molecule Man anywhere. In Marvel Comics, Owen Reece debuted back in 1963's Fantastic Four #20, and so was a pre-established and long-running character long before 2015's Secret Wars event, but this is far from the case in the MCU.
Surely the TVA would have known about Molecule Man, but there wasn't a single mention of the Secret Wars villain.
Marvel Studios' Loki series on Disney+ dealt directly with the unleashing of the multiverse on the MCU, and saw Tom Hiddleston's titular God learn a lot about the multiverse from the Time Variance Authority. Surely the TVA would have known about Molecule Man, but there wasn't a single mention of the Secret Wars villain. Similarly, Doctor Strange journeyed across universes to Earth-838 in Phase 4, bringing him into contact with the well-informed Illuminati. This would have been a great opportunity to tease Molecule Man's existence in the MCU, but this didn't come to fruition, so it seems a pre-existing MCU character may be replacing Molecule Man in Avengers: Secret Wars​​​​​​​.
Doctor Strange As Secret Wars’ Villain Could Be The Perfect Introduction For Doctor Doom Marvel Comics' Molecule Man is exploited heavily by Doctor Doom, who uses the more minor villain to steal the power of the Beyonders and become "God Emperor Doom" of Battleworld in 2015's Secret Wars event. In a way, this demonstrates a heroic side to Victor Von Doom, despite his questionable methods, as he ends up saving a huge number of individuals following a cataclysmic incursion – though he let the power go to his head, and eventually needed to be brought down. It may be difficult to adapt Marvel Comics' Secret Wars into the MCU without Doom, but luckily, this Avengers: Secret Wars theory also supports Doctor Doom's MCU debut.
Prior to 2015's Secret Wars, Doctor Doom travels to a variety of alternate realities, tracking down every Molecule Man variant. For the MCU's adaptation, the same story can be told, but with Doctor Doom searching the multiverse for dangerous Doctor Strange variants. Doctor Doom being shown to be a hero in the MCU by trying to eliminate more villainous Doctor Stranges would create a subversive introduction for the much-anticipated supervillain, and since Doctor Doom has been rumored to appear in Fantastic Four, this could be very possible. Doctor Strange has already been teased as a villain in the Multiverse Saga, so Avengers: Secret Wars could take this a step further.