‘Avengers: Secret Wars’ Shatters the Marvel Cinematic Multiverse
The next installment in the series is a celebration of nearly two decades of Marvel films
April 1, 2022
Warning: Major spoilers for “Avengers: Secret Wars” and previous Marvel content
The history of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) is about to change. After the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s storyline about the multiverse starting in “Loki” (2021), “Spider-Man: No Way Home” (2021), and “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness” (2022), this ambitious arc comes to a close in “Avengers: Secret Wars.”
My anticipation for this movie has been very high ever since it was announced at New York Comic Con on March 32. The announcement from Kevin Feige and director Sam Raimi was insane and left everyone speechless, including me. After watching the film, it exceeded all of my expectations.
“Avengers: Secret Wars” begins with the realities of the MCU and other universes on the edge of destruction. As a result of this destruction, the universes collide to become a planet called “Battleworld,” and variations of known superheroes are faced with the responsibility to save the multiverse.
Peter Parker, played by Tom Holland, sees universes where he got different powers. Instead of Spider-Man, Parker became Pine Tree-Human, who shot pine cones out of their wrists.
Superheroes, such as Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch), Shang-Chi (Simu Liu), Captain Marvel (Brie Larson) and She-Hulk (Tatiana Maslany), form the New Avengers and are assisted by branches of Avengers teams to stop Kang the Conqueror, played by Jonathan Majors, and Doctor Doom, played by Michael Fassbender, from destroying realities. Cumberbatch, Liu, Larson and Maslany do an amazing job in their respective roles.
The introduction and return of teams such as The Wiggles, One Direction and The Hype House illustrated how grand the MCU has become. Danny Devito’s portrayal as Worm-Dude is as stellar as ever and truly shows his love for the character in every scene he is in.
The story I found the most interesting was the one for Spider-Man. Peter Parker, played by Tom Holland, sees universes where he got different powers. Instead of Spider-Man, Parker became Pine Tree-Human, who shot pine cones out of their wrists. We also saw him as Slime Kid, a child who uses his power to sell slime on Tiktok.
I hope that Marvel writers and directors will continue to show universes where events happened differently.
While the formation of many new Avengers teams was exciting, the film’s approach to the multiverse was very entertaining. Mostly through the perspective of the Flimsy Five, it was great to see universes set in pre-MCU films or other media make an appearance.
The opportunity to see Raimi’s 2002 Spider-Man and Fox’s X-Men universes again made me very nostalgic and hopeful that we will see the universes in future films. I hope that Marvel writers and directors will continue to show universes where events happened differently.
One of my favorite scenes was when the heroes visited the “My Hero Academia” universe. It was very exciting to see Deku and All Might have a conversation with Reed Richards, played by John Krasinski, and Strange about the multiverse and how Deku and Class 1-A are preparing to fight the League of Villains. Also, the heroes give Deku advice about how to master his quirks.
Also, the opportunity to see a variant of Spider-Man played by Christian Madlansacay was mind blowing.
The movie included a large number of cameos, and it was great to see The Observer’s editorial board make an appearance to help the teams travel across Battleworld. Also, the opportunity to see a variant of Spider-Man played by Christian Madlansacay was mind blowing.
The cinematography for the film was phenomenal. Similar to the “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness,” Raimi uses unique camera tricks to engage the audience throughout the whole film. The CGI was also on the same level as “Avengers: Infinity War” (2018).
The only aspect of the film that I did not like was the pacing at the start. Many universes were introduced every few minutes, leaving the viewer with not much time to process each new setting. Despite the film being four hours long, the narrative was very engaging and made it seem like less time had passed.
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“Avengers: Secret Wars” is an amazing conclusion to the multiverse arc of the MCU. The ending when all of the heroes from different universes teamed up to fight Kang and Doom exceeded the craziness of “Avengers: Endgame” (2019). By showing different variations of characters and universes, it demonstrated how big the MCU has become and will become in the future. If you are a huge Marvel fan, I highly recommend this new Avengers movie — it’s a Marvel to behold.
