Secret Wars Won't End Marvel's Cinematic Multiverse For One Key Reason (Report)

The Marvel Cinematic Universe has become a complex beast after Thanos' (Josh Brolin) defeat, with the concept of endless alternate universes explored in projects from "Spider-Man: No Way Home" and "Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness" to "Loki" and "Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania." According to Hollywood insider Daniel Richtman, the Marvel Multiverse will stick around even after the Multiverse Saga ends with "Avengers: Secret Wars" too — thanks to a very particular culprit.

Even after the Multiverse Saga ends the Marvel Multiverse won't. Sony is the reason.

— Daniel Richtman (@DanielRPK) February 28, 2024

It's hard to see the MCU entirely shutting the door on the Multiverse because of the sheer number of storytelling opportunities it brings, but Richtman's post on X, formerly known as Twitter, makes it seem that Sony — and Sony alone — will be responsible for its continued presence after the franchise shifts its focus to other things. This is intriguing because the relationship between Sony and Marvel Studios could give the Multiverse Saga a run for its money when it comes to sheer complexity.

The reason behind this is Peter Parker's complicated Marvel movie rights situation, in which Sony owns the rights to the character itself but a tangled web of agreements has allowed Disney to borrow the character for its projects while allowing Sony to use MCU characters as supporting players in its "Spider-Man" movies. Effectively, everyone's friendly neighborhood web-slinger can simultaneously exist in both the MCU and Sony's Spider-Man Universe.

Since Tom Holland's Spidey is one of the most prominent MCU heroes, Richtman's post may mean that the character's complex rights situation effectively forces the MCU to retain at least some of its multiversal aspects beyond the Multiverse Saga to appease Sony and guarantee the character's continued MCU presence. Let's take a look at what that could mean.

Much like the MCU, the entire Sony Spider-Man Universe can be explained as a collection of projects that feature heroes whose stories are interconnected and who occasionally pop up in each others' movies — and even alternate universes. However, the SSU is made a bit more complicated by the fact that its movies tend to revolve around the titular web-slinger without actually featuring him, instead focusing on Spider-Man's vast rogues' gallery (the "Venom" trilogy, "Morbius," and "Kraven the Hunter") and other Spidey-adjacent characters ("Madame Web").

Nevertheless, there's a strong multiversal component involved. As the Venom (Tom Hardy) stinger in "No Way Home" and the Vulture (Michael Keaton) cameo in "Morbius" heavily hint, there's a serious connection between the MCU and the SSU. The revelation in "No Way Home" that all three known live-action Spider-Men and their villains exist in their own universes and can interact in the right circumstances also confirms that the MCU's Spidey is just one of the many Spider-Men out there — something Sony has also explored in its animated "Spider-Verse" films.

This gives Sony plenty of potential options for future multiversal Spider-Man adventures. What's more, the fact that Daniel Richtman specifically mentions that Sony is the reason the Marvel Multiverse will keep going strongly hints that they will at least partially take place in the MCU.

Arguably the easiest and most obvious way for Marvel Studios and Sony to have their Multiverse cake and eat it too would be to keep Spider-Man isolated as a street-level hero. After the world forgets him at the end of "Spider-Man: No Way Home," Peter Parker is uniquely positioned to exist in the middle of an SSU–MCU Venn diagram, forgotten by the world in-universe but crucial to it from a viewer's standpoint. While this kind of limbo might not be sustainable for a character as popular as Spider-Man in the long term, it could yield some pretty nice movies that would allow him to face off with heroes and villains from the SSU to his heart's content.

Another possibility is for the MCU to double down on the tactic of bringing Sony's Spidey characters into its movies and vice versa. The fact that "Madame Web" bombed at the box office suggests that not everyone from the SSU movies is likely to make the transition, but there's still plenty of potential in this strategy — especially since "No Way Home" already teases an impending showdown between Spider-Man and Tom Hardy's Venom and "Morbius" reveals that Michael Keaton's Vulture is now a part of the SSU. This approach would allow Marvel Studios to keep Spider-Man at hand in the MCU while also allowing him — or versions of him, anyway — to occasionally jump into the SSU to interact with its characters and vice versa.

Of course, the most logical reason for Marvel Studios and Sony to stick with the Multiverse theme is money. By critical acclaim alone, Sony's "Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse" and "Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse" are among the best superhero movies ever made, making them a natural point of interest whenever the future of live-action "Spider-Man" movies is discussed ... and if Daniel Richtman's information is correct, this isn't going to change anytime soon.

A potential live-action "Spider-Verse" adaptation could probably get by with the various Spider-People and other characters Sony already has the rights to. However, due to turkeys like "Madame Web" and "Morbius," the SSU's track record can hardly be compared to that of the MCU. What's more, it's unlikely that the live-action film(s) would follow the same beats as the animated ones, so it would make sense to collaborate with the MCU and gain access to its vast pool of fun superheroes who could interact with the various Spider-People — from Deadpool (Ryan Reynolds) to Daredevil (Charlie Cox) to even Moon Knight (Oscar Isaac).

This would allow for all sorts of universe-hopping shenanigans — think a hybrid of "No Way Home" and "Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness," only with even more spider-themed heroes. Of course, this is all speculative at the moment, but considering the success of the animated "Spider-Verse" films, Marvel Studios might very well be interested in getting involved in live-action ones ... and if Richtman's intel proves to be accurate, such things might end up on the negotiating table before long.