MCU Rumor Roundup: Post-Secret Wars Plans For Spider-Men; Mutants In Black Panther 3, & More

MCU Rumor Roundup: Post-Secret Wars Plans For Spider-Men; Mutants In Black Panther 3, & More

In this latest MCU rumor roundup, we have a possible update on Marvel's plans for Tom, Tobey, and Andrew's takes on Spider-Man after Avengers: Secret Wars, an intriquing Black Panther 3 detail, and more...

By MarkCassidy - Jul 02, 2026 03:07 PM EST
Filed Under: Marvel Studios

As rumors continue to circulate about the landscape of the Marvel Cinematic Universe post Avengers: Doomsday and Secret Wars, we have some intriquing updates relating to the Multiversal Spideys, the X-Men, Black Panther 3, and which characters are expected to be at the forefront of the Cosmic corner of the MCU.

Though nothing has been confirmed, Tom Holland's wall-crawler is expected to sit out Avengers: Doomsday, with Tobey Maguire's OG big-screen Spider-Man swinging by for the movie's opening scenes. Holland, Maguire, and Andrew Garfield are rumored to reunite for Secret Wars, but that may not be the last we see of the No Way Home trio in the MCU.

According to MTTSH, "Tobey and Andrew's Spider-Men's story will not end in Secret Wars, as there are already plans for them to return in two more projects."

This isn't the first time we've heard that Marvel/Sony might be planning to develop separate projects for Maguire and Garfield's Peter Parkers, and Sam Raimi has spoken about potentially returning to direct his Spider-Man 4 with Maguire and Kirsten Dunst.

The scooper also believes that "Tombstone will return in the next Spider-Man movie."

Next, Alex Perez was asked, "What other mutant projects will we get besides the X-Men in the next saga?" during the latest Cosmic Circus Q&A, and replied: "Black Panther 3 is one for sure."

Mutants in the next Black Panther movie? We still know very little about Ryan Coogler's plans for the threequel, but since it will technically be a part of the "Mutant Saga," it only makes sense that the Children of the Atom would feature in some capacity.

Could there be some truth to the rumor that Denzel Washington will play Magneto after all?

As for how the Cosmic side of the MCU is shaping up, Perez believes that Nova, Star-Lord, the Shi’Ar and the Eternals will emerge as the "pillars of Marvel’s cosmic side in the next 5-10 years."

We expected Peter Quill to return at some point following that Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 post-credits tease, and rumor has it that the X-Men reboot will lay the groundwork for the introduction of the Shi’Ar Empire.

Finally, Perez shared some insights into the various villains Spidey will encounter in Brand New Day, while dropping a hint about the movie's much-discussed "secret" big bad.

"There are many villains in this movie with different purposes and goals; some are resolved really easily. Others take a larger chunk of the runtime to solve, and some don’t get resolved at all, leaving it open for the next installment. But all have one thing in common that’s stopping them from achieving their goal: Spider-Man."

When asked if BND will introduce "a Val-like figure connected to the streets," Perez replied, "Less Val…more The Leader, but actually good."

We've heard that there is a shadowy figure pulling the strings - and possibly controlling Sadie Sink's Jean Grey(?) - in the film. The prevailing theory is the Jackal, but there's speculation that it might be a villain that will ultimately become the next main antagonist of the Mutant Saga.

What do you make of these latest MCU rumors? Let us know in the comments.

Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars were hit with significant delays last year, with Doomsday now set to arrive in theaters on December 18, 2026, and Secret Wars positioned for December 17, 2027.

Both movies will be directed by the Russo brothers, who also make their MCU return after helming Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Captain America: Civil War, Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame.

"Being able to create stories and explore characters within the Marvel Universe fulfilled a life-long dream of ours, and we discovered a powerful connection with audiences in each film that we made. We’re thrilled to collaborate once again with Kevin, Lou and the entire Marvel team to bring this epic adventure in storytelling to new and surprising places for both the fans and ourselves”, said The Russos in a statement after the SDCC panel.

Doomsday will star:

Paul Rudd as Ant-Man, Simu Liu as Shang-Chi, Tom Hiddleston as Loki, Lewis Pullman as Sentry, Florence Pugh as Yelena, Danny Ramirez as Falcon, Ian McKellen as Magneto, Sebastian Stan as Bucky, Winston Duke as M’Baku, Chris Hemsworth as Thor, Kelsey Grammer as Beast, James Marsden as Cyclops, Channing Tatum as Gambit, and Wyatt Russell as U.S. Agent

Along with Vanessa Kirby as Sue Storm, Rebecca Romijn as Mystique, Patrick Stewart as Professor X, Alan Cumming as Nightcrawler, Letitia Wright as Black Panther, Tenoch Huerta Mejia as Namor, Pedro Pascal as Reed Richards, Hannah John-Kamen as Ghost, Joseph Quinn as Johnny Storm, David Harbour as Red Guardian, Ebon Moss-Bachrach as The Thing, Anthony Mackie as Captain America, and, of course, Robert Downey Jr. as Doctor Doom.

About The Author:
MarkCassidy
Member Since 11/9/2008
Mark Cassidy is a writer, photographer, amateur filmmaker, and Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic from Dublin, Ireland.
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Mrcool210
Mrcool210 - 7/2/2026, 3:54 PM
"According to MTTSH, "Tobey and Andrew's Spider-Men's story will not end in Secret Wars, as there are already plans for them to return in two more projects."

Didn't she say the exact opposite a few months ago? Why are we trusting her?
Gnostic
Gnostic - 7/2/2026, 3:56 PM
These guys didn’t know what the premise of Brand New Day was (Peter mutating and getting organic webbing) until that trailer leak in December 2025. They also didn’t know it was about Peter basically being a detective until last month.

So I doubt they know much about a film doesn’t have a finalized script yet and let alone a film that is not even in development yet.
Malatrova15
Malatrova15 - 7/2/2026, 4:06 PM
@Gnostic - do they even know is Christmas ? I mean.....war is over ..if they want to
McMurdo
McMurdo - 7/2/2026, 4:00 PM
They already lost me with Sadie Sink as Jean Grey. I like her but she's just not Jean Grey. Huge letdown for such a important character.
Gnostic
Gnostic - 7/2/2026, 4:08 PM
@McMurdo - Well, one of the writers of the X-Men movie (Lee Sung Jin) mentioned how the film won’t plug into existing MCU arcs or characters unlike the Thunderbolts movie.

DEADLINE: Before I let you go, you’ve taken a stab at Marvel before and now you’re doing the next X-Men movie. What is it like to do something that has those kinds of parameters after the freedom that you have on Beef?

LEE: Truthfully, it’s same parameters on this project, which is so exciting. I’d say there were actually more parameters on Thunderbolts because it was plugging into an existing arc and existing characters, whereas with X-Men, Kevin \[Feige\] just wants to take a big swing and start anew, not be beholden to any of the movies that have come before.

https://deadline.com/2026/06/lee-sung-jin-beef-x-men-interview-1236950632/

So if Jean was in this movie and Secret Wars…wouldn’t that contradict his statement here? Because that would make her an existing character. And I doubt Lee fabricated an elaborate multi-sentence lie on the spot on (to a question that had nothing to do with Brand New Day no less).

But to play devil’s advocate: She could be Jean, but is possessed throughout most of the movie and doesn’t really get much character development.
MotherGooseUPus
MotherGooseUPus - 7/2/2026, 4:04 PM
Another day, another round of bullshit from MTTSH that will turn out to be false.

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SuperiorHeckler
SuperiorHeckler - 7/2/2026, 4:07 PM
"...Perez believes that Nova, Star-Lord, the Shi’Ar and the Eternals will emerge as the "pillars of Marvel’s cosmic side in the next 5-10 years." -Mark Cassidy

Jesus, Joseph and Mary... Potentially, up to 10 more years before we get one freakin' NOVA movie??? SMH 😖
TheVisionary25
TheVisionary25 - 7/2/2026, 4:35 PM
I like the idea of there being a shadowy mastermind that BND introduces and The Leader comparison definitely makes me think it’s the Jackal…

If they don’t want to use villains that have already been used in the previous Spidey or SUMC films then he makes the most sense as a Big Bad type character tbh.

If it isn’t Keith David (which I doubt) then my pick for the character would be David Thewlis!!.

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ObserverIO
ObserverIO - 7/2/2026, 4:36 PM
Just continuing the multiverse saga after Secret Wars huh? I'm so glad this is MTTSH. Puts me at ease knowing it's probably 100% inaccurate.

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