The Marvel Cinematic Universe has found itself in an interesting position after Disney acquired Fox, bringing a slew of characters into the fold of Marvel, ones whose film rights had been traded away to keep the company afloat. This includes the Fantastic Four, the casting for which has been released, and the X-Men, who have been trickling into the MCU piecemeal via various projects.
The Fantastic Four have officially been announced in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, coming to theatres in July 2025, while Deadpool will bring the mutant host to the MCU in July 2024. However, Marvel plans to release a new superhero IP in 2026, or so the rumor mill says. There are a few names that come to mind, chief among them Captain Britain, who could be played by Henry Cavill.
Henry Cavill’s Captain Britain could make its debut in 2026
There have been quite some rumors in the past week that Henry Cavill has locked in a role in the MCU, with the majority of the guesses being that the actor will be playing the role of Captain Britain. Captain Britain is a character that a lot of fans have expected to be a part of the multiverse saga, given that the character’s mythos deal with variants of himself, making him a key player in the multiverse.
Captain Britain is also entrenched in the X-Men side of the MCU, with Betsy Braddock being Psylocke at various points in the history of the Marvel Universe. Henry Cavill has been fan-cast as multiple characters in the MCU, usually characters that somehow represent Superman. The Sentry, Captain Britain, Hyperion, and Gladiator have all been in the cards for the character, but it seems that fans have settled on Captain Britain for the actor’s chosen role in the MCU.
Other heroes have been in the running to make an MCU debut too
The new superhero IP that would probably make a debut in the MCU might be the new face that Marvel is looking for to carry the MCU, with the exit of Robert Downey Jr. and Chris Evans still haunting the studio. The characters that would likely be introduced in the MCU in the lead-up to Secret Wars will be looking at cementing the next few Phases in the franchise and therefore must be characters that can appear outside of the films that they will helm.
The frontrunner for such roles, apart from Captain Britain, could be Richard Rider’s Nova, who has had a long overdue debut in the MCU. Other characters that could carry their IP within the MCU could be Ghost Rider, Blade, The Silver Surfer, or even standalone characters from the Mutant side of the MCU, like Gambit.
The road to Avengers: Secret Wars is going to have a lot of course corrections, no doubt. Marvel currently seems hard at work restructuring, being a lot more careful with what can be released in a year. The MCU might see a lot less content leading up to Secret Wars per year, which could also result in a delay. However, it needs to be remembered that there are two Avengers films on the horizon, and the gap between the two may be increased to allow for a better conclusion to The Multiverse Saga.
