Phase Five of the MCU is set to continue in July with the anticipated release of Deadpool 3, officially titled Deadpool & Wolverine. This Phase will end with Thunderbolts, bringing back some familiar faces like Yelena Belova and Bucky Barnes.
But wait until you hear about Phase Six, which is going to be even crazier than Phase Five. Phase Six is like the next big thing for Marvel Studios, running from mid-2025 to mid-2027.
It kicks off with The Fantastic Four, hitting theaters in July 2025. It will then feature highly sought after movies like Blade (2025), followed by Avengers 5 (2026), and the grand finale, Avengers: Secret Wars (2027).
Beyond that, earlier fans were about to deal with the acrimony of Kang the Conqueror— the franchise’s new big bad. He was slated to close out the Multiverse Saga with two back-to-back Avengers movies mentioned above.
There’s also a theory going around that Josh Brolin might come back as Thanos in Avengers 5 instead of Majors’ Kang.
Josh Brolin Hints at Thanos Return in Future MCU
Jonathan Majors’ Kang was integral to the multiverse saga. But, Marvel apparently had to shake up their Phase 5 and 6 plans because of Majors after he was found guilty of two domestic violence charges.
So what’s now? The good news is: Josh Brolin has teased that Thanos could be making a return in the future, saying during a recent interview with ComicBook, “I hear kind of like through the grapevine, that they’re gonna bring him back.”
Thanos was the main bad guy in Marvel’s Infinity Saga. He first showed up in The Avengers in 2012, but Brolin only started playing him in Guardians of the Galaxy in 2014. Thanos was really strong in the MCU and beat some of the toughest heroes like Hulk, Thor, and Captain Marvel.
After facing death twice in Avengers: Endgame in 2019, it seemed like Thanos’ story was done, but he popped up again in some episodes of What If…? animated series. So, there are chances he might make an appearance again in the future, too.
Thanos’ Possible Return in the Upcoming Avengers 5
Even though Jonathan Majors might not be playing Kang anymore, Marvel is still making Avengers: The Kang Dynasty for 2026. And Thanos might return to the Marvel flick in different ways, even though he died in Avengers: Endgame.
It could happen through alternate timelines, time travel, or through Kang the Conqueror’s time travel shenanigans. Kang the Conqueror controls time in Marvel Comics, while in the MCU, his variants rule over different universes.
If Kang brings back past MCU villains like Thanos using time travel, the Avengers could be in real trouble. This is how Thanos could make his potential return.
Fans will get to explore the multiverse with movies like Deadpool 3 long before Avengers 5 and Secret Wars come out. So, we could always see Josh Brolin‘s Thanos showing up in different realities. With this, looks like Avengers 5 is the perfect MCU project for the Mad Titan to appear in.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Marvel’s shaking things up with the next Avengers movie, set for May 2026. They’re apparently rewriting the script and giving it a whole new title. But Marvel and Disney+ are staying tight-lipped about it officially. This could mean that the studio might add Thanos as its next big bad!
Avengers 5 is set to release in May 1, 2026.
