11 Years Ago, Marvel’s Greatest Event Comic Paved the Way for the MCU’s Most Important Movies

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In the 21st century, Marvel Comics is largely defined by its big event comics. While they pioneered this format in the early 1980s with stories like Marvel Super Heroes Contest of Champions and Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars, and have been publishing them annually ever since, the frequency has become a problem. What was once one major event per year has ballooned to multiple—with at least three planned for 2026 (Armageddon, Queen in Black, and DNX)—and some aren’t generating much excitement. However, Marvel events have also delivered some truly classic stories that have significantly impacted the Marvel Universe, and there were times when this approach worked brilliantly.

Jonathan Hickman and Esad Ribic’s Secret Wars from 2015 is a standout Marvel event. Years in the making, it delivered the large-scale, cosmic story that fans love from these kinds of comics. Considered one of the best Marvel events ever, Secret Wars is now particularly relevant as it’s heavily influencing the upcoming Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars movies. These films are crucial for the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s future; Marvel Studios is counting on them to be huge hits and regain their strong position. Fortunately, they’ve chosen a truly excellent source material, packed with potential for blockbuster moments.

Secret Wars Smashed a Staid Marvel Event Scene With Good Old Fashioned Character-Based Spectacle

The story really took off with Jonathan Hickman’s run on Avengers (though some fans point to his work on Fantastic Four as its beginning). He wrote both Avengers (Volume 5) and New Avengers (Volume 3), where he introduced the idea of ‘Incursions’ – alternate Earths crashing into each other, destroying both worlds. While the Avengers fought the Builders, an ancient race that created everything, a secret group called the Illuminati tried to stop the Incursions on their own. At the same time, a new Cabal formed with its own agenda, and Doctor Doom started investigating what was happening. Things fell apart when the Avengers learned they’d been kept in the dark about the truth.

A conflict erupted between the Avengers and the Illuminati, creating an opportunity for Doctor Doom, Doctor Strange, and Molecule Man to steal the power of the Beyonders – the entities responsible for destroying universes. They used this power to rebuild reality with Doom as a god-like ruler. This marked the start of Secret Wars, beginning with a final battle between Earths 616 and 1610 to prevent total annihilation. Both Earths were destroyed, and from their remains, Doom created Battleworld. The story centers on those who survived learning the truth about Doom’s actions, as he himself begins to question the choices that led him there.

As a huge Marvel fan, I have to say things started feeling a little stale around 2015. They used to be amazing at crafting these big crossover events, but they seemed to get comfortable with their success – almost like they thought we’d buy anything with the Marvel logo on it. Honestly, that’s probably why comic sales have been slipping and the MCU hasn’t been as strong lately. A lot of their events from 2010-2015 just didn’t hit the mark, but Secret Wars was different! The lead-up was incredible, really got me excited, and thankfully, the story itself totally delivered on the hype.

The success of Secret Wars came from delivering large-scale excitement similar to what fans loved in Infinity Gauntlet. While the two stories share many elements, a key difference is their focus: Infinity Gauntlet centered on Thanos, while Secret Wars was Doctor Doom’s story. It brilliantly showed Doom questioning his own choices – something we hadn’t seen before. The comic balanced epic, universe-altering battles with a personal narrative about a leader realizing his mistakes. Importantly, even if you haven’t read the previous issues, you can still enjoy Secret Wars. It’s a remarkably well-executed story, which is rare for large crossover events.

Secret Wars Was Everything You Could Want From an Event Comic and Could Save the MCU From Itself

Secret Wars is a rare example of a truly successful comic book event. The story leading up to it was excellent, and the series itself perfectly balanced grand spectacle with compelling characters – everything superhero fans want. Although the changes introduced weren’t as impactful as promised and Marvel didn’t fully utilize its multiverse reset (they hinted at big shifts but ultimately kept things largely the same, except launching a poorly received Inhumans storyline), Secret Wars has become a modern classic that all Marvel readers should experience.

The Marvel Cinematic Universe is facing some challenges and needs a boost. Basing future Avengers movies on the Secret Wars storyline is a smart move, but so far, there hasn’t been much excitement building for these films. Even the news about Robert Downey Jr.’s return and the Russos coming back hasn’t generated a lot of buzz. Still, if Marvel Studios can recreate the compelling characters and grand scale of the original comic, they have a good chance of regaining their previous success.

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2026-06-14 23:14