Avengers MARVEL Movies Secret Invasion Thunderbolts

The MCU's Phase 5 Bombshell Means Its Avengers Replacement Makes Way More Sense

The MCU's Phase 5 Bombshell Means Its Avengers Replacement Makes Way More Sense

Phase 5's most recent bombshell from Secret Invasion better explains the Avengers' upcoming replacements in Phase 5. Following the reveal of a problematic secret project overseen by Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson), it follows that world governments may be reluctant to rely on superheroes as much as they have in the MCU. As such, Secret Invasion could very well serve as yet another stepping stone toward the imminent debut of Marvel's Thunderbolts.

Following a significant alien infiltration within major seats of power and various institutions (including the White House), the threat of the Skrulls was made public thanks to current US President Ritson effectively declaring war on all extraterrestrials living on Earth. With both the United States and Russia nearly engaging in nuclear warfare thanks to the Skrulls, the fallout of Secret Invasion may lead to the creation of the Thunderbolts, especially after Fury's secret DNA project.

The Thunderbolts' Limited Power Level Makes Sense After The Harvest


As confirmed in the final episodes of Secret Invasion, Nick Fury ordered Skrulls to collect the DNA of almost every powered Avenger present during Endgame's final battle. Known as The Harvest, the secret and ethically questionable project motivated the Skrull general Gravik (Kingsley Ben-Adir) to begin his Super-Skrull experiments to give himself brand-new powers in his desire to claim Earth for his people, no longer content to wait on Fury's unkept promises to find them a new home after 30 years. At the moment, Fury's very problematic project is still secret (though there would likely be major consequences when/if it does).

If knowledge of Fury's Harvest ever gets out in the MCU, governments may be more apprehensive toward superhumans and their powers in general. This would certainly explain why the confirmed team of Thunderbolts thus far is very limited in their superpowers compared to the original Avengers. With some having already been recruited by the CIA's Valentina Allegra de Fontaine or soon will, it's been implied that the Thunderbolts will be a government-sanctioned team (regardless of how public they'll be).

Secret Invasion Made A US And Russia Team-Up More Likely


Overall, the Thunderbolts' roster in the MCU is a mix of US and Russian operatives. Bucky Barnes was an American Howling Commando during WWII turned into a living weapon under the control of Hydra's agents within the Soviet Armed Forces. Ghost did black-ops stealth missions for SHIELD. U.S.Agent was the government's new Captain America before his recruitment by Val following his public discharge. Yelena Belova, Red Guardian, and Taskmaster were all part of the Red Room program with connections to Russia's General Dreykov.

This particular selection of agents may stem from the recent fallout caused by the Skrulls in Secret Invasion. Considering Russia and the US were the two countries who were manipulated the hardest, it may explain why the Thunderbolts roster has so many US and Russian agents on it (while also having more limited superpowers). The Thunderbolts could be assembled by Val as a joint response between the two nations in the MCU with the events of Secret Invasion certainly adding to the ongoing geopolitical turmoil that's been happening in recent MCU projects.
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Avengers MARVEL Movies

Avengers 1 & 2 Had One Crucial Advantage Over Avengers 3 & 4

Avengers 1 & 2 Had One Crucial Advantage Over Avengers 3 & 4



While the Marvel Cinematic Universe's Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame succeeded in culminating the Infinity Saga, Avengers and Avengers: Age of Ultron had one crucial advantage over the Phase 3 team-up films. It is no secret that the final two Avengers films were above their predecessors concerning pure fan-service hype, yet the world-ending stakes of both missed out on one critical aspect. Due to the bigger budgets, larger casts, and longer runtimes, Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame focused entirely on the battle against Thanos.

With Avengers and Avengers: Age of Ultron on the other hand, the comparatively smaller scale of each film allowed for a key element of the core heroes to shine through. Despite Infinity War and Endgame including this aspect in a much broader context, the first two films in the Avengers franchise focused on it more intimately. Hopefully, this aspect can be carried over into Avengers: The Kang Dynasty, while Avengers: Secret Wars emulates the bigger scale of Infinity War and Endgame.

Avengers & Age Of Ultron Showed The Team Saving Civilians


The aspect in question is the Avengers going out of their way to save civilian lives. While again, Infinity War and Endgame focused on defeating Thanos and were centered on saving the lives of half of the universe, the fight against the Mad Titan was the core focus due to the immense scale of the story. This meant that endangered civilians were largely absent from both films' stories, focusing more on the combat with Thanos’ forces. With Avengers and Avengers: Age of Ultron though, the smaller stakes allowed for more intimate, visceral scenes of the Avengers saving lives as they battled against Loki and Ultron.

The first Avengers included many scenes of the titular team saving civilians caught in the crossfire of Loki's invasion. From Black Widow and Hawkeye freeing people from cars and school buses to Captain America coordinating the NYPD to lead people away from the city and rescuing a building full of trapped New York residents, 2012's The Avengers had many sequences detailing the saving of innocent bystanders. Similarly, Age of Ultron had scenes of Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver helping the Sokovian people to evacuate, with much of the final fight surrounding the heroes saving the people of Sokovia while fighting Ultron.


Avengers 5 Should Include More Civilian-Centric Scenes


One benefit of these scenes is that they truly highlight the good-natured, heroic side of the Avengers, something that should carry over into Avengers: The Kang Dynasty. With the title of Avengers 5 hinting towards a multiverse that has already been conquered by Kang, it would be an interesting twist on the Avengers formula to have the heroes liberating universe after universe from Kang's control, being on the offensive for once. If this was the case, Avengers 5 could allow for plenty of similar civilian-centric scenes in which the Avengers are wrestling control of different universes away from Kang and back into the hands of the people.

This would then allow Avengers: Secret Wars to delve into the more action-heavy, fan-service-based style of an Avengers story. Not only would this bring back the more intimate scenes of Avengers saving the universe, but it would allow the MCU's Phase 6 to have both sides of an Avengers conflict. The huge, action spectacle of heroes facing off against a giant army would be prevalent, made even more impactful by an entire film of the Avengers crippling Kang's empire by saving innocent lives, as the Marvel Cinematic Universe first portrayed the titular team.

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