Marvel's 'Secret Wars' taps 'Loki' & 'Multiverse of Madness' scribe Michael Waldron to pen screenplay

The sixth Avengers movie has officially found a writer. According to Deadline, Marvel Studios has tapped Loki and Multiverse of Madness scribe Michael Waldron to pen the script for Secret Wars, which is slated to hit the big screen in early November 2025. 

A director for the conclusion to the Multiverse Saga has yet to be announced, though Joe and Anthony Russo (helmers of both Infinity War and Endgame) previously expressed interest in wanting to adapt the iconic storyline. With his plate now covered in an epic crossover event that — as Variety points out — will have to connect the plot threads of "at least 37 titles in film and streaming" Waldron has abdicated his role as head writer on Loki, shifting over to the role of an executive producer for the show's second season.

His hiring makes a lot of sense, given how the second Doctor Strange film introduced the threat of Incursions, a major plot point in the original comic book arc of the same name by writer Jonathan Hickman and artist Esad Ribić. When SYFY WIRE caught up with Waldron earlier this year, we asked if he was laying the foundations for a Secret Wars movie, to which he provided a rather sly answer: "I’m a fan of Jonathan Hickman and read his Illuminati comics and I’m a fan of all of that stuff in Secret Wars. And so, everything’s in there for a reason."

Well played, sir. Well played, indeed.

A mere six months before the MCU heads to Battleworld, however, Earth's Mightiest Heroes will face off against Jonathan Majors' multiversal conquerer in The Kang Dynasty on May 2, 2025. Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings director/co-writer Destin Daniel Cretton will direct the blockbuster, working off a script from Waldron's fellow Rick and Morty alum, Jeff Loveness (he also wrote the Kang-heavy Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania).

"It's never about going bigger just to go bigger," Marvel Studios head honcho Kevin Feige explained to MTV News at this year's San Diego Comic-Con. "Sometimes, by the nature of the number of characters that you have in the toy box to then bring into the sandbox of the story, things can get bigger ... So many of our movies now — Multiverse of Madness, what you're about to see in Quantumania — are big team-up films introducing big parts of the mythology. Avengers films should really be the capper to a saga, which is really all we wanted to lay the groundwork for today, is say, 'We are currently in the midst of the Multiverse Saga, which will culminate in two Avengers films.'"

Avengers: Secret Wars arrives in theaters everywhere on Nov. 7, 2025. The next MCU adventure on the docket is the horror-themed Werewolf by Night (slated to premiere on Disney+ this coming Friday — Oct. 7), which was directed by longtime Marvel composer, Michael Giacchino.

Looking for more sci-fi content? Check out shows like Resident Alien, Brave New World, Project Blue Book, Eureka, Heroes, Intergalactic, and more streaming now on Peacock.