Marvel Studios has officially revealed the first film in the MCU’s third saga. Marvel breaks up the storytelling chapters in its cinematic universe into phases, which are themselves slotted into larger sagas, such as the Infinity Saga (Phases 1-3) and the current Multiverse Saga (Phases 4-6), which is due to end in 2027 with Avengers: Secret Wars. These sagas typically have an overarching theme, and Marvel Studios may have revealed what this new third saga of the MCU will entail via its first scheduled release.
Marvel Studios confirmed at D23 2026 in August that its next MCU movie after Avengers: Secret Wars will be its anticipated X-Men reboot. This will be the first film in the currently unnamed third saga of the MCU, with X-Men scheduled for release on May 5, 2028. The film will be followed by two other Phase 7 MCU movies in 2028, including Ghost Rider on July 28 and Black Panther 3 on December 15.
Marvel has announced several of the lead actors who will be featured in the MCU’s Phase 7, including returning Spider-Man: Brand New Day star Sadie Sink as Jean Grey, and her new X-Men castmates Kit Connor, Maya Boyd, Inde Navarrette, Christopher Abbott, Samara Weaving, and Adam Driver. The first MCU third saga film will be directed by Thunderbolts*’ Jake Schreier.
The Infinity Saga focused on the initial Avengers team-up and their fight against Thanos and his Infinity Stones, which culminated in a massive crossover event in Avengers: Endgame. The next era of MCU storytelling has been the Multiverse Saga, which has spanned both films and streaming series, focusing on the dangers of the Multiverse and pitting the Avengers against Doctor Doom in Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars.
Marvel Studios has yet to unveil the theme of MCU Saga 3, but given that the X-Men will kick off the new era, it plays into many theories that speculate the next evolution will be the Mutant Saga.
What MCU Saga 3 Can Do Differently From the Infinity and Multiverse Sagas
As Marvel Studios prepares to usher in its third saga of the MCU, it has almost two decades’ worth of experience to draw on as it enters this next era. After the Infinity Saga was considered something of a slam dunk for the comic book movie universe, the Multiverse Saga has faced criticism for bloating, superhero fatigue, and a lack of cohesion, which is something Marvel Studios now has the chance to remedy with its next Saga.
One of the most exciting aspects of any new Saga in the MCU is the potential for new characters to enter the superhero cinematic universe. The Infinity Saga focused on establishing its initial Avengers line-up, with solo trilogies for core characters like Thor, Captain America, and Iron Man.
The Multiverse Saga then expanded this lineup after the events of Avengers: Endgame, introducing new heroes including Shang-Chi, the Eternals, Ms. Marvel, Moon Knight, and She-Hulk, although this came at a price as the studio failed to invest significantly in any of them, leaving the MCU Saga without any clear leads.
For the Mutant Saga, Marvel Studios needs to get on track by establishing a strong lineup of core characters to return to frequently throughout the next three phases. This can be done by maintaining a balance of origin stories, introducing new characters, and sequels featuring established heroes (several of which are already in development), while also ensuring there are sequels to the movies that introduced new characters in the Saga.
Beginning the third Saga with the X-Men is a solid choice, as not only is the mutant superhero team long-awaited, but they are super popular, and are a firm foundation to build upward and outward from in the MCU.
Additionally, Saga 3 of the MCU needs to reinvest in crossover films, particularly those focused on the Avengers. The Infinity Saga had four headlining Avengers films that always felt like a culmination of the Phases of storytelling that came before them. However, the Phases in the Multiverse Saga never really led to any grand culmination or crossover, and the only Avengers films are Doomsday and Secret Wars, which are taking place right at the end of the Saga, almost seven years after the last Avengers film.
For the next Saga, Marvel may return to its Infinity Saga strategy with more crossovers, as these films not only tend to do better financially, but they also bring more cohesion to the interconnected storytelling of the MCU. The Avengers films give the MCU something to work towards in its storytelling, and that is something sorely missing in the Multiverse Saga, which Saga 3 has the chance to rectify.
One major new curveball that came Marvel Studios’ way in the Multiverse Saga was the arrival of Disney+. Launching in 2019, Disney called upon all of its subsidiaries to provide content for the in-house streaming service, which led to the MCU expanding across both films and TV series in the Multiverse Saga.
This began with prestige and expensive MCU TV shows, led by Avengers heroes like in WandaVision, Loki, or Hawkeye. In the later years, this has dwindled, with a greater focus on animation or more grounded superhero stories like Daredevil: Born Again.
The addition of Disney+ content has been one of the Multiverse Saga’s greatest criticisms, as audiences have felt overwhelmed by the amount of MCU content to keep up with. Some of the streaming shows have also suffered from the opposite problem of not feeling crucial enough to the MCU narrative for audiences to bother watching. This has become particularly prevalent as many of the MCU Disney+ heroes have not had continued roles in the MCU, with stars like Tatiana Maslany and Oscar Isaac yet to return as their characters.
Reports already suggest that Marvel Studios is moving away from prestige live-action superhero series, which could alleviate many of these concerns in the MCU as it moves into Saga 3.
One final learning that Marvel Studios can and should take into the MCU’s third saga is the importance of Spider-Man. Since Tom Holland’s webslinger was introduced in Captain America: Civil War ten years ago, the character has remained one of the most popular and financially viable heroes in the MCU. That’s only been proven tenfold in the Multiverse Saga, with Spider-Man: No Way Home and Spider-Man: Brand New Day becoming the two highest-grossing movies in the entire saga.
If there’s one hero that Marvel Studios needs to continue investing in in Saga 3, it’s Spider-Man, which the studio brings to the screen in partnership with Sony Pictures. At this point, Spider-Man is one of the very few heroes to successfully maintain a throughline in both the Infinity and Multiverse Sagas, and this can continue into the Mutant Saga, with the web-slinging hero acting as an anchor point for the MCU, whilst also continuing his own narrative.
Marvel Studios has already shown a lot of confidence in Spider-Man by opting to introduce its first X-Men character, Sink’s Jean Grey, in Spider-Man: Brand New Day, so the importance of that character in the future of the MCU’s third saga seems assured.
One thing Marvel Studios could do differently with Spider-Man in Saga 3 is to incorporate him further into crossover films. Holland was not seen at all in the Multiverse Saga outside his own Spider-Man solo movies, whereas in the Infinity Saga, he was featured in Captain America: Civil War and the latter two Avengers movies. Part of that problem is that the Multiverse Saga has lacked crossover films in general, but if these are to be more prevalent in Saga 3, then Holland’s Spider-Man should definitely be a part of them.
