New Avengers: Secret Wars Casting Announcement Sparks Wild Fan Theories

With just a few months to go until Avengers: Doomsday hits movie theaters, casting rumors are ramping up for next year's sequel, Avengers: Secret Wars. Marvel Studios has said very little officially about 2027's Avengers movie, particularly when it comes to casting. Naturally, Marvel wouldn't want to spoil who lives, who dies, or who might make a surprise entrance into the MCU in the wake of Doomsday.

Thanks to a new report from Deadline, we finally have some unofficial casting news for Avengers: Secret Wars.

British actor Noah Jupe has reportedly joined the cast of Avengers: Secret Wars, according to Deadline. Jupe's role in the sixth Avengers movie was not revealed, but his character is "expected to play a key part in the story," Deadline said. Jupe is best known for his roles in the A Quiet Place films, where he plays Marcus Abbott, the son of Emily Blunt and John Krasinski's characters. Jupe also appeared in Eternals director Chloé Zhao's Oscar-winning Hamnet (as Hamlet) and in The Night Manager with Tom Hiddleston. Jupe recently co-starred alongside Spider-Man: Brand New Day's Sadie Sink in the West End production of Romeo & Juliet.

In fact, Jupe has co-starred with a long list of familiar MCU faces in his work, so he's practically part of the Marvel family already. Jupe has co-starred

• with Hugh Jackman (Wolverine) in The Death of Robin Hood
• with Natalie Portman (Jane Foster/Thor) in Lady in the Lake
• with Tom Hiddleston (Loki) in The Night Manager
• with Sadie Sink (Jean Grey) in Romeo & Juliet
• with Michael Douglas (Hank Pym/Ant-Man) in Franklin
• with John Krasinski (Reed Richards) in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness
• and with Christian Bale (Gorr the God Butcher) in Ford v Ferrari

Who is Noah Jupe playing in Secret Wars?

Image: Amanda Searle/Amazon courtesy Everett Collection

In the absence of official confirmation, fans have speculated on a number of possible roles for Noah Jupe in the MCU. Top of the list seems to be Franklin Richards, son of Reed Richards and Sue Storm, who is a newborn in The Fantastic Four: First Steps. Given that some MCU youngsters — namely T'Challa II from Black Panther: Wakanda Forever — are apparently aging up in the MCU, perhaps Franklin Richards will too.

Given Jupe's age — he's 21 years old — Marvel fans have also started speculating that he's one of Marvel Studios' new X-Men. Marvel announced some of its new X-Men cast in August at D23, confirming Sadie Sink's return as Jean Grey, Kit Connor as Cyclops, Inde Navarrette as Rogue, and Maya Boyd as Storm, with Christopher Abbott leading the team as Charles Xavier. Jupe would fit in with that group of young but accomplished actors, potentially as a mutant like Nightcrawler, Iceman, or Wolverine, fans believe.

Others have speculated that Jupe could be an alternate-universe Tony Stark or Nathaniel "Nate" Richards/Iron Lad. Wilder speculation points to characters key to the Secret Wars comics, namely Molecule Man and the Beyonder, but those all-powerful comic book characters seem like a pretty wild swing for Marvel Studios, which will likely take a less complicated approach to the popular storyline.

As with the cast of X-Men, we'll likely soon know where Marvel is headed with its big screen version of Secret Wars soon enough.

Avengers: Secret Wars is slated to hit movie theaters on Dec. 17, 2027.