Allow me to begin with an apology. Somebody somewhere in social media may have mentioned this before. If so, I apologize for not remembering your name. But I suspect that Kurt Busiek’s “Avengers Forever” might just be the key to the MCU phase four, and possibly five.

The 12-part miniseries is loaded with elements that show up in #WandaVision and #Loki and seem destined to show up in #SpiderManFarFromHome and #DrStrangeMultiverseofMadness as well as possibly many more upcoming #MCU projects, potentially including the similarly titled #blackpantherwakandaforever.

The plot of “Avengers Forever” pits Kang the Conqueror against his older iteration Immortus and against the Time Keepers that have shown up in the MCU/Disney+ series “Loki”.

Various Avengers are plucked from time (as Loki was) to play their roles as either puppets or rebels, and the question becomes: who is manipulating time and who is protecting it? We also find ourselves asking what is more important, the will of the Time Keepers or free will, the freedom to choose our individual destiny?

Plot elements in “Loki” already suggest these questions, and it remains unclear at this point whether the two Lokis are fulfilling the Kang/Immortus roles or setting the stage for the Conqueror himself, as has been rumored. Either way, the seeds of doubt about the Time Variance Authority and the Time Keepers has already been sown into the show and do reflect this story in fascinating ways.

The events of the comic mini-series are referred to in the plot as The Destiny War, and this may be what is getting set up in the MCU. Fans have suggested we’re heading towards Secret Wars, but plot elements, especially in “Loki”, suggest this other war may be what we are watching unfold.

I may be wrong but the parallels and suggestions are too numerous to ignore. It may, in fact, be our destiny to give “Avengers Forever” a read. You might want to do that before the Time Keepers wipe out this reality to eliminate spoilers and bad puns.