Secret Wars

The Secret Wars was a conflict to test for Spider-Man by the Beyonder and Madame Web. The two cosmic entities needed to see if the Earth hero was strong enough to lead the Spider-Men in the upcoming Spider War.

After the death of Mary Jane Watson's clone Beyonder took Spider-Man to a far off planet. Beyonder brought Doctor Doom, Doctor Octopus, Lizard, Alistair Smythe, and Red Skull to an unknown planet, and passed time one year. He put Spider-Man on the planet and told him to call other heroes. He brought the Fantastic Four, Storm of the X-Men, Captain America, and Iron Man. They managed to bring out the Curt Connors persona in Lizard so he helped them. He also managed to bring Black Cat through the machine. Their first task was to restore power and shields to their headquarters while fighting giant worms living on the planet. They then fought Doctor Octopus, Alistair Smythe, and Red Skull who had all teamed up. Their final task was to stop Doctor Doom in New Latveria. He cured Thing but then stole the powers of the Beyonder. Spider-Man convinced him to give up the powers and the heroes won. All their memories of the event were erased, except for Spider-Man's.

Background
In the original comics, Captain Marvel, Hawkeye, War Machine (using the Iron Man persona), She-Hulk, Thor, Wasp, Spider-Woman (in her first appearance), Colossus, Cyclops, Nightcrawler, Charles Xavier, Rogue, Wolverine,, and Magneto were on the hero team. Invisible Woman did not join them. Magneto later became non-aligned. [[Absorbing Man, , Kang, Klaw, Molecule Man, Titania, Ultron, Volcana, and the Wrecking Crew were on the villain team. Galactus also came but he became non-aligned. Alistair Smythe and Red Skull were not involved.

Also, it was the X-Men who went out on their own, not the Fantastic Four. It was during the Secret Wars that Spider-Man first encountered the Venom Symbiote. After the Secret Wars, Thing chose to stay behind.

The entire X-Men was going to appear, but only Storm was chosen because Iona Morris, who had since been replaced, lived in Los Angeles while the rest of the cast still lived in Canada. For and  the cast was flown out at great cost to the production team.

Hulk and She-Hulk were not involved because the rights were being used by UPN for.

Quinton Flynn was the only cast member from to reprise his role.