Marvel Studios pulled off a huge coup as it revealed the directors of its next two Avengers movies. Marvel Studios President Kevin Fegie announced at San Diego Comic Con 2024 that the Russo brothers will be returning as directors of two Avengers movies that, in all likelihood, would be filmed back-to-back. This move would see the Russos take on one of their most talked about stories that inspired them to become filmmakers. That’s right, the Russos will be directing Secret Wars and the Avengers movie preceding it.
Brothers Joe and Anthony Russo took to the stage to share this announcement with elated fans who greeted them to huge cheers. Here’s what Anthony said on stage:
Joe and I truly believed that it was the end of the road for us in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, because we had put all of our passion, our love, or imagination, into The Winter Solder, into Civil War, into Infinity War, climaxing it all with Avengers: Endgame. That 4-movie run was incredible. And it left is with creatively spent and all our emotions on the floor.
In the time since, through a very special story, Joe & I have come to potentially see a road forward with you all.
Joe then added reemphasizing his long-standing love for the Secret Wars comic and the mark it left on him as far as event storytelling goes, before proceeding to reveal the logo of Secret Wars.
It’s the biggest story that Marvel Comics ever told. It’s the first comic book run that I read as a kid that made be fall in love with the comics. It’s the reason Anthony and I are standing up here. And I think you all know the name of it.
The move comes as the Marvel Cinematic Universe has been struggling to regain its foothold and return to its former days of glory as it had multiple misfires in 2023. Both Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania and The Marvels failed to resonate with its usually loyal audiences and set the cash registers ringing. To add to the studio’s woes, Feige placed the entirety of the Multiverse Saga on the shoulders of Jonathan Majors’ Kang, who was arrested and convicted on charges of assault. This forced the studio to pivot from their original plan of having Phases 5 & 6 revolve around Kang and pull Avengers: The Kang Dynasty off the slate which was originally slated to be the fifth Avengers movie.
The Russo brothers are well-familiar with the intricacies of filmmaking at Marvel Studios, having successfully navigated those challenges four times, culminating in the two-parter Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame. Each of those movies grossed over $2 billion at the global box office, sending off the Russos on a high. The brothers have long talked about their love for Secret Wars and how it could perhaps be the only story that could get them back to Marvel. Here’s what they had to say in an interview from 2022:
Our love for Marvel is based on the books that we read as kids, the books that we fell in love with. The one series that we adored growing up was Secret Wars. It’s incredibly ambitious. It would be bigger than Infinity War and Endgame. But it’s a massive undertaking. Those two movies were very hard to make. So trying to imagine making another two movies even bigger than those two? We’re going to have to sleep on that.
Evidently, their wish has come true. The Russos now have in front of them, the near-impossible task of topping the $2.8 billion Endgame, often described by audiences and the Russos themselves as a once-in-a-generation event. And they have about 3 years to get ready. Aware of the magnitude of this announcement, Marvel shared an even bigger reveal to top this.
Avengers: Doomsday releases in theaters on May 1, 2026. Avengers: Secret Wars arrives a year later on May 7, 2027.
