The Russo Brothers Explain Why They’re Back for More Avengers

After Electric State, Netflix’s upcoming sci-fi action flick starring Stranger Things’ Millie Bobby Brown and Avengers: Endgame’s Chris Pratt, the Russo Bros. are coming back to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Endgame was supposed to be a launchpad for the directing duo to shift into more non-franchise film fare, but that vibe has now obviously changed.

In an interview alongside Joe Russo and screenwriter Steven McFeely with Empire, Anthony Russo explained, “Endgame was the end, and it took a little time for us to begin to think about it as something other than an end.” Their slate post-Endgame featured streaming releases Cherry (with Tom Holland) and The Grey Man (with Chris Evans), which eventually led them back to Marvel for the next two Avengers movies—theatrical-release, critic-proof blockbusters.

He continued, “We’re very close with [Marvel’s] Kevin [Feige] and Lou [D’Esposito] and the entire Marvel team and we’ve had conversations through the years. We’ve talked about a lot of ideas,” Anthony Russo said about stepping in to take up the space after the planned Kang versus the Avengers arc fell apart.

About the timing, he explained, “Really what happened was, we ended up stumbling upon an idea that activated all of us.” The idea occurred as prospective Avengers: The Kang Dynasty director Destin Daniel Cretton shifted gears to focus on other Marvel projects, such as the highly anticipated Wonder Man and Sony’s upcoming Spider-Man sequel film with Tom Holland. He also has Naruto, for Lionsgate, on his list of upcoming films.

The idea the Russos had to change the expected upcoming phase of the Marvel Cinematic Universe was revealed to fans with Robert Downey Jr. at last year’s San Diego Comic-Con. “You couldn’t see it coming until it came, and once it came it was like, ‘Well, that’s a story we need to tell.’” Former Iron Man portrayer Downey will be back as a Doctor Doom variant with the face of one Tony Stark—at least, that’s our theory unless he’s mask-on the whole time. Imagine the enemy having the face of the (likely) anchor being the Avengers lost when Iron-Man sacrificed himself to save the universe.

“There were ideas that we were trying to wrap our heads around that preceded this one, and we just never found the story,” Joe Russo added. “I remember calling Steve and said, ‘Hey, crazy idea. What do you think if we all go back and do Secret Wars?’” He said the Captain America: Civil War co-writer responded “‘Fuck no. Absolutely not.’ And then you hung up.”

But after giving it some time, McFeely—who thought they were done with Avengers team-ups after Infinity War and Endgame— hit them back up with, “All right, I have an idea.’”

Avengers: Doomsday is slated to open May 1, 2026 and Avengers: Secret Wars will follow on May 7, 2027.

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