Here’s Jeff Sneider, via The Hot Mic podcast (20:50 mark), saying that Joe and Anthony Russo offered their services to direct ‘Avengers 5’ but that Marvel turned them down. Go figure.
The Russos are currently in the middle of their own catastrophe, I had earlier reported that their much delayed “The Electric State,” distributed by Netflix, cost around $320M after reshoots. Sneider is saying it might actually be $370M. Regardless, ‘Electric State’ may have turned off Marvel execs into reteaming with the directing duo.
The Russos had this colossal success directing “Avengers: infinity War” and “Avengers: Endgame.” It would have been a no-brainer decision for them to helm ‘Avengers 5.’ Instead, the latest reports are saying that Shawn Levy (“Deadpool & Wolverine”) is being sought by Marvel to direct the movie.
These next two ‘Avengers’ instalments have been described as a "giant five-hour movie with a year-long intermission." ‘Avengers 5,’ set to shoot in early 2025, has a 2027 release date. Rumored characters to be featured in this one include Doctor Strange, Thor, Captain Marvel, Spider-Man, Shang-Chi, Black Panther and Ant-Man.
The theatrical version runs 108 minutes, so we're talking a nearly 2-hour-10-minute cut of a movie that works because it's lean, and I'm not sure anyone needs that.