Joe and Anthony Russo are coming back to the MCU.
The Russo Bros. are in talks to helm the next two ‘Avengers’ movies for Disney/Marvel, via THR. Multiple names were in contention, including “Deadpool & Wolverine” director Shawn Levy, who was offered the gig and declined.
This marks a return for The Russos, who helmed 2014’s “Captain America: The Winter Soldier.” They went on to direct “Captain America: Civil War,” “Avengers: Infinity War” and “Avengers: Endgame.” Combined, their films grossed $6.7B.
Ever since their Marvel exit, the Russo Bros have had a wobbly time with their subsequent directorial efforts, that includes 2021’s “Cherry” and 2022’s “The Gray Man.”
It was originally reported, via Jeff Sneider, that the Russos wanted to direct ‘Avengers 5,’ but Marvel didn’t want them. It does sound as though Levy declining the job reverted Marvel back to The Russos who are currently in the middle of a troubling production. I had earlier reported that their much delayed “The Electric State,” distributed by Netflix, cost around $320M after reshoots.
‘Avengers 5’ was announced in July 2022 and was originally known as “Avengers: The Kang Dynasty.” The project recently lost Destin Daniel-Cretton as its director, Jeff Loveness and Michael Waldron as writers, and Jonathan Majors as Kang.
In fact, we have no idea if Kang will even be part of the movies. Feige and company better hurry up because production on the film is supposed to begin in March 2025 and run until August — that’s six months of shooting. Some of the characters rumored to return for this fifth ‘Avengers’ movie include Doctor Strange, Captain Marvel, Thor, Shang-Chi and Spider-Man.
‘Avengers 5’ is set for May 1, 2026 and ‘Secret Wars’ is set for May 7, 2027.