Yesterday, Jeff Sneider revealed that Joe and Anthony Russo were returning to the MCU to direct the next two ‘Avengers’ movies.
It was just last week, via his The Hot Mic podcast, that Sneider revealed the Russos had approached Marvel to direct the next Avengers movie(s) and the studio turned them down, as Kevin Feige had already “made a list and was exploring those possibilities”.
Rather, Shawn Levy (“Deadpool & Wolverine”) was the filmmaker Marvel desperately wanted to helm these two movies, but he didn’t take this gig when it was offered to him, instead deciding to focus on the Star Wars movie that Jonathan Tropper is writing for him.
On Monday, Sneider heard that Marvel had “struggled” to find a suitable director helm the ‘Avengers’ movies, and it was looking like they would, indeed, go back to the Russos, “with Feige all but begging on his hands and knees.”
The fifth ‘Avengers’ movie had already lost its title (“The Kang Dynasty”), its director (Destin Daniel Cretton), its star (Jonathan Majors), and two writers. The fact that it has set up a March 2025 production start must have tied up Marvel and Feig’s hands a bit, and they finally decided to re-hire the Russos.
Ever since their Marvel exit, the Russos have had a wobbly time with their subsequent directorial efforts, that includes 2021’s “Cherry” and 2022’s “The Gray Man.” They’re also in the middle of completing their much-delayed Netflix sci-fi film, “The Electric State,” which has had its budget balloon to $320M.
‘Avengers 5’ is set for May 1, 2026 and ‘Secret Wars’ is set for May 7, 2027.