Marvel Surprise! The Russo Brothers Are In Talks To Direct Next 2 ‘Avengers’ Films

Wow. Just wow. While the Russo Brothers seemingly graduated and left Marvel Studios to start their own AGBO company, it appears they are not done with Marvel films just yet—not by a long shot.

According to THR, the Russo Brothers are in talks to helm both ‘Avengers 5’ and “Avengers: Secret Wars.” This is obviously going to be very popular amongst the fandom, as the Russos did no wrong behind the lens of their four previous Marvel films (“Captain America: The Winter Soldier,” “Captain America: Civil War,” “Avengers: Infinity War,” and “Avengers: Endgame”). 

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To be fair, the Russos didn’t shy away from saying they were willing to jump back into the Marvel fray, and they seemingly always had an eye on ‘Secret Wars’ even far back in the day. Speculation about them possibly wanting to direct the upcoming “X-Men” film was bandied about on social media. But no one would have predicted they would return to direct ‘Avengers’ movies. Honestly, you have to wonder what size dump truck full of cash was delivered to their doorstep. Then again, it seems to be a perfect marriage of timing. The Russos have had no hits since they left, their subsequent films readily criticized by critics and fans, and Marvel doesn’t have time to mess around with a summer 2026 release date looming, and a giant ‘Avengers’ movie will take at least a year to shoot and edit.

Unconfirmed online rumors say the Russos writing partners on all of the aforementioned Marvel films, Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely, will be back to write a new script, but that feels more like a fait accompli than a guess, and the writers were instrumental to the success of all those movies. This rumor would also track with the recent talk that writer Michael Waldron has left ‘Avengers 5’ to concentrate on “Avengers: Secret Wars.” It’s unconfirmed, but it would make sense as it seems ‘Avengers 5’ has been a harder story to crack, and the clock is ticking for an early-ish 2025 production start date.

The good news for fans of the MCU is that the Russos know how to direct giant and memorable ‘Avengers’ films, and they are already experienced in making them do them back-to-back. So, it would seem like the next two are in good hands. That’s a good thing because there have been many questions surrounding how Marvel would handle the next ‘Avengers’ films, particularly ‘Avengers 5.’ 

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Originally, “Avengers 5” was going to be directed by Destin Daniel Cretton. Then, as the film got delayed, Cretton had to move on. From there, it seemed like a revolving door of writers coming and going from the film, including “Deadpool & Wolverine” filmmaker Shawn Levy, who seems like he was briefly in the mix to helm the movie. Then, obviously, you can’t ignore the fact that the film was initially called ‘The Kang Dynasty,’ but that had to be changed when Jonathan Majors got convicted of assault, and Marvel Studios cut ties with him. ‘Secret Wars,’ on the other hand, seemed to be far enough away that people didn’t think about it much. To that end, THR says ‘Avengers 5’ is expected to receive a new name and a new focus, and one would expect that’s going to be announced at the upcoming San Diego Comic-Con in addition to the confirmation of the Russo brothers’ directing unless talks fall through (which seems unlikely).

Now, fans won’t have to wonder what’s happening with the ‘Avengers’ films. The Russos are back. ‘Avengers 5’ is set for May 1, 2026, and ‘Secret Wars’ will be released on May 7, 2027.

Here’s a flashback video from 2022 where the Russo Brothers say “of course” they would work with Marvel again and “Secret Wars” was always their favorite comic book growing up.