When the Russo Brothers were enlisted to direct 2014's Captain America: The Winter Soldier, many fans were understandably sceptical about the duo behind Community and You, Me and Dupree taking charge of the MCU's Steve Rogers.
The filmmakers delivered one of the franchise's best movies and continued to deliver hit after hit with Captain America: Civil War, Avengers: Infinity War, and Avengers: Endgame. Their hiatus from the MCU has seen them find mixed success, but they're now returning for Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars.
Writing a foreword for the newly released Marvel Premier Collection edition of Time Runs Out, Joe and Anthony Russo reflected on the impact 1984's Secret Wars had on them before heaping praise on Jonathan Hickman and Esad Ribic's 2015 follow-up and the crucial story that led directly into it.
"Jonathan Hickman created a story that felt enormous but also incredibly personal," they wrote. "It followed a universe pushed to the edge and asked a simple question that carried real weight: What remains when everything else falls apart?"
"Our focus [when we joined the MCU] was to tell a story rooted in feeling and grounded in truth, and as our work expanded through Civil War, Infinity War and Endgame, the canvas grew, but the emotional centre stayed close," the Russos continued, adding that Hickman's work "reminded us that the heart of any epic story lives in the people trying to survive it."
"And then there is Doom. Doom is not just an adversary. He is ambition and fear woven together. In Secret Wars, he tries to hold reality in place through sheer will. He believes he can save everything if he controls enough of it," the filmmakers shared. "Hickman reveals the strain behind that effort and the human fragility beneath the armor. Even someone who can reshape existence cannot escape the emotions that define him."
"We have always been drawn to characters who walk that line. People who reach for something noble and lose themselves along the way. Sometimes, destruction does not arrive as a single blow. It arrives through decisions made in uncertainty and through fractures between people who want the same thing but cannot find their way to each other. That is its own kind of ending. It is quiet, painful and incredibly human."
Similar to Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige, it feels like the Russo Brothers have a strong understanding of who Doctor Doom is and what makes him tick. It seems the rumours about "Time Runs Out"—which leads directly into the Final Incursion—being a key source of inspiration were also true based on these remarks.
Later, the filmmakers made a point of saying "scale only matters when it is anchored in sincerity," adding that "Time Runs Out" and Secret Wars "[turn] the end of everything into a story about identity, hope and the cost of wanting to save something larger than yourself." Hopefully, that translates to the screen.
The response from fans on social media has been overwhelmingly positive, with even the MCU's biggest detractors getting on board with the Russos' vision.
How much Avengers: Secret Wars pulls from Hickman's Secret Wars remains to be seen, especially as the Russos are huge fans of the previous version and have repeatedly said it's their dream to adapt that. With that in mind, we'd expect them to pull ideas from both stories.
Avengers: Doomsday is set to be released on December 18, with Avengers: Secret Wars scheduled to arrive on December 17, 2027.