Joe and Anthony Russo will return to the MCU this year to shoot Avengers: Doomsday and, when production on that wraps, they’ll get straight on with Avengers: Secret Wars. Fans, and presumably Kevin Feige as well, are relying on them to "save" a franchise that’s struggled to reach the same heights as 2019’s Avengers: Endgame (also helmed by the Russo Brothers).
Talking to The Sunday Times about their new Netflix movie, The Electric State, the filmmakers opened up on what’s drawn them back to a world that put them on the map in 2014 with Captain America: The Winter Soldier.
"Well, we love the genre," Anthony explained. "Some people wrote it off as a less comprehensive form of storytelling that’s more for children. But we think of it as relevant for adults, if it is treated with maturity and complexity. That’s really all it is — a commitment to storytelling."
When it was put to them that the MCU has rapidly expanded since they helmed Endgame (with mixed fortunes), the director responded, "Yes, the MCU has got quite large, that’s for sure. I mean, frankly, we struggle with that same issue. But part of the reason Joe and I decided to go back is exactly what you’re talking about. There needs to be more of a central narrative."
"That was something we were very specific about when we worked with Marvel [before]. We would like to bring the focused narrative back," Anthony added.
Part of their master plan is bringing Robert Downey Jr. back, not as Iron Man, but the villainous Doctor Doom. "We can’t explain that as it’s part of the story," Anthony teased when the interviewer wondered how and why the Tony Stark actor is playing another character. "But there’s nobody else in the world who could play this character the way he’s about to."
The Russos may have Downey, fresh off an Oscar win for his work in Oppenheimer, but many of the MCU’s heaviest hitters have moved on since 2019. That leaves the duo with lesser-known heroes to work with - a Captain America who just starred in a movie that will struggle to reach $400 million worldwide, for example - but they aren’t sweating it.
"Look, every movie is hard," Anthony acknowledged. "But we’re excited. We’ve got something to say."
With that, Joe chimed in to offer an impassioned defence of the much-maligned superhero genre. "This trend was started by Harvey Weinstein," he said. "He vilified mainstream movies to champion the art films he pushed for Oscar campaigns. Popular films were winning Oscars before the mid-Nineties, then Weinstein started mudslinging campaigns. It affected how audiences view the Oscars, because they’ve not seen most of the movies. We’re in a complicated place. Things we should all enjoying collectively we instead punch each other in the face over."
"Like this argument that Marvel movies were killing cinema," Joe continued. "Well, Marvel movies seemed to be keeping cinemas open for quite a long time."
So, can the Russos save the MCU? Star-Lord actor Chris Pratt certainly seems to think so. "They know that it’s the mundane, human brokenness of characters that drives stories and makes the Avengers great. They have this ability to find the humanity."
Avengers: Doomsday is set to be released in May 2026, with Avengers: Secret Wars scheduled to arrive in May 2027.