Earlier this week, the news broke that directors Joe and Anthony Russo are in talks to helm Avengers 5 (still untitled after dropping The Kang Dynasty) and Avengers: Secret Wars.
The Russo Brothers are no strangers to the MCU, having previously directed Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Captain America: Civil War, Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame. Not only are these movies some of the most popular Marvel Studios releases yet - with Infinity War and Endgame, in particular, arguably representing the pinnacle of quality for the franchise - but they show how adept the filmmakers are at juggling multiple characters and subplots.
This surely makes them an ideal fit for these next two Avengers films... right?
The news of the Russos' MCU return was met with a mostly positive reaction, but there are those that feel this represents a step backwards, with Disney/Marvel simply defaulting to what they know has worked in the past.
This may well be the case. After all, several other directors were previously attached to helm Avengers 5 before stepping away, and follow-up reports indicate that Kevin Feige reached out to a number of filmmakers that haven't been named in the trades before ultimately circling back to the Russos.
It's also worth mentioning that the Russos' non-MCU projects haven't exactly been major hits with audiences or critics - although we can't imagine they've lost their knack when it comes to working within the Marvel Studios system to craft a banger of a superhero flick.
Marvel Studios has not had an easy time of things over the last couple of years, with the likes of Eternals, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania and The Marvels underperforming (we're being kind about the latter) at the box office and also getting mixed/negative reviews - something that was practically unheard of in the glory days of the MCU.
With this in mind, can anyone really blame Feige and co. for attempting to recapture some of the old magic by bringing the tried and tested Russo Brothers back into the fold?
What do you make of this development? Are you glad to see the Russos return, or would you prefer if the studio took a risk by bringing on a new voice for these next big MCU event films?
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Despite Jonathan Majors' firing, Kang is still expected to appear in Avengers 5, although we can't see the character playing nearly as big a role in the story. We got word that Marvel/Disney had severed ties with Majors almost immediately after the news that he'd been found guilty broke, which would obviously seem to suggest that they were waiting for the verdict before making their decision. However, some insiders believe that the studio was never going to move forward with Majors as Kang, regardless of the outcome of the trial.
The trades don't mention anything about a new actor taking over as Kang, but do note that the movie "could potentially include multiple antagonists."
Deadline did recently mention some intriguing plot details.
"Sources close to the project say more than 60 MCU characters could reprise their roles, including everyone from Mark Ruffalo, Chris Hemsworth and Benedict Cumberbatch to Tom Hiddleston, Simu Liu and Karen Gillan. Unlike the first four films in which there was a core group that consisted of Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson, Hemsworth and Ruffalo, many of the characters in this film would have equal footing, making it more of an ensemble feature instead of a handful of characters leading the team."