AVENGERS: DOOMSDAY Directors Reveal How They're Handling the Movie's Massive Cast Without Leaving Anyone Behind

If there's one thing Avengers: Doomsday has to get right, it's giving fans a reason to care about every hero sharing the screen.

That's easier said than done when your movie features the Avengers, the New Avengers, the X-Men, the Fantastic Four, the Wakandans, Doctor Doom, and who knows how many surprise appearances Marvel is still keeping under wraps.

Some fans have already pointed out that the officially announced cast is missing a few major MCU players, but it's hard to imagine Marvel Studios won't have a few surprises waiting in the wings. Even without those mystery additions, though, Doomsday is shaping up to be one of the biggest ensemble movies ever assembled.

Thankfully, Joe Russo and Anthony Russo aren't exactly strangers to this kind of challenge. After directing Captain America: Civil War, Avengers: Infinity War, and Avengers: Endgame, they've already proven they know how to juggle a huge roster of superheroes.

Even so, Avengers: Doomsday appears to be operating on an even larger scale, and making sure every character has a meaningful moment is no small task.

Speaking with Soundsphere, the filmmakers opened up about how they approach managing a cast filled with some of Hollywood's biggest stars while still making each character matter.

Joe Russo explained: "We have a phrase that we call firm papa, firm mama. You gotta be firm, but gentle at the same time. You have to create an environment where there’s structure, but there’s a lot of movement in the structure.

“These movies have more movie stars than any movies in history. And movie stars, by their very nature, want to shine. That’s their job."

He continued: "It’s hard to shine when there are 19 other movie stars in a scene with you. So we have to work meticulously hard to make sure that everyone gets those moments, because each one of those actors is playing somebody’s favourite character.

“So, if you’re not going to service the character properly, then you’re going to disappoint somebody in that audience."

That explains why the Russo Brothers' Marvel movies have generally managed to balance such enormous casts. Even supporting characters often walk away with memorable moments because the filmmakers understand every hero has fans who are showing up specifically for them.

Joe also offered an interesting look at how the duo structures these massive stories from a storytelling perspective.

"A lot of that has to do with very subtle POV shifts throughout the story with one overarching POV, like Infinity War is all told from Thanos’ point of view. But if Thor, when he lands, if that axe cuts Thanos’ head off, it’s actually Thor’s movie.

“That’s how close those points of view are to each other, and that’s all very calibrated from a storytelling standpoint to create, to maximise impact, and to maximise the surprise for you."

He added: "We have to work very hard to surprise you, and to circumvent that instinct by giving you these subtle calibrations and points of view that keep you guessing while you’re watching the movie."

Anthony Russo then expanded on that creative process, explaining that every character gets their own narrative lens, even if they're only involved in part of the story.

"We do have a creative process that, even though we’re like a two-and-a-half-hour, three-act-structure film, is generally based around a single character arc overall.

“We do have a creative process where we really envision the movie and the narrative from each individual character’s point of view and paint the movie from that character’s point of view."

He continued: "Even if that character is just intersecting with a small part of the story, it’s creatively energising to filter the film through even a small character’s point of view occasionally."

It's an interesting glimpse into how the Russos build these sprawling superhero epics. Rather than treating the cast as one giant collection of heroes, they focus on understanding the story through each individual character's perspective before weaving everything together into a larger narrative.

That approach will certainly be put to the test with Avengers: Doomsday. The film has the enormous task of bringing together multiple superhero teams while pushing the Multiverse Saga toward its conclusion.

There are also plenty of unresolved storylines scattered throughout Marvel's recent films and Disney+ series that fans expect to see addressed before Avengers: Secret Wars arrives.

It's an enormous balancing act, but if anyone has earned the benefit of the doubt when it comes to managing an MCU ensemble, it's the Russo Brothers.

Avengers: Doomsday is set to hit theaters on December 18.