The Russo Bros. Explain Why They're Returning to Marvel to Direct AVENGERS: DOOMSDAY and SECRET WARS

Joe and Anthony Russo recently opened up about returning to Marvel Studios to director Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars, saying: “That’s a story we need to tell.”

It was announced last year at Comic-Con that they would direct these movies, and it was also announced that Robert Downey Jr. would be playing Doctor Doom. Since then, the internet has been flooded with rumors about the films and the MCU characters who might show up in them.

While talking to Empire about coming back to Marvel, Anthony Russo said: “Endgame was the end, and it took a little time for us to begin to think about it as something other than an end.

“We’re very close with Kevin and Lou [D’Esposito, Marvel Studios’ Co-President] and the entire Marvel team and we’ve had conversations through the years. We’ve talked about a lot of ideas.

“Really what happened was, we ended up stumbling upon an idea that activated all of us. You couldn’t see it coming until it came, and once it came it was like, ‘Well, that’s a story we need to tell.’”

It wasn’t always a sure thing that the Russos would return. Joe Russo explained: “There were ideas that we were trying to wrap our heads around that preceded this one, and we just never found the story.

“I remember calling Steve [McFeely] and said, ‘Hey, crazy idea. What do you think if we all go back and do Secret Wars?’ You were like, ‘F*ck no. Absolutely not.’ And then you hung up. And the next morning at 7.30 you called and were like, ‘Alright, I have an idea.’”

Stephen McFeely is the screenwriter who was brought on board to write the films.

From what I understand, Deadpool & Wolverine director Shawn Levy was originally attached to direct at least one of the Avengers movies, but when Robert Downey Jr. got involved, one of his requests to return is that the Russos had to come back as well.

So, that definitely put the pressure on Marvel to get the filmmakers to return. You can also bet that another reason they are coming back is because they are going to make a shit-ton of money to direct the films!

It was previously reported that Marvel is throwing down $80 million for Anthony and Joe Russo to direct Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars and “significantly more” for Downey to play Doom in the two epic films.

The filmmakers previously released a statement about their return to Marvel syaing:

“You’re the best damn fans in the world, and we’ve missed you.

“When we made Avengers: Endgame we truly believed that it was the end of the road for us in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.  We had put all the passion, love and imagination that we had into The Winter Soldier, Civil War, Infinity War, and then culminated it all with Endgame.

“All within a few years. We had spent everything we had creatively, and we left all our emotions on the floor.  But in the time since, we began to feel that there was perhaps one story where we could find a new narrative path forward. It’s the reason we fell in love with comic books in the first place. That story is Secret Wars.

“We cannot express how excited we are to dive back into this world, and explore such a deliciously complex character like Victor Von Doom. And there is no better friend or collaborator to do that with, [than] THE great [Robert Downey Jr.]. 

“Marvel fam, let’s do this...”

Avengers: Doomsday arrives in theaters on May 1, 2026, followed by Avengers: Secret Wars on May 7, 2027.