The Russo Brothers Are In Talks To Direct The Next Two 'Avengers' Movies

By Brian Richards | Marvel Movies | July 17, 2024 |

By Brian Richards | Marvel Movies | July 17, 2024 |

In a shocking announcement made earlier this afternoon, Joe and Anthony Russo, the directors of Captain America: The Winter Soldier; Captain America: Civil War; Avengers: Infinity War; and Avengers: Endgame, are in talks to make their return to the Marvel Cinematic Universe to direct the next two Avengers films for Disney and Marvel Studios.

From The Hollywood Reporter, who broke the exclusive news:

The hiring ends a months-long, high stakes search by the studio for filmmakers to oversee the fifth and sixth Avengers movies. Multiple names were in contention, including Deadpool & Wolverine director Shawn Levy, who was offered the gig. Sources say the talks are in the early stages…The fifth Avengers movie was previously titled Avengers: The Kang Dynasty, and was to star Jonathan Majors as time-traveling villain Kang. But Marvel cut ties with the actor after he was convicted of assault in harassment in December. Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings director Destin Daniel Cretton was once attached to direct Kang Dynasty, but he departed a month before Majors’ conviction. The feature is expected to get a new name and a new focus.

Since directing the one-two punch of Infinity War and Endgame, the Russo brothers have worked on other projects, such as directing The Gray Man for Netflix, Cherry for Apple TV, and the upcoming film The Electric State for Netflix, as well as producing the Prime Video series Citadel, the Extraction films for Netflix, and the Oscar-winning film Everything Everywhere All at Once. (I still wish that Stephanie Hsu took home the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress.) Depending on who you ask, their output has been anything but impressive outside of the MCU, and their episodes of Arrested Development and Community, so this news isn’t entirely worth celebrating, especially since there are other directors of greater skill who could’ve been hired instead to helm these blockbusters.

(Most of the Pajiba staff, upon learning of this news, reacted a lot like this.)

Others feel that this move makes perfect sense, especially since The Winter Soldier, Civil War, Infinity War, and Endgame were four of the MCU’s best films and biggest successes, so why not bring back the directors who helped make that happen instead of going with someone else who may not be able to knock it out of the park?

It also didn’t take long for this meme to appear on social media after the news was announced. Considering that the Russos and Marvel Studios need a win with critics and audiences, it seemed rather appropriate.

It could be worse. Marvel and Disney could’ve thrown all of their common sense out of the window and asked Joss Whedon to take the job. So let’s all breathe a sigh of relief about that.

The fifth Avengers film is scheduled to open in theaters May 1, 2026, and Avengers: Secret Wars is scheduled to open on May 7, 2027.