Russo Brothers: Avengers' Doomsday and Secret Wars Mark 'A New Beginning' for MCU

The future of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) is beginning to crystallize, with directors Anthony and Joe Russo offering insights into how their upcoming projects, Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars, will diverge from their previous endeavors, Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame. In an interview with the Brazilian outlet Omelete, the Russo brothers expressed their vision of these films as a "new beginning" that will set the stage for the MCU's Phase 7.

Joe Russo remarked, "The greatest thing that ever happened is we got to get immersed in a 20-movie arc and see an ending to that arc. What's compelling about these two new Avengers movies is they're a beginning. It's a new beginning. We told an ending story [with Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame] and now we're going to tell a beginning story. Who knows where we’ll go from there?"

The directors also shared how they were drawn back into the Marvel fold for another Avengers saga. Anthony Russo explained, "We didn’t know what our road forward was in the MCU after we finished Endgame. What happened was, a creative idea just came to us and that ended up feeling like the right idea. It motivated us to do it again. We feel like we have something fresh, we feel like we have a story that’s important and needs to be told. We have an amazing group of collaborators again, some old and some new. We’re very excited."

Joe Russo acknowledged the challenges of Doomsday, citing the "expectations on it" to rejuvenate theater attendance post-COVID. He also revealed that Marvel producer Kevin Feige proposed bringing Robert Downey Jr. back for the film. "That conversation was had a while ago, and Robert tried to talk us into doing it and we said no," Joe said. "We just didn’t have a story, we didn’t have a way in, so we were resistant for a while. And then one day, [Endgame writer] Steve McFeely called us and said, ‘I have an idea.’"

Who Will Be the New Avengers in the MCU?

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Joe Russo concluded the interview by emphasizing their approach to villains, stating, "The only thing I’ll say about the movie is this: we love villains who think they’re the heroes of their own stories. That’s when they become three-dimensional and they become more interesting. When you have an actor like Robert Downey, you have to create a three-dimensional, well-shaped character for the audience. That’s where a lot of our focus is going."

Avengers: Doomsday is slated for release on May 1, 2026, followed by Secret Wars about a year later on May 27, 2027. Fans will need to wait patiently to see the Russo brothers' latest contributions to the MCU.

In other news, Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige has hinted at the integration of X-Men characters into the MCU in the "next few" films. Speaking at the Disney APAC Content Showcase in Singapore, Feige mentioned that audiences would encounter "some X-Men players that you might recognize," though he did not specify which characters or films.

Feige further elaborated on the role of the X-Men in the MCU's future, stating, "I think you will see that continues in our next few movies with some X-Men players that you might recognize. Right after that, the whole story of Secret Wars really leads us into a new age of mutants and of the X-Men. Again, [it’s] one of those dreams come true. We finally have the X-Men back."

Feige emphasized the significance of the X-Men post-Secret Wars, noting, "When we were preparing for Avengers: Endgame years ago, it was a question of getting to the grand finale of our narrative, and then we had to start all over again after that. This time, on the road to Secret Wars, we already know very well what the story is going to be until then and afterwards. The X-Men are an important part of that future."

It appears that Phase 7 of the MCU will be heavily influenced by the X-Men. In the interim, the character Storm made her debut in the wider MCU in What If...? Season 3.

Furthermore, Marvel Studios has added three untitled movie projects to its 2028 schedule: February 18, 2028; May 5, 2028; and November 10, 2028. It is speculated that one of these could be dedicated to the X-Men.