The Russo Brothers were done with Marvel following Avengers: Endgame, leaving to start their production label AGBO. The duo produced a couple of well-received hits, including Best Picture winner Everything Everywhere All At Once and action flick Extraction, but a couple of high-profile duds in Cherry and The Gray Man were a big blow. Still, it was a surprise last year when the duo were announced as directing Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars.
So what made the Russos return to Marvel? Speaking with Empire Online, they talked about having unfinished business and a story that only they could tell…
Anthony 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.”
He continued, “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.'”
While co-writer Christopher Markus is keeping AGBO running smoothly, the Russos are reuniting with writer Stephen McFeely who will pen Doomsday and Secret Wars solo…
Joe said, “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 and said, ‘Hey, crazy idea. What do you think if we all go back and do Secret Wars?’ You were like, ‘F*** 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.”
Next up for the Russo Brothers is The Electric State, which hits Netflix in March and stars Millie Bobby Brown, Chris Pratt, and Ke Huy Quan.
Avengers: Doomsday is set to be released on May 1st 2026, with Avengers: Secret Wars scheduled to arrive on May 7th 2027.
