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Marvel surprised fans during its San Diego Comic-Con panel this weekend, when it announced that two Avengers movies would be coming out in 2025. Now, studio president Kevin Feige has confirmed that Anthony and Joe Russo won't be directing either of them.
"[They are] not connected to it," Feige told Deadline when the publication asked whether the filmmaking siblings, who previously helmed Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame, are attached. "They have been very direct about that. We love them. They love us. We want to find something to do together, just not this."
Released as part of Phase 6, the new Avengers flicks are set to be subtitled The Kang Dynasty and Secret Wars, respectively – so you can expect Jonathan Majors, who was introduced as a version of Kang the Conqueror in Disney Plus series Loki, to play a major role in both.
Kevin Feige reveals the Russo brothers are not directing the next ‘Avengers’ movies #SDCC pic.twitter.com/ivfoQdAlCkJuly 24, 2022
Those following the MCU have assumed the Russo Brothers would be involved in a Secret Wars adaptation for some time, given Joe's comments to Bro Bible way back in July 2020. At the time, he said: "You know, I read that when I was 10 or 11, and it was the scale of getting all of the heroes together. It was one of the first major books to do that – that was really event-storytelling to me at its finest. And what happens when you put all of those personalities together. I also like the idea of villains having to team up with heroes. Anth and I like complicated relationships between heroes and villains, we like villains who believe they're heroes in their own stories, so it's all sort of built into this notion of Secret Wars . To execute something on the scale of Infinity War was directly related to the dream of Secret Wars, which is even larger in scale."
"We're in a unique position in our career where we can pick and choose what it is we want to do," Joe Russo told Total Film more recently, while promoting Netflix's The Gray Man. "Film is a business and when you make people money, you can use the cachet and the brand value that you get out of that to make more personal projects.
"We're trying to open the door for other young interesting filmmakers like the Daniels," he continued, noting how the duo produced Everything Everywhere All at Once. "We're trying to use the sort of business moves that Anthony and I can make to help younger filmmakers get through the system with really interesting and personal material."
That's not to say they aren't working on their own stuff, also. In terms of directing, the pair have lined up new spy series Citadel and Netflix movie The Electric State, starring Chris Pratt and Stranger Things' Millie Bobby Brown.
To keep up to date with San Diego Comic-Con, check out our complete SDCC 2022 schedule.
