The way forward for the MCU is beginning to take form. Directors Anthony and Joe Russo have teased how Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars will differ from their final two tasks within the franchise, Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame.
During an interview with Brazilian outlet Omelete, the directing brothers revealed that they see Avengers 5 and 6 as a “new starting” that may lay the inspiration for no matter comes subsequent in Phase 7 of the MCU.
“The biggest factor that ever occurred is we bought to get immersed in a 20 film arc and see an ending to that arc,” Joe Russo stated. “What’s compelling about these two new Avengers films is they are a starting. It’s a brand new starting. We instructed an ending story [with Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame] and now we’ll inform a starting story. Who is aware of the place we’ll go from there?”
The pair additionally opened up about how they ended up again within the Marvel world tackling one other Avengers story. “We didn’t know what our street ahead was within the MCU after we completed Endgame,” Anthony Russo defined.
“What occurred was, a inventive concept simply got here to us and that ended up feeling like the proper concept. It motivated us to do it once more. We really feel like we now have one thing recent, we really feel like we now have a narrative that’s essential and must be instructed. We have a tremendous group of collaborators once more, some previous and a few new. We’re very excited.”
He additionally famous that Doomsday is a “tough” film due to the “expectations on it” to assist deliver theatergoing again to its pre-pandemic glory. That stated, the Russos additionally revealed it was Marvel producer Kevin Feige’s concept to deliver Robert Downey Jr. again for Doomsday.
“That dialog was had some time in the past, and Robert tried to speak us into doing it and we stated no,” Joe stated. “We simply didn’t have a narrative, we didn’t have a approach in, so we had been resistant for some time. And then someday, [Endgame writer] Steve McFeely known as us and stated, ‘I’ve an concept.’ ”
“The solely factor I’ll say concerning the film is that this: we love villains who assume they’re the heroes of their very own tales,” Joe Russo closed out the interview. “That’s once they change into three-dimensional and so they change into extra fascinating. When you have got an actor like Robert Downey, you must create a three-dimensional, effectively formed character for the viewers. That’s the place quite a lot of our focus goes.”
Avengers: Doomsday is at present set to reach in theaters May 1, 2026 and Secret Wars arrives a couple of 12 months later in May 2027, so sadly, we’ve bought quite a lot of ready to do earlier than we will see what the Russo brothers are cooking up.
Late final 12 months, Marvel Studios boss Kevin Feige teased the introduction of X-Men characters within the “subsequent few” MCU films.
Feige instructed an viewers on the Disney APAC Content Showcase in Singapore that followers would see “some X-Men gamers that you simply would possibly acknowledge” within the subsequent few MCU films, however he stopped wanting saying which characters or what films.
On bringing the X-Men into the MCU, Feige added: “I believe you will notice that continues in our subsequent few films with some X-Men gamers that you simply would possibly acknowledge.
“Right after that, the entire story of Secret Wars actually leads us into a brand new age of mutants and of the X-Men. Again, [it’s] a type of desires come true. We lastly have the X-Men again.”
Feige has additionally stated the X-Men can be an essential a part of the MCU’s future following Secret Wars. “When we had been making ready for Avengers: Endgame years in the past, it was a query of attending to the grand finale of our narrative, after which we needed to begin once more after that,” Feige stated. “This time, on the street to Secret Wars, we already know very effectively what the story goes to be till then and afterwards. The X-Men are an essential a part of that future.”
It seems like Phase 7 of the MCU can be dominated by the X-Men, then, however within the brief time period, Storm appeared in What If…? Season 3, marking the character’s first look within the wider MCU.
In October, Marvel Studios added three untitled film tasks to its 2028 launch schedule: February 18, 2028; May 5, 2028; and November 10, 2028. It appears more and more seemingly certainly one of these films is X-Men.
Lex Briscuso is a movie and tv critic and a contract leisure author for IGN. You can comply with her on Twitter at @nikonamerica.