With Deadpool & Wolverine on the horizon, it looks like Marvel Studios is looking to keep director Shawn Levy in the franchise.
According to a Deadline report today, Levy is Marvel’s “top choice” to direct the next Avengers movie. Deadline’s sources caution that Levy still hasn’t given Marvel an answer on whether or not he’ll take the job, and Marvel will continue to meet with other filmmakers in the meantime. Still, Levy has reportedly been given Michael Waldron’s latest version of the script to mull over.
IGN has reached out to Marvel Studios and Levy’s reps for comment.
According to a separate report today from THR, Marvel had quietly offered the job to Levy in mid-March, but he turned it down then due his work as an executive producer and director on the fifth and final season of Netflix’s Stranger Things, which will last into next year. The studio, however, has reportedly pushed Avengers 5 back by several months, opening the door for Levy to step back into the mix.
Levy also still has a previously announced Star Wars film on the docket, although it’s been awhile since we got an update on that; last we heard, it was in limbo amid last year’s writers’ and actors’ strikes.
Still, Marvel’s eagerness to sign Levy for the job is a strong show of confidence in his work on Deadpool & Wolverine, the only MCU movie this year. Set to debut on July 26, it’s easily one of the most anticipated movies of 2024, with hopes that it could invigorate a so-far fairly slow summer box office.
As for what else we know about the next Avengers movie, the approach towards it has reportedly been in flux for the past few months. It was previously referred to as Avengers: The Kang Dynasty, with a clear focus on the Kang villain that Jonathan Majors played in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania and Loki Season 2. Marvel cut ties with Majors, however, after the actor was found guilty of assault and harassment in a domestic violence trial last December.
Marvel hasn’t confirmed how that will be handled within the MCU, including if the Kang character will be recast, de-prioritized, or cut altogether, but it was reported earlier this year that Avengers 5 would be renamed from The Kang Dynasty.
Today’s Deadline report included some other interesting details, though, about what this Avengers film could look like. According to the outlet, “more than 60 MCU characters could reprise their roles, including everyone from Mark Ruffalo, Chris Hemsworth, and Benedict Cumberbatch to Tom Hiddleston, Simu Liu, and Karen Gillian.”
The fifth Avengers movie is currently set to release on May 1, 2026.
Editor’s note: This story has been updated with additional details from the THR report.
Thumbnail credit: Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images for CinemaCon
Alex Stedman is a Senior News Editor with IGN, overseeing entertainment reporting. When she’s not writing or editing, you can find her reading fantasy novels or playing Dungeons & Dragons.
