Avengers: Doomsday and Secret Wars 'A New Beginning' for the MCU, Russo Brothers Say

The Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) is gearing up for an exciting new chapter. Directors Anthony and Joe Russo have shared insights on the upcoming films, *Avengers: Doomsday* and *Avengers: Secret Wars*, highlighting how these movies will differ from their previous works, *Avengers: Infinity War* and *Avengers: Endgame*. In an interview with Brazilian outlet Omelete, the Russo brothers described these new Avengers films as a "new beginning" that will set the stage for Phase 7 of the MCU.

Joe Russo reflected on their journey, stating, "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 Russo brothers also discussed their return to the Marvel universe. Anthony Russo shared, "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 added that *Doomsday* is a "difficult" movie due to the "expectations on it" to revitalize theater attendance post-COVID. Additionally, the Russos revealed that Marvel producer Kevin Feige proposed bringing Robert Downey Jr. back for *Doomsday*. Joe explained, "That conversation was had a while ago, and Robert tried to talk us into doing it and we said no. 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 focus on 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, with *Secret Wars* following a year later on May 27, 2027. Fans will have to wait eagerly to see what the Russo brothers have in store.

Last year, Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige hinted at the inclusion of X-Men characters in upcoming MCU films. Speaking at the Disney APAC Content Showcase in Singapore, Feige mentioned, "I think you will see that continues in our next few movies with some X-Men players that you might recognize," without specifying which characters or films.

On the integration of the X-Men into the MCU, Feige added, "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 also emphasized the importance of the X-Men in the MCU's future post-*Secret Wars*, saying, "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 short term, Storm made her debut in the wider MCU in *What If...? Season 3*.

Additionally, Marvel Studios has scheduled three untitled movie projects for 2028, with release dates on February 18, May 5, and November 10. There's a growing speculation that one of these films could be an X-Men movie.