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

The future of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) is taking shape with exciting developments on the horizon. Directors Anthony and Joe Russo have provided insights into how Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars will set themselves apart from their previous works, Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame. In a recent interview with Brazilian outlet Omelete, the Russo brothers described the upcoming films as a "new beginning" that will pave the way 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 shared how they found themselves back in the MCU. Anthony Russo explained, "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 highlighted the challenges of Avengers: Doomsday, noting it's a "difficult" movie due to the "expectations on it" to revive the cinematic experience to its pre-pandemic levels. Interestingly, they also revealed that Marvel producer Kevin Feige proposed the return of Robert Downey Jr. for Doomsday. Joe elaborated, "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.’"

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Joe Russo concluded the interview by emphasizing the complexity of villains in their storytelling approach, saying, "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."

Fans will have to wait until Avengers: Doomsday hits theaters on May 1, 2026, and Avengers: Secret Wars follows in May 2027 to see what the Russo brothers have planned.

In addition to the Avengers films, Marvel Studios boss Kevin Feige has teased the introduction of X-Men characters in the "next few" MCU movies. At the Disney APAC Content Showcase in Singapore, Feige shared that fans would soon see "some X-Men players that you might recognize," though he did not specify which characters or films. He further elaborated, "I think you will see that continues in our next few movies with some X-Men players that you might recognize. 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, stating, "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, with Storm already making her debut in What If...? Season 3. Moreover, Marvel Studios has added three untitled movie projects to its 2028 release schedule: February 18, 2028; May 5, 2028; and November 10, 2028, with one of these likely to be an X-Men film.