Avengers: Endgame Directors Officially Return for Doomsday, Secret Wars

Joe and Anthony Russo, brothers who are the directors of the duo Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Captain America Civil War, Avengers: Infinity WarAND Avengers: Endgamearen’t done with their work in the Marvel Cinematic Universe yet. Marvel Studios announced at its San Diego Comic-Con 2024 panel on Saturday night that the Russos will return from their brief retirement from superhero movies to direct two more Avengers movies: Avengers: End of the Worldwhich will hit theaters on May 1, 2026, and Avengers: Secret Warswhich will come two years later, on May 7, 2027.

The revelation that Avengers 5 (formerly known as Avengers: Kang Dynasty) is now known as Avengers: End of the World is certainly a big clue as to who the villain in this movie will be: Doctor Doom. And the actor who will be playing Doom is none other than Robert Downey Jr. Yes, Iron Man is returning to — or rather AND metal suit.

“New mask, same job,” Downey said at Marvel’s Hall H panel on Saturday.

But Marvel Studios boss Kevin Feige also gave a hint about who he is otherwise will appear in these Avengers movies. Cast Captain America: Brave New World, Lightning*AND Fantastic Four: First Steps will appear in the Avengers sequels, Feige said.

Since leaving the MCU, the Russo couple have been directing and producing through their company AGBO, often working on projects that feature cast members from Avengers: EndgameIn 2020, Joe Russo wrote the script for an action movie starring Chris Hemsworth Extraction for stuntman and longtime Marvel second unit director Sam Hargrave. Two years later, the brothers scored perhaps their biggest victory: producing Everything everywhere and at onceand led the film to an Oscar for Best Picture.

The Russo brothers haven’t had much success directing, at least not in terms of reviews. In 2021, the brothers made a prestige production, a manipulated adaptation of a drug-related crime saga cherrywith Tom Holland, followed by an equally rejected Netflix hit The Gray Man in 2022 Directing and producing a big-budget Amazon spy series Citadel didn’t go so well either. They currently have another film in the can: the science-fiction tentpole Electric state starring Chris Pratt and Millie Bobby Brown.

At the SDCC panel in 2019/Final stage as part of the Russo victory lap, they announced several major projects that have yet to be realized: a live-action adaptation Battle of the Planets; animated series based on Grimjack comic book series; and Magic: The Gathering series for Netflix. In the same sentence, they addressed whether they would ever return to direct another Marvel movie. They told people not to hold their breath… unless the project was Secret Warssomething they could never have dreamed of in a million years. Well, what do you know.

You can find all of Polygon’s SDCC 2024 coverage, trailers, and more here.