Avengers 5 and Secret Wars officially return Russo brothers to Marvel

The filmmakers behind Marvel's most profitable movie are coming back to the Hollywood superhero giant.

Following earlier reports that Joe and Anthony Russo were in early talks to direct Avengers 5 and 6, Marvel Studios confirmed during their splashy Hall H panel at Comic-Con Saturday night that the brotherly duo is officially returning.

Not only that, but the fifth Avengers film has been rebranded from Avengers: The Kang Dynasty to Avengers: Doomsday, featuring Iron Man actor Robert Downey, Jr.'s return to Marvel to play classic comic book villain Doctor Doom.

Marvel President Kevin Feige first teased the news at the end of the panel, saying, "Who the heck is going to direct these two movies?" He then screened footage from the Russos' past work before the filmmaking duo came out on stage.

"We missed you guys," Joe Russo began. "You are the best damn fans in the world."

"That four-movie run was incredible, and it left us creatively spent with all our emotions on the floor," Anthony said. "In the time since, through a very special story, Joe and I have come to potentially see a road forward with you all."

The Russos got their start at Marvel directing Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014) before going on to direct the sequel, Captain America: Civil War (2016), and two Avengers movies, Avengers: Infinity War (2018) and Avengers: Endgame (2019). The latter is the second highest-grossing film of all time, with a lifetime gross of $2.8 billion.

Avengers 5 was initially announced as Avengers: The Kang Dynasty, set for release in 2026, and Avengers 6 was dubbed Avengers: Secret Wars, after the famous Marvel comic book arc, and set for release in 2027. However, Marvel fired Jonathan Majors, who was set to star as Kang, the pivotal big bad for this next phase of movies and shows, following the actor's guilty verdict in his assault trial. Marvel has now shifted the main villain for the next two Avengers films to Doctor Doom.

Marvel Comics released Secret Wars as a miniseries event in the 1980s. In it, a figure called the Beyonder transports groups of classic superheroes and villains to a planet called Battleworld, one giant arena in which the Beyonder compels them to do battle to determine whether good or evil will triumph.

Secret Wars is also the name of a more recent comic book arc launched in 2015. In it, different realities of the Marvel multiverse were destroyed and combined to form Battleworld, bringing various heroes from all those dimensions together.

Avengers: Doomsday will open in theaters in May 2026, while Avengers: Secret Wars hits May 2027.

There's been a lot of talk of superhero fatigue in the press, given the lower box office returns for recent MCU titles, including Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania and The Marvels. The Russos are tried and true hitmakers when it comes to return on investment.

Deadpool & Wolverine director Shawn Levy, who was also reportedly in early talks for the Avengers gig, previously commented to Entertainment Weekly, "Marvel had some misses," but added, "People are way too quick to declare the last rites of the superhero genre. I don't buy into that fatigue narrative."

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Levy's film, which earned record-breaking early ticket sales ahead of its debut in theaters on July 26, was also celebrated at Comic-Con. Marvel revealed the A-listers making splashy cameos in the film by rolling them out on stage.

The main Hall H panel on Saturday also previewed Captain America: Brave New World (Feb. 14, 2025), Thunderbolts (May 2, 2025), and The Fantastic Four (July 25, 2025).

—Reporting by Sydney Bucksbaum