Joe and Anthony Russo, the directing team known as the Russo Brothers, are in talks to direct Avengers 5 and Avengers 6.
The Russo Brothers have helmed a number of past MCU projects, including 2014’s Captain America: The Winter Soldier, 2016’s Captain America: Civil War, 2018’s Avengers: Infinity War, and 2019’s Avengers: Endgame.
While they have since gone on to make different projects outside of Marvel, The Hollywood Reporter says that Marvel Studios is having “early talks” with the Russo Brothers about potentially directing the fifth and sixth movies in the Avengers franchise.
“The hiring ends a months-long, high-stakes search by the studio for filmmakers to oversee the fifth and sixth Avengers movies,” The Hollywood Reporter’s article states. “Multiple names were in contention, including Deadpool & Wolverine director Shawn Levy, who was offered the gig. Sources say the talks are in the early stages.”
What do we know about Avengers 5 and 6?
The fifth Avengers movie was originally going to be titled Avengers: The Kang Dynasty; however, it is now expected to get a new name and focus after Marvel cut ties with Kang actor Jonathan Majors. Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings director Destin Daniel Cretton was previously tapped to helm the movie, though he left the project in November 2023.
Avengers 6, meanwhile, is being titled Avengers: Secret Wars. There have been two Marvel Comics storylines of the same name; the first being a limited series by Jim Shooter, Mike Zeck, and Bob Layton that was published in 1984 and 1985, the second being a 2015-2016 story from Jonathan Hickman and Esad Ribić.
Outside of their work with Marvel, Joe and Anthony Russo have worked as directors and producers on comedy series such as Arrested Development, Community, and Happy Endings. They made 2021’s Cherry and 2022’s The Gray Man following Avengers: Endgame, while they’re next film project will be Netflix’s The Electric State, which releases in 2024.
Avengers 5 is currently scheduled to be released on May 1, 2026, while Avengers: Secret Wars is dated for May 7, 2027.
