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

The Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) is gearing up for an exciting new chapter. Directors Anthony and Joe Russo have shared insights into how their upcoming films, *Avengers: Doomsday* and *Avengers: Secret Wars*, will differ from their previous projects, *Avengers: Infinity War* and *Avengers: Endgame*. In a recent interview with Brazilian outlet Omelete, the Russo brothers described these new films as a "new beginning," setting the stage for what's to come in Phase 7 of the MCU.

"The greatest thing that ever happened is we got to get immersed in a 20 movie arc and see an ending to that arc," Joe Russo explained. "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?"

Anthony Russo also discussed their return to the Marvel universe, saying, "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 they face with *Doomsday*, noting it's a "difficult" movie due to the "expectations on it" to revive theater attendance post-pandemic. Interestingly, it was Marvel producer Kevin Feige who proposed bringing back Robert Downey Jr. for *Doomsday*. "That conversation was had a while ago, and Robert tried to talk us into doing it and we said no," Joe admitted. "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 their focus on villains, 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."

*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 patiently to see what the Russo brothers have in store.

Meanwhile, Marvel Studios boss Kevin Feige has teased the integration of X-Men characters into the MCU. At the Disney APAC Content Showcase in Singapore, Feige hinted that fans would see "some X-Men players that you might recognize" in upcoming MCU films, though he remained coy about specifics. He further elaborated on the role of the X-Men post-*Secret Wars*, saying, "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 mentioned that the X-Men will play a crucial role in the MCU's future following *Secret Wars*. "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," he said. "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."

With Phase 7 seemingly set to be dominated by the X-Men, the character Storm has already made her debut in the wider MCU in *What If...? Season 3*. Additionally, Marvel Studios has added three untitled movie projects to its 2028 release schedule: February 18, 2028; May 5, 2028; and November 10, 2028. It appears increasingly likely that one of these films could be an X-Men movie.