Anthony Russo initially turned down the idea of directing Avengers: Secret Wars.
The filmmaker is returning to the Marvel Cinematic Universe with his directing brother Joe Russo and screenwriter Steven McFeely for Avengers: Doomsday and its sequel Avengers: Secret Wars, though Joe has revealed Anthony initially wasn’t a fan of the idea of helming the follow-up blockbuster.
Joe told Empire Magazine: “There were ideas that we were trying to wrap our heads around that preceded this one, and we just never found the story.
“I remember calling Steve and said, ‘Hey, crazy idea. What do you think if we all go back and do Secret Wars?’
“[Anthony] was like, ‘F— no. Absolutely not.” And then you hung up. And the next morning at 7:30 you called and were like, ‘Alright, I have an idea.’”
Anthony added he and Joe “stumbled upon an idea” that got the wheels turning on Secret Wars.
He explained: “Really what happened was, we ended up stumbling upon an idea that activated all of us … You couldn’t see it coming until it came, and once it came it was like, ‘Well, that’s a story we need to tell.’”
Anthony and Joe Russo – July 2022 – Famous – The Gray Man Screening
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The directing siblings started their MCU journey in 2014 with Captain America: The Winter Soldier, and went on to helm its sequel Captain America: Civil War, as well as Avengers: Infinity War before exiting the franchise following 2019’s Avengers: Endgame and they weren’t planning to return to the series for the upcoming projects.
Anthony Russo noted: “Endgame was the end, and it took a little time for us to begin to think about it as something other than an end.”
The moviemaking pair had remained in contact with Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige and franchise executive producer Louis D’Esposito, and had discussed “a lot of ideas” for potential films.
Anthony Russo continued: “We’re very close with Kevin and Lou and the entire Marvel team and we’ve had conversations through the years. We’ve talked about a lot of ideas.”
Avengers: Doomsday will reintroduce Robert Downey Jr., who had fronted the MCU as Iron Man until the character’s heroic sacrifice in Endgame, as the dreaded Doctor Doom, while the new Avengers are forced to do all they can from allowing the villain from enacting his sinister plans.
Meanwhile, it was previously confirmed Anthony Mackie’s Captain America, Tom Holland’s Spider-Man, and the Fantastic Four team, consisting of Reed Richards (Pedro Pascal), Sue Storm (Vanessa Kirby), Johnny Storm (Joseph Quinn) and The Thing (Ebon Moss-Bachrach), would all be returning for Doomsday.
As for other stars, it has also been rumored that former Captain America actor Chris Evans and Ana de Armas were both lined up for roles in the 2026 blockbuster, though their supposed parts in the film are currently unknown.
