Despite it being a dream project, Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame directors Joe and Anthony Russo will not be directing Avengers: The Kang Dynasty or Avengers: Secret Wars.
Marvel Studios head Kevin Feige spoke to Deadline after Marvel's San Diego Comic-Con 2022 panel and he was asked if The Russo Brothers would be returning to the MCU for the next two Avengers films.
Kevin Feige reveals the Russo brothers are not directing the next ‘Avengers’ movies #SDCC pic.twitter.com/ivfoQdAlCk
— Deadline Hollywood (@DEADLINE) July 24, 2022
"They are not connected to it," Feige said. "They have been, I think, very direct about that. We love them, they love us. We want to find something to do together, but it's not this."
The Russo Brothers have been asked about a potential return to the MCU for a Secret Wars film for years, but they often gave cagey answers that were never a confirmation one way or another. Recently, they spoke about their love for Secret Wars and revealed it was the "one series we adored growing up."
Secret Wars was first published in 1984 and was a twelve-issue limited series that was a major crossover event that saw The Avengers, X-Men, Fantastic Four, teaming up against an alien threat. It also introduced the symbiote that would later become known as Venom.
It's important to know that these next two Avengers films aren't scheduled to be released in theaters until May 2, 2025, and November 7, 2025, respectively. This means anything can change between now and then, but Feige and the team at Marvel clearly have another plan at the moment.
Avengers: The Kang Dynasty and Avengers: Secret Wars will bring an end to not only Phase 6 of the MCU, but also The Multiverse Saga that will encompass Phases 4, 5, and 6.
For more on Marvel's big panel at San Diego Comic-Con 2022, check out the first trailer for Black Panther, a new look at She-Hulk: Attorney at Law, and our recaps of the footage shown of Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3.
Adam Bankhurst is a news writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @AdamBankhurst and on Twitch.