In fiction and life, there are few love stories more enthralling than a good reunion between soulmates who for one reason or another had drifted apart. That’s more or less what’s happening between Kevin Feige and the Russo Brothers.
When they were together, the mastermind behind the Marvel Cinematic Universe and the directing duo produced four of the best-performing and most beloved films in the franchise, including the box-office-smashing Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame. It seemed to be a match made in heaven, but where do you go after making one of the biggest movies of all time? The two parties were interested in trying something new, and try they did.
“We won’t be ready to do anything with Marvel until the end of the decade,”
Joe Russo told Variety in 2022.
The Russo brothers went off to make extremely expensive movies for Netflix that didn’t receive anywhere near the warmth of their Marvel work, and Kevin Feige continued to expand his visionary cinematic universe, sometimes biting off more than he could chew while risking market saturation. Now, the producer and the directors are reportedly rekindling the fame.
Per The Hollywood Reporter, the brothers are in talks to direct Avengers 5 (previously The Kang Dynasty) and 6 (still Secret Wars). The films hopped from desk to desk, landing at Destin Daniel Cretton’s, Jeff Loveness’s, Michael Waldron’s, and Shawn Levy’s before they finally made their way to the office of the men who, frankly, were probably always destined to make them.
It’s an angsty love story, but one that was meant to be. “The Russos getting back with the Avengers is the MCU’s Bennifer,” one person commented, comparing the situation with Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez’s relationship which first began in 2002, recommenced in 2021 after 17 years apart, and is now possibly on the rocks again.
Everyone agrees that the MCU and the Russos are better off together than apart. “Both sides are lesser without each other,” claims one commentator. “The Russos and Marvel need each other,” says another. That’s exactly what I used to say about my favorite television couples when the writers broke them up.
One of Thanos’ most iconic lines from the Russo Brothers’ Avengers: Endgame film has become almost prophetic, and meme’d repeatedly by the Marvel fanbase on the heels of the plot-twist news. “You could not live with your own failure. Where did that bring you? Back to me.”
Nothing is quite official at this point, but as most MCU fans are deeply nostalgic for the franchise’s golden age with the Russos at the helm, excitement is bubbling. It might not be the revolution the wilting cinematic universe needed, but why mess with a winning team?
Avengers 5 is scheduled to be released in theaters May 1, 2026, and Secret Wars is expected to come a year later, on May 7, 2027.