Avengers franchise directors Joe and Anthony Russo have shared an update as they are assembling Earth's mightiest cast for the highly-anticipated sequels, Doomsday and Secret Wars. The acclaimed filmmaking duo confirmed that the upcoming films will be shot back-to-back ahead of their theatrical releases in the next couple of years.
In a recent interview pegged to the new Netflix film The Electric State, Joe Russo told Deadline: “It’s all in London, we’re shooting them fairly back-to-back. It’s a lot of work again. We may or may not survive, we’ll see.”
“But we’re very excited about it. We found a way into the story that we think is gonna be challenging for audiences, it’s challenging for us to execute. And it’s really exciting for us, it gets us out of bed to do it,” he added.
As for who will star in Doomsday and Secret Wars other than the characters that have been announced, the Russos are remaining tight-lipped on that front. Before they signed on to direct the sequels, a report last summer shared that more than 60 MCU characters could reprise their Marvel roles in the ensemble that's being called “one of Marvel’s largest productions to date.”
The recently-released Captain America: Brave New World hinted that Anthony Mackie's Captain America/Sam Wilson is expected to lead the new Avengers in Doomsday and Secret Wars. Many expect Hugh Jackman's Wolverine and Ryan Reynolds' Deadpool to appear, but neither have confirmed their return. Meanwhile, Mark Ruffalo’s Hulk, Chris Hemsworth’s Thor, Simu Liu’s Shang-Chi, Tom Hiddleston’s Loki, and Karen Gillan’s Nebula were among the characters mentioned in the report. However, it's unclear how the roster might have changed after Marvel Studios rebranded Avengers: The Kang Dynasty as Avengers: Doomsday, and pivoted away from Jonathan Majors’ Kang the Conqueror.
When asked about a crossover with X-Men and Deadpool characters, Joe Russo said, “Who knows? I don’t know. I don’t know who we’re gonna see. I still don’t know.
"Anybody in the Marvel bag could show up in this movie,” he said.
Anthony Russo jokingly added, "If you close your eyes and use your imagination, you can see anyone you want. Whoever tickles your fancy."
Who will star in Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars?
The upcoming Avengers sequels will center around Robert Downey Jr.'s Marvel supervillain, Victor von Doom/Doctor Doom, with his big bad replacing Jonathan Majors' Kang the Conqueror after Marvel Studios fired Majors in late 2023.
So far, the names confirmed for the upcoming Avengers sequels are Anthony Mackie, Benedict Cumberbatch (Doctor Strange), and the core members of The Fantastic Four: Pedro Pascal (Reed Richards/Mister Fantastic), Vanessa Kirby (Sue Storm/Invisible Woman), Joseph Quinn (Johnny Storm/Human Torchand Ebon Moss-Bachrach (Ben Grimm/The Thing). Meanwhile, Chris Evans, who portrayed Captain America and returned as a pre-MCU Johnny Storm in last year's Deadpool & Wolverine, is reportedly returning in the Avengers sequels but his mystery role hasn't been confirmed.
Currently, Avengers: Doomsday is slated to release in theaters on May 1, 2026, and Avengers: Secret Wars on May 7, 2027.
