Marvel Studios will only release one movie this year, Deadpool & Wolverine. As the threequel is expected to gross $1 billion at the box office after breaking Fandango’s first-day ticket sales and being the most anticipated summer movie of the year, Marvel reportedly eyes its director, Shawn Levy, to helm Avengers 5, formally known as Avengers: The Kang Dynasty. To build excitement even more, the sequel is also said to feature over 60 Marvel Cinematic Universe characters.
Deadpool & Wolverine is believed to save Marvel Studios after several movie flops, like Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania and The Marvels. With its expected success, Deadline revealed that Levy has become the top choice and is in early conversations to direct Avengers 5.
Also, the director has reportedly received Michael Waldron's latest script for the Avengers sequel. However, it remains to be seen if Levy will accept the offer. It’s also alleged that Marvel plans to meet with other directors while waiting for Levy’s decision, making the talks far from a done deal.
However, if Levy will indeed direct Avengers 5, it makes perfect sense, considering Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige is continuously deciding on the next iteration of the company’s superhero movies. But there’s no denying that Levy has big shoes to fill. With the success of Joe and Anthony Russo’s Avengers: Endgame, becoming the highest-grossing film of all time after earning $2.8 billion at the box office, there will surely be high expectations for the sequel.
Who might appear in Avengers 5?
Meanwhile, Marvel Studios is now working hard on developing Avengers 5. Feige officially announced the film’s development at San Diego Comic-Con 2022 after Marvel Studios filed five trademarks, including Avengers: The Kang Dynasty, in July 2022. Although the film has no director after Destin Daniel Cretton stepped down to focus on directing Shang-Chi 2, Marvel is pulling everything together to start its production next year.
Dubbed Marvel’s largest production to date, it will reportedly feature 60 MCU characters and see the return of some of the original Avengers. Allegedly, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Hemsworth, and Benedict Cumberbatch will return to reprise their roles as Incredible Hulk, Thor, and Doctor Strange, respectively, alongside Tom Hiddleston, Simu Liu, and Karen Gillian as Loki, Shang-Chi, and Nebula.
But unlike the previous Avengers films, which featured the core group of Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson, Hemsworth, and Ruffalo, the characters in Avengers 5 are said to have equal footing, making it an ensemble feature instead of a few characters on the lead.
In addition, it remains to be seen who will be the film’s main antagonist after Marvel Studios fired Jonathan Majors in December 2023 following his guilty verdict during his assault and harassment trial. In fact, at the time, Marvel dropped the film’s subtitle and called it Avengers 5, with Kang the Conqueror’s role to either be minimized or removed entirely. However, the subtitle The Kang Dynasty was retained when Disney released its upcoming movie schedule in April 2024.
Though nothing is confirmed yet about the development of Avengers 5, Levy’s enviable track record proves he could be the perfect choice to direct the film. And if Deadpool & Wolverine becomes a massive hit, this deal may not be far from happening.
Deadpool & Wolverine is set to hit the big screens on July 26, 2024, while Avengers 5 is slated to premiere on May 7, 2027.
