The Marvel Cinematic Universe is a well-oiled machine at this point, methodically releasing new content in theaters and streaming with a Disney+ subscription. Fans who spent years watching the Marvel movies in order will recall that writer Christopher Markus is responsible for some of the most beloved entries in the shared universe. And he recently explained why he won't be back for the next two Avengers flicks.
What we know about Avengers: Doomsday and Secret Wars is super limited right now, but it was confirmed that Christopher Markus wouldn't be back to write the movie alongside his writing partner Stephen McFeely. In a conversation with ThePlaylist, he explained how his schedule prevented him from jumping in on the upcoming Marvel movies, saying:
Magic! It’s the simple fact of opportunity really. When we started AGBO, part of the imperative was let’s look for things to adapt, ideas of our own. And by luck or preference, I wound up with a whiteboard full of things—two series of books that we had optioned, a spec script. about three or four other ideas and a TV pilot that was there to be written. And this was prior to all that ‘Avenging’ coming on the horizon. But it got to the point where it was like, ‘Look, I need to grow these plants or they’re going to die.’
It certainly doesn't sound personal. Markus mentioned his production company AGBO, which seemingly has many irons in the fire. And those projects were in the works before the idea of doing more Avengers movies came up. More specifically, the news that The Russo Brothers would be back for those two titles.
This dynamic writing team wrote the original Captain America trilogy, as well as Thor: The Dark World, and both Avengers: Infinity War and Endgame. This paired them with the Russo Brothers largely, and the duo is responsible for some of the best MCU movies ever. Markus spoke about the time commitment that comes with signing on for a project of that size, offering:
[Marvel] is very extremely full-time. And so, I just said, ‘Let’s just everybody be under the understanding that this is what I’m doing because [those movies] need a brain on them. They need a guide and I love them.’ So, when it came Avenging time—I mean, you don’t Avenge part-time, you don’t do anything Marvel part-time. That is a years-long commitment.
While fans like me would have loved to see him back for Doomsday and Secret Wars, it makes sense that those movies might simply be too much of a time commitment this time around. And you have to respect his unwillingness to do a poor job over at Marvel. Christopher Markus spoke more about just how much he's juggling at the moment, saying:
I’m not doing anything [with Marvel] right now because, one, they know what they’re doing. And also, it was just like, ‘Well, these things will die and I’ve got a pilot at Netflix, a pilot at Amazon. I’ve got nine books that need to be turned into a masterpiece and you just make a choice at some point and say, ‘I’ve done that. I haven’t done that. I think right now I’m going to do the thing I haven’t done.’ Which is the thing that keeps you alive and sparking as a creator.
So while he and Stephen McFeely have continued collaborating with The Russo Brothers on projects like The Electric State (which is streaming with a Netflix subscription) they won't be the ones responsible for balancing the cast of characters in Doomsday and Secret Wars.
The first of those movies Avengers: Doomsday is currently expected to arrive in theaters on May 1st, 2026, although first up there are titles on the 2025 movie release list like Thunderbolts*.
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