When going through the Marvel movies in order, some of the best came from directors Joe and Anthony Russo. Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Captain America: Civil War, Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame being among the most consequential movies in this franchise, and that last entry once ranked as the highest-grossing movie of all time. Well, evidently their time in the MCU isn’t done just yet, as word came in earlier this week that the Russos are being courted to direct Avengers 5 and 6. Additionally, it’s now been reported that Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige turned down some directors with major superhero cred to helm these upcoming Marvel movies.
According to Puck (via ComicBookMovie), while it was previously claimed that many directors turned down the directing the next two Avengers movies given what massive undertakings they’ll be, allegedly Feige wasn’t interested in having directors tied to the Hollywood agency CAA like Noah Hawley and Greg Greg Berltanti, among other unnamed individuals, working on them. While neither of these men are filmmakers on the same cinematic level as the Russos, they’re no stranger to telling onscreen superhero stories.
Noah Hawley’s contribution to the genre came through Legion, the X-Men tie-in series that followed David Haller, the mutant son of Professor Charles Xavier. Legion was met with positive critical reception during its three-season run on FX, and it can be streamed now with a Hulu subscription. Hawley, whose other major credits include Fargo and the upcoming Alien: Earth, also announced at the 2017 San Diego Comic-Con that he was writing and directing a Doctor Doom movie, but that project was shelved with Disney acquired 20th Century Fox.
As for Greg Berlanti, he was one of the principal architects of the Arrowverse, i.e. the shared continuity of DC TV shows on The CW like Arrow, The Flash, Legends of Tomorrow and Supergirl. His other DC TV credits include developing the Max series Titans and being an executive producer on Doom Patrol, Stargirl and Batwoman (another Arrowverse series), among others. Berlanti also co-wrote 2011’s Green Lantern with fellow Arrowverse alum Marc Guggenheim, Michael Green and Michael Goldenberg.
With the exception of Noah Hawley helming 2019’s Lucy in the Sky, as indicated earlier, neither him nor Greg Berlanti have any feature film directing credits. So although they have all that superhero storytelling experience, I could understand why Kevin Feige might not think they’d be a good fit for Avengers 5 and 6, assuming this information is accurate. That said, remember that the Russos were best known for their work on TV shows like Arrested Development and Community before they were tapped to direct Captain America: The Winter Soldier.
So far the only director who’s had any official tie to either of these Avengers movies is Destin Daniel Cretton, who was once slotted to helm Avengers 5, previously known as The Kang Dynasty. However, he exited the project in November 2023, though he’ll continue to contribute to the MCU through Shang-Chi 2 and the Wonder Man series. Loki and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness’ Michael Waldron is writing the scripts for both movies.
Avengers 5 is set for release on May 1, 2026, and Avengers 6 (which still has the Secret Wars subtitle) will follow on May 7, 2027. Keep your eyes peeled on CinemaBlend for official confirmation about Joe and Anthony Russo boarding these movies or if other directors are hired instead.
