Not their cleanup job — Avengers: Doomsday directors say fixing recent MCU mistakes isn’t on them

Let’s get this out of the way immediately: the Avengers: Doomsday directors, Joe and Anthony Russo, aren’t showing up in 2026 just to rescue Marvel from its wobbling patch of recent disasters. You might assume from the headlines that the studio begged them to return and patch things up, but according to the Russos themselves, mopping up Marvel’s various misfires isn’t their brief. They’re here to make a film that stands on its own, not play MCU firefighters.

Anthony Russo, answering whether their job was to restore the MCU: 'Our job isn’t to answer for the entirety of the MCU.'

After all, the Russos are still the closest thing Marvel has to a sure bet. Their CV speaks for itself: The Winter Soldier kicked off their run, Civil War was a highlight, and then there’s the relentless box office success of Infinity War and Endgame. So it’s no surprise that fans believe the pair could steer just about any Marvel project out of a tailspin – even if the directors themselves don’t exactly see things that way.

Starting From Scratch (Again)

This time round, the Russos aren’t thinking about old continuity. Anthony Russo pointed out they only work where their approach intersects with Marvel’s plans. It’s that intersection, he says, ‘where we can make sense of things.’

What’s actually brought them back is the idea that Avengers: Doomsday will be, in their words, ‘a profound shift’. The directors claim they’re taking everything 'back to zero', as in tearing it all down and rebooting the board. They don’t want to coast on past MCU reputation, but rather, as Anthony admitted, want ‘the greatest value of the film to reside in the new thing it’s bringing to the table’.

The thing that drew them back was apparently a 'foundational narrative concept' dreamed up by co-writer Steve McFeeley – not one last misguided attempt to patch over a leaky multiverse.

Avengers: Doomsday opens in cinemas 18 December 2026 with the studio’s biggest ensemble yet.

Meet the New Avengers (and Villains...)

As for the cast, Avengers: Doomsday is stacking the deck with familiar faces and a few new ones in Marvel costumes. The main line-up is as follows:

• Robert Downey Jr. as Victor von Doom (yes, you read that right)
• Chris Evans back as Steve Rogers
• Chris Hemsworth swinging Mjolnir again as Thor
• Florence Pugh as Yelena Belova/Black Widow
• Tom Hiddleston once more as Loki
• Vanessa Kirby stepping in as Sue Storm/Invisible Woman
• Pedro Pascal, this time as Reed Richards/Mr. Fantastic

And that’s only the tip of a very large credits list, if you believe the rumours kicking around social media. With a cast like that and the Russos at the helm, Marvel’s clearly not interested in playing it safe or small. But if you’re hoping for a film that ties a neat little bow on every recent misstep in the MCU, the Russos would like a word: not their remit, not their problem.