The ‘Avengers 5’ release date is still a mystery, but we might know who will direct it

Avengers 5

is one of the most highly anticipated Marvel movies of Phase 4. The only problem is that the movie doesn’t exist yet. In late July 2019, Marvel announced the bulk of the Phase 4 titles. There was no Avengers 5 on the list. Marvel kept adding movies and TV shows to the Phase 4 roster, but we’ve yet to see an Avengers title. We still don’t have any idea when Marvel will release Avengers 5 or a Young Avengers movie more than two years later. But Disney might have already ruined the upcoming Avengers team-up without even realizing it.

Why there’s no Avengers 5 in Phase 4 yet

When Marvel refrained from mentioning an Avengers 5 project back in 2019, we explained the reasoning behind it. There was no way to top Endgame with something better because there were no Avengers or big bad villains left. The team suffered significant losses in Endgame.

Marvel needed to replace the fallen and retired heroes and to introduce superheroes from the Fox universe. The mutants, Fantastic Four, and Deadpool would all join the MCU. The same goes for the big villains. With Thanos gone, the Avengers need similar antagonists before Marvel can make an Avengers 5 crossover. We already saw one candidate on Disney Plus: Kang (Jonathan Majors) in Loki.

More recently, Marvel has started addressing Avengers 5 release speculations. Kevin Feige said in a recent interview that Marvel needs more time.

Kevin Feige’s plans

“I think we want there to be a reasonable amount of time from the Endgame to start a new saga, which is already underway and already started,” Feige said. “And then you need time, as you did in Phase 1, to build that saga before you start bringing everyone together.”

Avengers 5 might get a 2025 release date at the earliest, we noted at the time. That’s because Marvel and Disney have announced all their MCU movies through 2023. And they’re not in a hurry to make any additional revelations. All that context is required to understand how Marvel operates and how Disney might have made things difficult for upcoming projects, Avengers 5 included.

Do the @Russo_Brothers see themselves returning to the #MCU? The #AvengersEndgame masterminds talked to us at #CinemaCon about their dream #MarvelStudios project (#TheSecretWars) and if they'd ever join the #DCEU: "Never say 'never'" pic.twitter.com/zC2GU4Y1at

— MTV NEWS (@MTVNEWS) April 5, 2019

Marvel plans years of movies and TV shows ahead of time. This ensures the studio can deliver a cohesive overarching plot while telling great standalone superhero stories. This requires quite a bit of planning. Marvel needs to ink the right deals with actors, writers, directors, and other key players that make MCU box office hits happen.

Two such key players are well-known brothers Anthony and Joe Russo, responsible for four massive MCU successes, including Infinity War and Endgame. In previous interviews, the two directors said they might think about returning to the MCU, highlighting Secret Wars and Wolverine as reasons they might come back.

How Disney ‘spoiled’ the next big Avengers release

It turns out that the Russos might already be in negotiations with Marvel to direct other projects. This was hinted at in a short passage from an otherwise lengthy The Wall Street Journal article:

Since the [Scarlett Johansson] lawsuit, brothers Joe Russo and Anthony Russo, directors of Marvel’s Avengers: Endgame the highest-grossing movie of all time, hit an impasse in negotiations to direct another Marvel movie. The Johansson dispute left them unsure how their next movie would be distributed and how they would be paid, according to people familiar with the matter. The Russos declined to comment.

That’s all the Journal has to say about the Russos. The paper doesn’t mention Avengers 5 or indicate what Marvel movie the Russos might direct next. But Avengers 5 would be anyone’s best guess, given their history.

The Journal focuses on the huge conflict between Disney and Johansson on the heels of the Black Widow premiere. The publication reveals the inner workings of Bob Chapek’s Disney and the poor way Disney handled the conflict with one of the beloved Avengers superstars. That’s not to say that Disney and Marvel won’t overcome this challenge. There will surely be an Avengers 5 release in theaters in the not-too-distant future. But Disney might have made it more difficult for everyone working at Marvel to get there.