The stakes are high forAvengers: DoomsdayandAvengers: Secret Wars, but their defectors’MCUtrack record suggests that both Phase 6 movies will be just as good asAvengers: Infinity WarandAvengers: Endgame, if not more. There’s a lot riding on the MCU’s next twoAvengersmovies, which will followAvengers: Infinity WarandAvengers: Endgame’s massive success.Avengers: DoomsdayandAvengers: Secret Warswill prove whether the Multiverse Saga’s complex multiversal set-up was worth it all along despite several significant changes in Marvel’s plans and a few box office flops.
The Multiverse Saga hasn’t been as cohesive as the Infinity Saga. Phases 4 and 5 set up Jonathan Majors’ Kang the Conqueror to be the next big bad, butKang will be replaced by Robert Downey Jr.’s Doctor DoominAvengers: Doomsday. Phases 4 and 5 also haven’t established a new Avengers team after the original dissolved following the events ofAvengers: Endgame, and few characters have come close to gaining the level of prominence of Chris Evans’ Captain America and Robert Downey Jr.’s Iron Man. Still, these obstacles may be no match for the Russo bros.
The Russo Bros Know Exactly How To Assemble The Avengers On Screen
Joe And Anthony Russo Have Handled Multiple Characters Superbly
Joe and Anthony Russo made their MCU debut withCaptain America: The Winter Soldier, which continues to be one of the highest regarded movies in the entire MCU. The Russo bros.’ next three movies were all team-up movies just as well reviewed:Captain America Civil War,Avengers: Infinity War, andAvengers: Endgame— rounding outthe Russo Bros.' unparalleled four-movie Marvel streak, which amounts to more than $5 billion in earnings.All three of the Russo bros.' MCU team-up movies brought dozens of MCU characters together, all of them from different backgrounds and at different points in each of their respective journeys.
Robert Downey Jr.’s Doctor Doom Becomes The Most Powerful Villain In Marvel Movie History According To Unhinged MCU Reboot Theory
Robert Downey Jr.’s Doctor Doom has the chance to outdo Thanos and Kang the Conqueror in Avengers: Doomsday and Secret Wars by a wide margin.
Although all three movies’ casts are huge, the Russo bros. gave each character their fair share of screentime and narrative weight.Captain America: The Winter Soldierisn’t exactly a team-up movie, but it did show the directors’ potential for big casts. InCaptain America: The Winter Soldier, Sam Wilson teams up with Steve Rogers for the first time, Natasha Romanoff provides her support, and Steve Rogers works with (and defies) SHIELD’s Nick Fury and Maria Hill. Most of these characters and the titular Winter Soldier were later key to the Russos’ next three MCU movies.
The MCU’s Current Lack Of Avengers Teams Probably Won’t Be A Problem For The Russo Bros.
The Russo Bros Have Dealt With Divided Avengers Before
One of the biggest challengesAvengers: DoomsdayandAvengers: Secret Warsmight be facing is the MCU’s current lack of an official Avengers team. However, the Avengers’ absence shouldn’t be a problem for Joe and Anthony Russo. After all,none of the Russo bros.’ previous three MCU team-up movies have begun with a unified Avengers team from the get-go.Captain America: Civil Warbrought together an already incomplete group of Avengers and split them into two teams immediately after;Captain America: Infinity Warstarted with the divided Avengers fighting Thanos on their own, andAvengers: Endgameonly assembled Earth’s Mightiest Heroes in the final battle.
The only Avengers movie that has started with an established Avengers team so far has beenAvengers: Age of Ultron.
Even if the context had permitted it, the Avengers probably wouldn’t have appeared all together on screen inCaptain America: Civil War,Avengers: Infinity War, andAvengers: Endgame.There are only so many characters who can share the screen at the same time, and any big team will inevitably end up splitting into smaller groups. Team Captain America, Team Iron Man,Steve Rogers' Secret Avengers, Iron Man’s improvised Guardians of the Galaxy team-up, the Snap’s survivors, and the Snapped — all of these groups offered each individual character the opportunity to build new relationships and contribute to their respective movies in ways that would have been impossible otherwise.
Joe And Anthony Russo’s MCU Movies Always End On A Personal Note
WhileCaptain America: The Winter Soldier,Captain America: Civil War,Avengers: Infinity War, andAvengers: Endgameare packed with major characters and high-octane action scenes, all four of them also end with intimate showdowns.Captain America: The Winter Soldier’s final battle ends with Bucky Barnes saving Steve Rogers from drowning after Steve lets him escape,Captain America: Civil Warends with Cap sparing Iron Man and Black Panther sparing Zemo,Avengers: Infinity Warends with the surviving Avengers processing their defeat, andAvengers: Endgame’s final battle ends with Iron Man singlehandedly defeating Thanos' army by sacrificing his life.
If the Russo bros. pull off the same balance between action and emotion as their previous movies, most of the work will already be done
The Russo bros.' have repeatedly showcased their ability to balance ensemble casts and create groundbreaking action sequences in their MCU movies, but Joe and Anthony Russo don’t focus exclusively on action.Avengers: DoomsdayandAvengers: Secret Warsneed just as much heart as the Russo’s previous Marvel films, especially considering that most ofAvengers: DoomsdayandAvengers: Secret Wars' main characters haven’t had the chance to build a solid character arc throughout the Multiverse Saga. If the Russo bros. pull off the same balance between action and emotion as their previous movies, most of the work will already be done.
