'Avengers: Endgame' directors say they wouldn't 'be ready' to return to Marvel 'until the end of the decade'
The Russos directed four hit movies for the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but say they wouldn't return to the franchise for at least another seven years.
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- Joe and Anthony Russo "won't be ready to do anything with Marvel until the end of the decade."
- The Russos made four movies for Marvel, including "Avengers: Endgame."
- The directors previously told Insider they had no plans to return, but seemed open to it.
Don't expect "Avengers: Endgame" directors Joe and Anthony Russo to return to the Marvel Cinematic Universe any time soon.
The filmmaking brothers told Variety in a story published Wednesday that they "won't be ready to do anything with Marvel until the end of the decade." The Russos have been similarly reserved in the past about acknowledging any potential future with Marvel, though they've seemed open to it.
"We don't currently have any plans to do anything more with Marvel, but that doesn't mean at some point in the future — it could come up," Anthony told Insider in July.
The duo made four movies for Marvel — 2014's "Captain America: The Winter Soldier," 2016's "Captain America: Civil War," 2018's "Avengers: Infinity War," and then "Endgame" in 2019.
"Endgame" is the second highest-grossing movie of all time behind "Avatar," which it briefly topped at the global box office, but was dethroned after "Avatar" was re-released last year in China.
Needless to say, the brothers found immense success with the MCU, but they've since been busy with other high-profile, big-budget projects with their production company AGBO.
Their Netflix action movie "The Gray Man" became the streamer's fourth-biggest movie ever. And they're developing a spy series called "Citadel" for Amazon, which will launch international spinoffs set in local markets.
The series reportedly cost $200 million to make, thanks to pandemic-related production costs.
Meanwhile, Marvel is inching towards "Avengers: Secret Wars," which will conclude its current "Multiverse Saga," in 2026. The Russos told Deadline in July, shortly before the film was officially announced, that making a "Secret Wars" movie would be a "massive undertaking."
"It would be bigger than 'Infinity War' and 'Endgame,'" Joe said. "But it's a massive undertaking. Those two movies were very hard to make."