Anthony & Joe Russo Talk ‘Avengers’ With Donald Mustard — SXSW London
Anthony and Joe Russo briefly paused work on their twin Marvel projects, Avengers: Doomsday and Secret Wars, last week when they passed by Deadline’s live studio at SXSW London.
The Russos were joined by Fortnite creator Donald Mustard, who also now serves as a partner at the duo’s AGBO studio, and the trio confirmed they are currently in post-production on Avengers: Doomsday and pre-production on Avengers: Secret Wars ahead of respective planned releases in December 2026 and December 2027.
While the two films are the fifth and sixth Marvel titles directed by the Russos, they also mark the first time their AGBO label has been credited as a co-producer alongside Disney and Marvel.
“Our relationship with Marvel has been built over many years now, and there’s been a very fruitful relationship,” Joe Russo said. “We’ve done some of our best work with Marvel. We really value the relationship, and I think they really value what we have brought to the MCU.”
The Russos have been dropping teasers about their upcoming Avengers titles online for some weeks now, and during SXSW the filmmakers launched a Doomsday-themed pop-up coffee shop featuring souvenir Dom Latveria coffee beans. Latveria is the fictional homeland of Marvel’s Doctor Doom, who will be played by Robert Downey Jr. in the upcoming movies.
“The interplay with the audience is critical,” Joe Russo said, adding that the reason he and Anthony returned to direct two more Avengers movies is because they “love the audience.”
“We love the audiences experiencing these movies, and we’ve had friends tell us how important it was for them to have those experiences on opening night with cheering crowds in a theatre,” he added.
“I’d argue that storytelling is the last unifier we have, and we must maintain it. It’s important that we lift up all stories and that we support all stories. Because there could be a future where there are no stories. We just want to create another really big tent and invite as many people around the world into that tent.”
Check out the full video of our chat with the Russo Brothers and Donald Mustard above.
Avengers: Doomsday hits cinemas in December.
