“If I were a betting man…”: Russo Brothers Reveal Potential Secret Wars and Doomsday Runtime

Marvel Studios’ highly awaited Avengers: Doomsday & Avengers: Secret Wars, directed by the Russo Brothers, is going to see Robert Downey Jr. return to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Downey Jr. is going to play antagonist Victor von Doom a.k.a. Doctor Doom in the upcoming movie. The Russo Brothers, who directed four movies in the MCU, are also making a return to Marvel Studios.

Downey Jr.’s return, which was announced at the Hall H panel at San Diego Comic Con, has got the Marvel fans excited for the future projects. The movies are going to be a part of the MCU’s Phase Six and are expected to be a soft reboot of the MCU. However, Russo Brothers, who are gearing up for their upcoming movie The Electric State, have not discussed any such plans. But they have shared an exciting update about the upcoming Avengers movies.

Russo Brothers reveals the runtime for Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars

In an interview with Collider, ahead of the release of The Electric State, the Russo Brothers were asked about their highly awaited Marvel movies, Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars. These movies will not only see the Russo Brothers returning to Marvel Studios but also witness Robert Downey Jr., who portrayed Tony Stark/Iron Man for ten years, turn into an antagonist and play Victor von Doom, a.k.a. Doctor Doom.

Upon asking what fans can expect more of, Joe Russo dodged the question and teased the audience by sharing that they’re not going to share anything until everyone goes to the theater. The directors were asked about the run time of the movies, to which Joe Russo said,

If I were a betting man, I would say the first one is two and a half, and the second one’s three hours.

The Russo Brothers’ Avengers: Endgame was 182 minutes long, which is the longest MCU film to date. Stephen McFeely has penned down the screenplay for Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars. The directors also shared how they have been taking measures to stop the audience from getting a peek at the set, taking pictures and sharing them online. They said,

We’re pretty good about shutting that down. We’ve sort of strategized to hopefully be effective with that. We will be doing quite a bit of that. We don’t want people getting photographs, so we are being pretty stringent.

Anthony Russo added that for the locations that they are looking at, they have picked the ones where they can make sure precautions can be set. The directors are adamant to make sure nothing gets leaked online before they share anything themselves.

Brad Winderbaum addressed the Marvel ‘reboot’ rumor post Avengers: Secret Wars

Marvel fans are waiting for Avengers: Doomsday and Secret Wars, which reportedly are being considered as a soft reboot for the Marvel Cinematic Universe. In speaking to Screen Off Script, Brad Winderbaum addressed the rumors of Marvel’s reboot by stating,

You can’t really fully reboot anything. It’s a very difficult thing to do to a living, breathing fictional universe…to just start from scratch because of all the fan investment and love for the stories that have come far.

It should be noted that there was never a question about a ‘full reboot’ of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but people speculated that a ‘soft reboot’ could be on its way post-Secret Wars.

Back in 2023, Joanna Robinson, author of Marvel Book MCU: The Reign of Marvel Studios, shared with The Watch podcast that they had a quote from Marvel President Kevin Feige, sort of implying that Secret Wars will serve as a soft reboot in which they can prune everything. She said (via CBR),

That’s not to use a Loki-ism. They’ll prune everything that’s not working and just keep what is working or bring back people you thought were gone forever.

Marvel Studios is yet to announce any story details about Secret Wars, but fans are excited for Robert Downey Jr.’s return to play villainous characters. It should be noted that Avengers: Doomsday replaced The Kang Dynasty.

Avengers: Doomsday is expected to arrive on May 1, 2026, followed by Secret Wars on May 7, 2027.