Russo, co-director of “Avengers: Doomsday,” says steering Marvel’s best-known heroes into new territory is “very difficult,” a task he and his brother Joe approach as fans first.
He spoke at a Q&A after a screening of “Avengers: Endgame Encore” at the 92nd Street Y in New York. Asked how the filmmakers balance audience affection for the characters against the need to push the story forward, Russo said the pair trust their own instincts, because they love the characters and their history as much as viewers do.
He rejected the idea of a single fan opinion. “Fandom does not speak with a single voice,” Russo said, adding that people connect with different characters and different versions of them.
The casting of Robert Downey Jr. as Victor von Doom shows that tension most sharply. Downey’s Tony Stark died saving the universe in “Endgame,” a sacrifice many fans rank among the franchise’s finest moments. Russo described the task as testing themselves creatively while staying loyal to the storytelling that came before. The filmmakers also want to surprise themselves about where the characters can go, he said, in the hope that audiences feel the same jolt.
The remarks arrive nearly a year after a trailer presented a far grimmer Thor, played by Chris Hemsworth, than the one in 2022’s “Thor: Love and Thunder.” That film performed well at the box office but split fans, and Hemsworth has said he found the character too silly there.
Russo conceded that the cast remains only partly revealed and joked that he loses track of who has been announced. Confirmed names so far include Hemsworth, Downey, Chris Evans, Paul Rudd, Simu Liu and Tom Hiddleston.
The “Endgame” re-release carries four new scenes that link to “Doomsday.” One extends the ending for Steve Rogers and Peggy Carter, with Loki turning up at their home in TVA gear. Another shows Doom visiting a hidden Bruce Banner to tell him he has come to collect him.
Skeptics see risk in the scale. One commentator argues that Marvel is packing in returning heroes to recapture the success of “Infinity War” and “Endgame,” without the decade of connected films that fed those hits.
Marvel Studios releases “Doomsday” on Dec. 18.
